PyQt5-WinARM64

Native Windows ARM64 builds of PyQt5.

PyQt5-WinARM64 exists because upstream distributes PyQt5 for Windows x86/x64 but not native Windows ARM64, despite the underlying stack being capable of supporting it.

This repository builds and validates PyQt5 against a native Windows ARM64 CPython and a native ARM64 Qt 5.15.19 build.

Current release

PyQt5-WinARM64 5.15.11

The current 5.15.11 release provides native Windows ARM64 wheels for:

• PyQt5 5.15.11
• PyQt5-sip 12.15.0 for CPython 3.13

The PyQt5 wheel uses the standard cp38-abi3-win_arm64 ABI tag, so the PyQt5 wheel can be used by compatible newer CPython releases. The released SIP wheel is CPython 3.13-specific.

A separate CPython 3.14 ARM64 SIP build is being produced as cp314-cp314-win_arm64; it does not replace or modify the existing 3.13 release.

Installation

Install the native ARM64 distribution from PyPI:

python -m pip install PyQt5-WinARM64

PyQt5-sip is pulled in as the matching PyQt5-sip-WinARM64 dependency.

The Python import namespace remains the standard PyQt5 namespace:

from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication

app = QApplication([])

The distribution is specifically for native Windows ARM64 Python. It is not an x64 compatibility build.

Build and validation boundary

The project deliberately validates the stack in stages:

1. Native Windows ARM64 runner
2. ARM64 CPython
3. ARM64 MSVC
4. Native ARM64 Qt 5.15.19
5. PyQt5-sip
6. PyQt5
7. Native Qt runtime bundling
8. ARM64 PE validation
9. Clean ARM64 installation
10. QApplication smoke test

No wheel release is considered valid until a clean ARM64 environment can install the wheels, import PyQt5, and create a QApplication.

The release validation for 5.15.11 covers:

• native Windows ARM64 GitHub Actions runner
• CPython 3.13 ARM64 for the released SIP wheel
• MSVC ARM64
• Qt 5.15.19 built natively for ARM64
• PyQt5-sip 12.15.0
• PyQt5 5.15.11 as an ARM64 abi3 wheel
• bundled Qt runtime
• ARM64 PE headers for every bundled .pyd and .dll
• clean ARM64 virtual-environment installation
• QApplication([]) startup

The repository also has a separate CPython 3.14 ARM64 SIP build path. That build is independent of the 5.15.11/CPython 3.13 release.

Distribution names

The upstream PyPI projects PyQt5 and PyQt5-sip already exist, so this project publishes distinct distribution names:

• PyQt5-WinARM64
• PyQt5-sip-WinARM64

The installed Python modules remain PyQt5 and PyQt5.sip/SIP's normal extension namespace.

Build inputs

The release pipeline pins and verifies:

• PyQt5 5.15.11
• PyQt5-sip 12.15.0
• SIP 6.10.0
• PyQt-builder 1.17.0
• Qt 5.15.19
• WinFlexBison 2.5.25

The PyQt5, PyQt5-sip, and Qt source archives are SHA-256 verified before use.

The GitHub Actions release workflow uses PyPI Trusted Publishing (OIDC). No long-lived PyPI API token is stored in the repository.

Release wheels

The 5.15.11 release contains:

• pyqt5_winarm64-5.15.11-cp38-abi3-win_arm64.whl
• pyqt5_sip_winarm64-12.15.0-cp313-cp313-win_arm64.whl

The CPython 3.14 SIP build is separate and does not alter these release assets.

Licensing

This repository's build and automation code is MIT licensed.

The produced PyQt5 distribution contains software under its upstream licenses. PyQt5 5.15.11 is GPLv3 (with Riverbank's commercial licensing option), PyQt5-sip is BSD-2-Clause, and the bundled Qt components are distributed under their applicable Qt licenses. The wheel carries the relevant upstream license files.

Project

GitHub: https://github.com/ViciousSquid/PyQt5-WinARM64