ADR-0003: PyPI distribution name

Status: ACCEPTED Date: 2026-10-10 Deciders: Yathindra (chose the name in the Phase 1 question round); Claude Code (checked availability) Phase: 1

Context

The build guide calls the package driftwatch and every phase prompt uses the import path src/driftwatch/.... The plan warned that the name driftwatch might be taken on PyPI [verify]. Phase 12 publishes to TestPyPI and then PyPI through Trusted Publishing.

Availability evidence (checked 2026-10-10)

Method: HTTP GET https://pypi.org/pypi/<name>/json and https://test.pypi.org/pypi/<name>/json. A 404 response means no project exists under that name.

Name	PyPI	TestPyPI
driftwatch	Taken. v0.4.0, uploaded 2026-02-18; summary “Lightweight ML drift monitoring, built for real-world pipelines”; MIT; project URL github.com/VincentCotella/DriftWatch; imports as driftwatch	404 (free)
driftwatch-ml	404 (free)	404 (free)
driftwatch-lifetime	404 (free)	404 (free)
driftwatch-malware	404 (free)	404 (free)
driftwatch-sec	404 (free)	404 (free)

A 404 does not guarantee that PyPI will accept a name (PyPI can refuse names it considers too similar or reserved) [verify at Phase 12 with the TestPyPI rehearsal].

Other uses of “DriftWatch” noticed (web search, 2026-10-10): FieldWatch Inc.’s DriftWatch specialty-crop registry for pesticide drift (driftwatch.org); an iOS anchor-drift alarm app; a NOAA buoy-tracking tool. A quick search found no registered “DriftWatch” trademark. This is not a legal clearance [verify].

Options considered

Option A: driftwatch-lifetime

Names what is measured (detector lifetime) and is clearly distinct from the generic ML-drift driftwatch package.

Option B: driftwatch-ml

Short, but easily mistaken for an add-on to the existing driftwatch ML-drift library.

Option C: driftwatch-sec

Short; less descriptive.

Option D: driftwatch-malware

Most descriptive. Risks tripping corporate proxies or antivirus heuristics, and can be misread as a malware distribution.

Decision (choice)

Distribution name driftwatch-lifetime; import name driftwatch. The import name stays driftwatch because every later phase prompt, the guide’s module map and the reviewers’ instructions refer to src/driftwatch/.

Consequences

• pyproject.toml: name = "driftwatch-lifetime", [tool.uv.build-backend] module-name = "driftwatch", console script driftwatch.

• Known clash: the PyPI package driftwatch also installs the import package driftwatch. Installing both in one environment would overwrite files. The README will say so at release. Renaming the import package later would touch every module path, so revisit only if a user reports the clash.

• Accidental-upload guard: pyproject.toml carries the classifier Private :: Do Not Upload. Per https://pypi.org/classifiers/ (accessed 2026-10-10): “PyPI will always reject packages with classifiers beginning with Private ::.” Phase 12 removes it, after the licence, ethics and claims audits and the researcher’s go.

• Re-check availability right before the Phase 12 TestPyPI rehearsal. If the name has been taken by then, fall back to driftwatch-sec and amend this ADR.