How include static files to setuptools – python package

As pointed out in the comments, there are 2 ways to add the static files:

1 – include_package_data=True + MANIFEST.in

A MANIFEST.in file in the same directory of setup.py that looks like this:

include src/static/*
include src/Potato/*.txt

With include_package_data = True in setup.py.

2 – package_data in setup.py

package_data = {
    'static': ['*'],
    'Potato': ['*.txt']
}

Specify the files inside the setup.py.

---

Do not use both include_package_data and package_data in setup.py.

include_package_data will nullify the package_data information.

Official docs:
https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/userguide/datafiles.html