diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27c93395
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+name: Build & Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+    tags:
+      - '*'
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  build_sdist_purepy:
+    name: Build source/pure python wheels
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        submodules: 'recursive'
+
+    - name: Build source/pure python wheels
+      run: |
+        python -m pip install build
+        python -m build --outdir=wheelhouse
+      env:
+        INFINIGEN_MINIMAL_INSTALL: "True"
+
+    - name: Upload to github
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        path: wheelhouse/*
+        if-no-files-found: error
+
+  build_wheels:
+    name: Build wheel on ${{ matrix.os }} for ${{ matrix.cibw_archs }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          # we skip Windows since that results in pure Python wheels
+          # anyway; (compile_terrain.sh is not supported on Windows)
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            cibw_archs: "x86_64"
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            cibw_archs: "aarch64"
+          - os: macos-13
+            cibw_archs: "x86_64"
+          - os: macos-latest
+            cibw_archs: "arm64"
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Install macOS dependencies
+      if: runner.os == 'macOS'
+      run: |
+        brew install libomp
+        echo "MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=$(sw_vers -productVersion | cut -d '.' -f 1-2)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - name: Set CXXFLAGS and LDFLAGS for macOS
+      if: matrix.os == 'macos-13'
+      run: |
+        echo "CXX=$(brew --prefix llvm@15)/bin/clang++" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "CXXFLAGS=-I/usr/local/opt/libomp/include" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "LDFLAGS=-Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/opt/libomp/lib -L/usr/local/opt/libomp/lib -lomp" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - name: Set CXXFLAGS and LDFLAGS for macOS
+      if: matrix.os == 'macos-latest'
+      run: |
+        echo "CXX=$(brew --prefix llvm@15)/bin/clang++" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "CXXFLAGS=-I/opt/homebrew/opt/libomp/include" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "LDFLAGS=-Wl,-rpath,/opt/homebrew/opt/libomp/lib -L/opt/homebrew/opt/libomp/lib -lomp" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        submodules: 'recursive'
+
+    - name: Build wheels
+      uses: pypa/cibuildwheel@v2.21
+      with:
+        output-dir: wheelhouse
+      env:
+        CIBW_BUILD: "cp311-*"
+        # `bpy` is not easily pip-installable on manylinux (no sdists either),
+        # so we skip tests
+        CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: ""
+        CIBW_BUILD_VERBOSITY: 1
+        CIBW_ENVIRONMENT:
+          CXXFLAGS="${{ env.CXXFLAGS }}"
+          LDFLAGS="${{ env.LDFLAGS }}"
+
+    - name: Upload artifacts to github
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        name: wheels-${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.cibw_archs }}
+        path: ./wheelhouse/*.whl
+        if-no-files-found: error
+
+  publish_to_pypi:
+    name: Publish wheels to PyPi
+    if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.event.ref, 'refs/tags')
+    needs: [build_sdist_purepy, build_wheels]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Download packages
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          path: dist
+          merge-multiple: true
+
+      - name: Upload wheels to pypi
+        env:
+          TWINE_USERNAME: __token__
+          TWINE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.PYPI_API_TOKEN }}
+          TWINE_REPOSITORY: testpypi
+        run: |
+          python -m pip install --upgrade twine
+          twine upload dist/*
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index bb2b857b..785bff09 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ keywords = [
     "procedural"
 ]
 classifiers = [
-    "Framework :: Blender",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
 ]
 
diff --git a/scripts/install/compile_terrain.sh b/scripts/install/compile_terrain.sh
index 5f74dc26..d8bab46f 100644
--- a/scripts/install/compile_terrain.sh
+++ b/scripts/install/compile_terrain.sh
@@ -71,23 +71,26 @@ fi
 OS=$(uname -s)
 ARCH=$(uname -m)
 
-if [ "${OS}" = "Linux" ]; then
-    alias gx1="g++ -O3 -c -fpic -fopenmp "
-    alias gx2="g++ -O3 -shared -fopenmp "
-elif [ "${OS}" = "Darwin" ]; then
-    if [ "${ARCH}" = "arm64" ]; then
-        compiler="/opt/homebrew/opt/llvm/bin/clang++"
+if [ -n "$CXX" ]; then
+    compiler="$CXX"
+else
+    if [ "${OS}" = "Linux" ]; then
+        compiler="g++"
+    elif [ "${OS}" = "Darwin" ]; then
+        if [ "${ARCH}" = "arm64" ]; then
+            compiler="/opt/homebrew/opt/llvm/bin/clang++"
+        else
+            compiler="/usr/local/opt/llvm/bin/clang++"
+        fi
     else
-        compiler="/usr/local/opt/llvm/bin/clang++"
+        echo "Unsupported OS"
+        exit -1
     fi
-    alias gx1="${compiler} -O3 -c -fpic -fopenmp "
-    alias gx2="${compiler} -O3 -shared -fopenmp "
-    alias gx="${compiler} -O3 -fpic -shared -fopenmp "
-else
-    echo "Unsupported OS"
-    exit -1
 fi
 
+alias gx1="${compiler} \$CXXFLAGS -O3 -c -fpic -fopenmp "
+alias gx2="${compiler} \$LDFLAGS -O3 -shared -fopenmp "
+
 mkdir -p lib/cpu/utils
 gx1 -o lib/cpu/utils/FastNoiseLite.o source/cpu/utils/FastNoiseLite.cpp
 gx2 -o lib/cpu/utils/FastNoiseLite.so lib/cpu/utils/FastNoiseLite.o
@@ -121,16 +124,11 @@ gx2 -o lib/cpu/meshing/utils.so lib/cpu/meshing/utils.o
 echo "compiled lib/cpu/meshing/utils.so"
 
 if [ "${OS}" = "Darwin" ]; then
-    if [ "${ARCH}" = "arm64" ]; then
-        alias gx1="CPATH=/opt/homebrew/include:${CPATH} g++ -O3 -c -fpic -std=c++17"
-        alias gx2="CPATH=/opt/homebrew/include:${CPATH} g++ -O3 -shared -std=c++17"
-    else
-        alias gx1="CPATH=/usr/local/include:${CPATH} g++ -O3 -c -fpic -std=c++17"
-        alias gx2="CPATH=/usr/local/include:${CPATH} g++ -O3 -shared -std=c++17"
-    fi
+    alias gx1="CPATH=/opt/homebrew/include:${CPATH} ${compiler} -O3 -c -fpic -std=c++17"
+    alias gx2="CPATH=/opt/homebrew/include:${CPATH} ${compiler} -O3 -shared -std=c++17"
 fi
 mkdir -p lib/cpu/soil_machine
-gx1 -o lib/cpu/soil_machine/SoilMachine.o source/cpu/soil_machine/SoilMachine.cpp
+gx1 -I../datagen/customgt/dependencies/glm -o lib/cpu/soil_machine/SoilMachine.o source/cpu/soil_machine/SoilMachine.cpp
 gx2 -o lib/cpu/soil_machine/SoilMachine.so lib/cpu/soil_machine/SoilMachine.o
 echo "compiled lib/cpu/soil_machine/SoilMachine.so"
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d7c7fb75..332cb96e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ def ensure_submodules():
         )
 
 
-ensure_submodules()
+if not MINIMAL_INSTALL:
+    ensure_submodules()
 
 # inspired by https://github.com/pytorch/pytorch/blob/161ea463e690dcb91a30faacbf7d100b98524b6b/setup.py#L290
 # theirs seems to not exclude dist_info but this causes duplicate compiling in my tests