Add help page for build failures (#8286)

docs/reference/build_failures.md

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Build failures
+
+This page lists common reasons why resolution and installation fails with a build error and how to
+fix them.
+
+### Why does uv build a package?
+
+When generating the cross-platform lockfile, uv needs to determine the dependencies of all packages,
+even those only installed on other platforms. uv tries to avoid package builds during resolution. It
+uses any wheel if exist for that version, then tries to find static metadata in the source
+distribution (mainly pyproject.toml with static `project.version`, `project.dependencies` and
+`project.optional-dependencies` or METADATA of at least version 2.2). Only if all of that fails, it
+builds the package.
+
+When installing, uv needs to have a wheel for the current platform for each package. If no matching
+wheel exists in the index, uv tries to build the source distribution.
+
+You can check which wheels exist for a PyPI project under “Download Files”, e.g.
+https://pypi.org/project/numpy/2.1.1/#files. Wheels with `...-py3-none-any.whl` filenames work
+everywhere, others have the operating system and platform in the filename. For the linked numpy
+version, you can see that Python 3.10 to 3.13 on MacOS, Linux and Windows are supported.
+
+### Fixes and Workarounds
+
+- If the build error mentions a missing header or library, there is often a matching package in your
+  system package manager.
+
+       Example: When `uv pip install mysqlclient==2.2.4` fails on Ubuntu, you need to run
+       `sudo apt install default-libmysqlclient-dev build-essential pkg-config` to install the MySQL
+       headers ([https://pypi.org/project/mysqlclient/2.2.4/](https://pypi.org/project/mysqlclient/2.2.4/#Linux))
+
+- If the build error mentions a failing import, consider
+  [deactivating build isolation](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/concepts/projects/#build-isolation).
+- If a package fails to build during resolution and the version that failed to build is older than
+  the version you want to use, try adding a
+  [constraint](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/reference/settings/#constraint-dependencies) with a lower
+  bound (e.g. `numpy>=1.17`). Sometimes, due to algorithmic limitations, the uv resolver tries to
+  find a fitting version using unreasonably old packages, which can be prevented by using lower
+  bounds.
+- Consider using a different Python version for locking and/or installation (`-p`). If you are using
+  an older Python version, you may need to use an older version of certain packages with native code
+  too, especially for scientific code. Example: torch 1.12.0 support Python 3.7 to 3.10
+  (https://pypi.org/project/torch/1.12.0/#files), while numpy 2.1.0 supports Python 3.10 to 3.13
+  (https://numpy.org/doc/stable/release/2.1.0-notes.html#numpy-2-1-0-release-notes), so both
+  together mean you need Python 3.10 (or upgrade torch).
+- If locking fails due to building a package from a platform you do not support, consider
+  [declaring resolver environments](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/reference/settings/#environments) with
+  your supported platforms.
+- If you support a large range of Python versions, consider using markers to use older versions for
+  older Python versions and newer versions for newer Python version. In the example, numpy tends to
+  support four Python minor version at a time, so to support Python 3.8 to 3.13, the versions need
+  to be split:
+
+      ```
+      numpy>=1.23; python_version >= "3.10"
+      numpy<1.23; python_version < "3.10"
+      ```
+
+- If locking fails due to building a package from a different platform, as an escape hatch you can
+  [provide dependency metadata manually](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/reference/settings/#dependency-metadata).
+  As uv can not verify this information, it is important to specify correct metadata in this
+  override.

mkdocs.template.yml

@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ nav:
       - reference/index.md
       - Commands: reference/cli.md
       - Settings: reference/settings.md
+      - Build Failures: reference/build_failures.md
       - Resolver: reference/resolver-internals.md
       - Benchmarks: reference/benchmarks.md
       - Versioning: reference/versioning.md