diff --git a/SLS_Python/MANIFEST.in b/SLS_Python/MANIFEST.in
deleted file mode 100644
index 2fe37bd..0000000
--- a/SLS_Python/MANIFEST.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-include scripts/*.py
-include scripts/*.in
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/SLS_Python/README.md b/SLS_Python/README.md
index 019c290..99c59c7 100644
--- a/SLS_Python/README.md
+++ b/SLS_Python/README.md
@@ -1,42 +1,17 @@
 # SLS Python
 
-This directory contains a minimal Python project skeleton intended to reimplement
-functionality from the C `SLS` project found at the repository root.
-
-Layout
-- `src/sls/` — Python package with module skeletons: `lexer`, `parser`, `interpreter`, `builtin`, `repl`, and `cli`.
-- `tests/` — pytest tests (start with `test_import.py`).
-- `pyproject.toml` — project metadata and `sls` console script entrypoint.
-- `requirements-dev.txt` — developer/test tools.
-
-Quick start
-
-Create a venv and install editable package + dev requirements:
+## Building
 
 ```bash
+cd SLS_Python
 python -m venv .venv
 source .venv/bin/activate
-pip install -e SLS_Python
-pip install -r SLS_Python/requirements-dev.txt
+
+pip install build wheel "setuptools>=61.0"
+
+# Install the backend (one-time setup)
+pip install -e sls_build_backend
+
+# Build with --no-isolation (required because backend is local)
+python -m build --no-isolation
 ```
-
-Run tests:
-
-```bash
-pytest -q
-```
-
-Run the REPL:
-
-```bash
-sls repl
-```
-
-Next steps (suggested)
-- Port `lexer.c` to `src/sls/lexer.py` and add comprehensive tokenization tests.
-- Port `parser` and `interpreter` incrementally, keeping tests for parity.
-- Add CI (GitHub Actions) and type checking (`mypy`).
-
-If you want, I can now:
-- Run the tests in this environment (if you want me to configure the Python env), or
-- Start porting a specific module from the C implementation (lexer is a good first target).
diff --git a/SLS_Python/pyproject.toml b/SLS_Python/pyproject.toml
index 4082f2d..1e2b130 100644
--- a/SLS_Python/pyproject.toml
+++ b/SLS_Python/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Build this file using 'python -m build' (from 'build' package)
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "wheel"]
-build-backend = "sls.build_hooks"
+requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "wheel", "sls_build_backend"]
+build-backend = "sls_build_backend"
 
 [project]
 name = "sls_python"
diff --git a/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/__init__.py b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..421c2f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+"""Build backend for sls_python package."""
+
+from .build_hooks import build_wheel, build_sdist
+
+__all__ = ["build_wheel", "build_sdist"]
diff --git a/SLS_Python/scripts/_version.py.in b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/_version.py.in
similarity index 100%
rename from SLS_Python/scripts/_version.py.in
rename to SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/_version.py.in
diff --git a/SLS_Python/sls/build_hooks.py b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/build_hooks.py
similarity index 80%
rename from SLS_Python/sls/build_hooks.py
rename to SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/build_hooks.py
index 4c984de..a39cb3d 100644
--- a/SLS_Python/sls/build_hooks.py
+++ b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/build_hooks.py
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-import subprocess
 from setuptools.build_meta import build_wheel as _build_wheel
 from setuptools.build_meta import build_sdist as _build_sdist
 
 def _generate_version():
-    subprocess.check_call(["python", "scripts/write_version.py"])
-
+    from .write_version import main
+    main()
 
 def build_wheel(*args, **kwargs):
     _generate_version()
diff --git a/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/pyproject.toml b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f60e18b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools>=61.0", "wheel"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "sls-build-backend"
+version = "0.1.0"
+description = "Build backend for sls_python"
+authors = [{name = "Kyler Olsen"}]
+requires-python = ">=3.10"
+
+[tool.setuptools]
+packages = ["sls_build_backend"]
+package-dir = {"" = ".."}
diff --git a/SLS_Python/scripts/write_version.py b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/write_version.py
similarity index 94%
rename from SLS_Python/scripts/write_version.py
rename to SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/write_version.py
index 300894c..c0c8e8b 100644
--- a/SLS_Python/scripts/write_version.py
+++ b/SLS_Python/sls_build_backend/write_version.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import datetime
 import pathlib
 
 root = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
-template = root / "scripts" / "_version.py.in"
+template = root / "sls_build_backend" / "_version.py.in"
 output = root / "sls" / "_version.py"
 
 def get_commit():