Implementation:Google deepmind Mujoco Python Setup

Knowledge Sources	Google_deepmind_Mujoco
Domains	Python Packaging, Build Automation
Last Updated	2026-02-15 04:00 GMT

Overview

Setuptools-based install script that builds and packages the MuJoCo Python bindings, handling CMake compilation and platform-specific shared library bundling.

Description

The setup.py script orchestrates the build of MuJoCo's Python bindings using setuptools with a custom build_ext command. It detects the host platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) to resolve the correct shared library naming patterns (mujoco.dll, libmujoco.*.dylib, libmujoco.so.*) and plugin libraries. The script supports configuration via environment variables (MUJOCO_CMAKE, MUJOCO_CMAKE_ARGS, MUJOCO_PATH, MUJOCO_PLUGIN_PATH) allowing users to point to pre-built MuJoCo installations or customize the CMake invocation. It reads README.md and optional LICENSES_THIRD_PARTY.md to compose the package long description.

Usage

This script is invoked during pip install . or python setup.py build_ext from the python/ directory. It is also called by CI workflows to produce the mujoco Python wheel for distribution.

Code Reference

Source Location

Repository: Google_deepmind_Mujoco
File: python/setup.py
Lines: 1-379

Key Functions

// Environment variable constants
MUJOCO_CMAKE = 'MUJOCO_CMAKE'
MUJOCO_CMAKE_ARGS = 'MUJOCO_CMAKE_ARGS'
MUJOCO_PATH = 'MUJOCO_PATH'
MUJOCO_PLUGIN_PATH = 'MUJOCO_PLUGIN_PATH'

// Long description assembly
def get_long_description():
    current_dir = os.path.dirname('__file__')
    with open(os.path.join(current_dir, 'README.md')) as f:
        description = f.read()
    try:
        with open(os.path.join(current_dir, 'LICENSES_THIRD_PARTY.md')) as f:
            description = f'{description}\n{f.read()}'
    except FileNotFoundError:
        pass
    return description

// Platform-specific library pattern resolution
def get_mujoco_lib_pattern():
    if platform.system() == 'Windows':
        return 'mujoco.lib'
    elif platform.system() == 'Darwin':
        return 'libmujoco.*.dylib'
    else:
        return 'libmujoco.so.*'

def get_external_lib_patterns():
    if platform.system() == 'Windows':
        return ['mujoco.dll']
    elif platform.system() == 'Darwin':
        return ['libmujoco.*.dylib']
    else:
        return ['libmujoco.so.*']

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
`MUJOCO_CMAKE`	Environment variable	No	Path to a custom CMake executable; defaults to system `cmake`
`MUJOCO_CMAKE_ARGS`	Environment variable	No	Additional arguments forwarded to the CMake configure step
`MUJOCO_PATH`	Environment variable	No	Path to a pre-built MuJoCo installation (skips CMake build if set)
`MUJOCO_PLUGIN_PATH`	Environment variable	No	Path to pre-built MuJoCo plugin shared libraries
`README.md`	File	Yes	Package description source used for PyPI long description
`LICENSES_THIRD_PARTY.md`	File	No	Optional third-party license text appended to the long description

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
`mujoco` Python package	Wheel / sdist	Installable Python package containing compiled bindings and bundled shared libraries
Platform shared libraries	`.so` / `.dylib` / `.dll`	MuJoCo native libraries copied into the package for runtime use
Plugin shared libraries	`.so` / `.dylib` / `.dll`	Optional MuJoCo plugin libraries bundled into the package

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