diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index a2945185..cd8f183d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -114,7 +114,18 @@ jobs:
       date: ${{ inputs.date }}
       package-name: cugraph-pyg
       package-type: python
+  wheel-build-libwholegraph:
+    secrets: inherit
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-25.06
+    with:
+      build_type: pull-request
+      script: ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh
+      package-type: cpp
+      wheel-name: libwholegraph
+      # build for every combination of arch and CUDA version, but only for the latest Python
+      matrix_filter: group_by([.ARCH, (.CUDA_VER|split(".")|map(tonumber)|.[0])]) | map(max_by(.PY_VER|split(".")|map(tonumber)))
   wheel-build-pylibwholegraph:
+    needs: wheel-build-libwholegraph
     secrets: inherit
     uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-25.06
     with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
index c6adc51a..e07af7aa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ jobs:
       - conda-python-tests
       - docs-build
       - conda-notebook-tests
+      - wheel-build-libwholegraph
       - wheel-build-pylibwholegraph
       - wheel-tests-pylibwholegraph
       - wheel-build-cugraph-dgl
@@ -136,10 +137,21 @@ jobs:
       build_type: pull-request
       container_image: "rapidsai/ci-conda:latest"
       run_script: "ci/build_docs.sh"
-  wheel-build-pylibwholegraph:
+  wheel-build-libwholegraph:
     needs: checks
     secrets: inherit
     uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-25.06
+    with:
+      build_type: pull-request
+      script: ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh
+      package-type: cpp
+      wheel-name: libwholegraph
+      # build for every combination of arch and CUDA version, but only for the latest Python
+      matrix_filter: group_by([.ARCH, (.CUDA_VER|split(".")|map(tonumber)|.[0])]) | map(max_by(.PY_VER|split(".")|map(tonumber)))
+  wheel-build-pylibwholegraph:
+    needs: [checks, wheel-build-libwholegraph]
+    secrets: inherit
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-25.06
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       script: ci/build_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel.sh b/ci/build_wheel.sh
index 46f0bd20..58ccbbff 100755
--- a/ci/build_wheel.sh
+++ b/ci/build_wheel.sh
@@ -5,30 +5,31 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 package_name=$1
 package_dir=$2
-underscore_package_name=$(echo "${package_name}" | tr "-" "_")
+package_type=$3
 
 # The set of shared libraries that should be packaged differs by project.
 #
 # Capturing that here in argument-parsing to allow this build_wheel.sh
 # script to be re-used by all wheel builds in the project.
-case "${package_dir}" in
-  python/pylibwholegraph)
-    EXCLUDE_ARGS=(
-        --exclude libcuda.so.1
-        --exclude libnvidia-ml.so.1
+#
+EXCLUDE_ARGS=(
+    --exclude libcuda.so.1
+    --exclude libnvidia-ml.so.1
+    --exclude librapids_logger.so
+)
+
+if [[ "${package_name}" != "libwholegraph" ]]; then
+    EXCLUDE_ARGS+=(
+        --exclude libwholegraph.so
     )
-  ;;
-  *)
-    EXCLUDE_ARGS=()
-  ;;
-esac
+fi
 
 source rapids-configure-sccache
 source rapids-date-string
 
 rapids-generate-version > ./VERSION
 
-RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen ${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION})"
+RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen "${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION}")"
 
 cd "${package_dir}"
 
@@ -56,5 +57,5 @@ else
         -w "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}" \
         dist/*
 
-    RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="${package_name}_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-upload-wheels-to-s3 python "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}"
+    RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="${package_name}_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-upload-wheels-to-s3 "${package_type}" "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}"
 fi
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh b/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh
index e492eddb..dc29b871 100755
--- a/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh
+++ b/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 package_dir="python/cugraph-dgl"
 
-./ci/build_wheel.sh cugraph-dgl ${package_dir}
+./ci/build_wheel.sh cugraph-dgl ${package_dir} python
 ./ci/validate_wheel.sh ${package_dir} "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}"
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh b/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
index f1476714..686a1289 100755
--- a/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
+++ b/ci/build_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 package_dir="python/cugraph-pyg"
 
-./ci/build_wheel.sh cugraph-pyg ${package_dir}
+./ci/build_wheel.sh cugraph-pyg ${package_dir} python
 ./ci/validate_wheel.sh ${package_dir} "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}"
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh b/ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..8c700914
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/build_wheel_libwholegraph.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Copyright (c) 2024-2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+package_dir="python/libwholegraph"
+
+export SKBUILD_CMAKE_ARGS="-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON;-DCMAKE_MESSAGE_LOG_LEVEL=VERBOSE;-DCUDA_STATIC_RUNTIME=ON"
+
+./ci/build_wheel.sh libwholegraph ${package_dir} cpp
+./ci/validate_wheel.sh ${package_dir} "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}"
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh b/ci/build_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
index fc8da533..0b079246 100755
--- a/ci/build_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
+++ b/ci/build_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,18 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 package_dir="python/pylibwholegraph"
 
-export SKBUILD_CMAKE_ARGS="-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF;-DCMAKE_MESSAGE_LOG_LEVEL=VERBOSE;-DCUDA_STATIC_RUNTIME=ON;-DWHOLEGRAPH_BUILD_WHEELS=ON"
+RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen "${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION}")"
 
-./ci/build_wheel.sh pylibwholegraph ${package_dir}
+# Download the libcugraph wheel built in the previous step and make it
+# available for pip to find.
+RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="libwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 cpp /tmp/libwholegraph_dist
+echo "libwholegraph-${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX} @ file://$(echo /tmp/libwholegraph_dist/libwholegraph_*.whl)" > /tmp/constraints.txt
+
+# Using env variable PIP_CONSTRAINT is necessary to ensure the constraints
+# are used when creating the isolated build environment.
+export PIP_CONSTRAINT="/tmp/constraints.txt"
+
+export SKBUILD_CMAKE_ARGS="-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON;-DCMAKE_MESSAGE_LOG_LEVEL=VERBOSE;-DCUDA_STATIC_RUNTIME=ON;-DWHOLEGRAPH_BUILD_WHEELS=ON"
+
+./ci/build_wheel.sh pylibwholegraph ${package_dir} python
 ./ci/validate_wheel.sh ${package_dir} "${RAPIDS_WHEEL_BLD_OUTPUT_DIR}"
diff --git a/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh b/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh
index 5900dced..756b0308 100755
--- a/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh
+++ b/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-dgl.sh
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ package_name="cugraph-dgl"
 mkdir -p ./dist
 RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen ${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION})"
 
-# Download the pylibwholegraph and cugraph-dgl built in the previous step
+# Download the libwholegraph, pylibwholegraph, and cugraph-dgl built in the previous step
+RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="libwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 cpp ./local-libwholegraph-dep
 RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="pylibwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 python ./local-deps
 RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="${package_name}_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_PURE="1" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 python ./dist
 
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ rapids-pip-retry install \
     -v \
     --extra-index-url "${PYTORCH_URL}" \
     --find-links "${DGL_URL}" \
+    ./local-libwholegraph-dep/*.whl \
     "$(echo ./local-deps/pylibwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}*.whl)" \
     "$(echo ./dist/cugraph_dgl_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}*.whl)[test]" \
     'dgl==2.4.0' \
diff --git a/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh b/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
index 4f521083..04d4c20f 100755
--- a/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
+++ b/ci/test_wheel_cugraph-pyg.sh
@@ -8,13 +8,15 @@ package_name="cugraph-pyg"
 mkdir -p ./dist
 RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen ${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION})"
 
-# Download the pylibwholegraph and cugraph-pyg built in the previous step
+# Download the libwholegraph, pylibwholegraph, and cugraph-pyg built in the previous step
+RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="libwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 cpp ./local-libwholegraph-dep
 RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="pylibwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 python ./local-deps
 RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="${package_name}_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_PURE="1" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 python ./dist
 
 # echo to expand wildcard before adding `[extra]` requires for pip
 rapids-pip-retry install \
     -v \
+    ./local-libwholegraph-dep/*.whl \
     "$(echo ./local-deps/pylibwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}*.whl)" \
     "$(echo ./dist/cugraph_pyg_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}*.whl)[test]"
 
diff --git a/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh b/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
index f3b646db..ae7bbbad 100755
--- a/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
+++ b/ci/test_wheel_pylibwholegraph.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ set -E          # ERR traps are inherited by subcommands
 
 mkdir -p ./dist
 RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen ${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION})"
+RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="libwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 cpp ./local-libwholegraph-dep
 RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="pylibwholegraph_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-download-wheels-from-s3 python ./dist
 
 # determine pytorch source
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ rapids-logger "Installing Packages"
 rapids-pip-retry install \
     --extra-index-url ${INDEX_URL} \
     "$(echo ./dist/pylibwholegraph*.whl)[test]" \
+    ./local-libwholegraph-dep/*.whl \
     'torch>=2.3'
 
 rapids-logger "pytest pylibwholegraph"
diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index f3fc3080..0ebd9e8b 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -108,6 +108,34 @@ files:
       - depends_on_pylibwholegraph
       - test_python_pylibwholegraph
 
+  py_build_libwholegraph:
+    output: pyproject
+    pyproject_dir: python/libwholegraph
+    extras:
+      table: build-system
+    includes:
+      - rapids_build_skbuild
+
+  py_rapids_build_libwholegraph:
+    output: pyproject
+    pyproject_dir: python/libwholegraph
+    extras:
+      table: tool.rapids-build-backend
+      key: requires
+    includes:
+      - common_build
+      - depends_on_libraft
+      - depends_on_librmm
+
+  py_run_libwholegraph:
+    output: pyproject
+    pyproject_dir: python/libwholegraph
+    extras:
+      table: project
+    includes:
+      - depends_on_rapids_logger
+      - depends_on_libraft
+
   py_build_pylibwholegraph:
     output: pyproject
     pyproject_dir: python/pylibwholegraph
@@ -115,6 +143,7 @@ files:
       table: build-system
     includes:
       - rapids_build_skbuild
+
   py_rapids_build_pylibwholegraph:
     output: pyproject
     pyproject_dir: python/pylibwholegraph
@@ -124,6 +153,10 @@ files:
     includes:
       - common_build
       - python_build_cythonize
+      - depends_on_libwholegraph
+      - depends_on_libraft
+      - depends_on_librmm
+
   py_run_pylibwholegraph:
     output: pyproject
     pyproject_dir: python/pylibwholegraph
@@ -131,6 +164,7 @@ files:
       table: project
     includes:
       - python_run_pylibwholegraph
+      - depends_on_libwholegraph
   py_test_pylibwholegraph:
     output: pyproject
     pyproject_dir: python/pylibwholegraph
@@ -367,6 +401,11 @@ dependencies:
       - output_types: [conda, pyproject, requirements]
         packages:
           - cython>=3.0.0
+  python_run_libwholegraph:
+    common:
+      - output_types: [conda, pyproject, requirements]
+        packages:
+          - depends_on_rapids_logger
   python_run_pylibwholegraph:
     common:
       - output_types: [conda, pyproject, requirements]
@@ -524,11 +563,91 @@ dependencies:
               - pylibwholegraph-cu11==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
           - {matrix: null, packages: [*pylibwholegraph_unsuffixed]}
 
+  depends_on_libraft:
+    common:
+      - output_types: conda
+        packages:
+          - &libraft_unsuffixed libraft==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+      - output_types: requirements
+        packages:
+          # pip recognizes the index as a global option for the requirements.txt file
+          - --extra-index-url=https://pypi.nvidia.com
+          - --extra-index-url=https://pypi.anaconda.org/rapidsai-wheels-nightly/simple
+    specific:
+      - output_types: [requirements, pyproject]
+        matrices:
+          - matrix:
+              cuda: "12.*"
+              cuda_suffixed: "true"
+            packages:
+              - libraft-cu12==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - matrix:
+              cuda: "11.*"
+              cuda_suffixed: "true"
+            packages:
+              - libraft-cu11==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - {matrix: null, packages: [*libraft_unsuffixed]}
+
+  depends_on_librmm:
+    common:
+      - output_types: conda
+        packages:
+          - librmm==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - &librmm_unsuffixed librmm==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+      - output_types: requirements
+        packages:
+          # pip recognizes the index as a global option for the requirements.txt file
+          - --extra-index-url=https://pypi.nvidia.com
+          - --extra-index-url=https://pypi.anaconda.org/rapidsai-wheels-nightly/simple
+    specific:
+      - output_types: [requirements, pyproject]
+        matrices:
+          - matrix:
+              cuda: "12.*"
+              cuda_suffixed: "true"
+            packages:
+              - librmm-cu12==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - matrix:
+              cuda: "11.*"
+              cuda_suffixed: "true"
+            packages:
+              - librmm-cu11==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - {matrix: null, packages: [*librmm_unsuffixed]}
+
+  depends_on_rapids_logger:
+    common:
+      - output_types: [conda, requirements, pyproject]
+        packages:
+          - rapids-logger==0.1.*,>=0.0.0a0
+      - output_types: requirements
+        packages:
+          # pip recognizes the index as a global option for the requirements.txt file
+          - --extra-index-url=https://pypi.anaconda.org/rapidsai-wheels-nightly/simple
+
   depends_on_libwholegraph:
     common:
       - output_types: conda
         packages:
-          - libwholegraph==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - &libwholegraph_unsuffixed libwholegraph==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+      - output_types: requirements
+        packages:
+          # pip recognizes the index as a global option for the requirements.txt file
+          - --extra-index-url=https://pypi.nvidia.com
+          - --extra-index-url=https://pypi.anaconda.org/rapidsai-wheels-nightly/simple
+    specific:
+      - output_types: [requirements, pyproject]
+        matrices:
+          - matrix:
+              cuda: "12.*"
+              cuda_suffixed: "true"
+            packages:
+              - libwholegraph-cu12==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - matrix:
+              cuda: "11.*"
+              cuda_suffixed: "true"
+            packages:
+              - libwholegraph-cu11==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0
+          - {matrix: null, packages: [*libwholegraph_unsuffixed]}
 
   depends_on_libwholegraph_tests:
     common:
diff --git a/python/libwholegraph/CMakeLists.txt b/python/libwholegraph/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..20a7cbab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/libwholegraph/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# Copyright (c) 2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
+# in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License
+# is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
+# or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+# the License.
+# =============================================================================
+
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.30.4 FATAL_ERROR)
+
+include(../../cmake/rapids_config.cmake)
+include(rapids-cmake)
+include(rapids-cuda)
+
+rapids_cuda_init_architectures(LIBWHOLEGRAPH)
+
+project(
+  LIBWHOLEGRAPH
+  VERSION "${RAPIDS_VERSION}"
+  LANGUAGES CXX CUDA
+)
+
+# * Dependencies
+
+SET(BUILD_TESTS OFF)
+SET(BUILD_BENCHMARKS OFF)
+
+add_subdirectory(../../cpp/ libwholegraph)
diff --git a/python/libwholegraph/README.md b/python/libwholegraph/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae42a26d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/libwholegraph/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../README.md
diff --git a/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/VERSION b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/VERSION
new file mode 120000
index 00000000..d62dc733
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../../VERSION
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/__init__.py b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..086b300a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from libwholegraph._version import __git_commit__, __version__
+from libwholegraph.load import load_library
diff --git a/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/_version.py b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da66c0d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import importlib.resources
+
+__version__ = (
+    importlib.resources.files(__package__).joinpath("VERSION").read_text().strip()
+)
+try:
+    __git_commit__ = (
+        importlib.resources.files(__package__)
+        .joinpath("GIT_COMMIT")
+        .read_text()
+        .strip()
+    )
+except FileNotFoundError:
+    __git_commit__ = ""
+
+__all__ = ["__git_commit__", "__version__"]
diff --git a/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/load.py b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/load.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..af26cd50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/libwholegraph/libwholegraph/load.py
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+import ctypes
+import os
+
+# Loading with RTLD_LOCAL adds the library itself to the loader's
+# loaded library cache without loading any symbols into the global
+# namespace. This allows libraries that express a dependency on
+# this library to be loaded later and successfully satisfy this dependency
+# without polluting the global symbol table with symbols from
+# libwholegraph that could conflict with symbols from other DSOs.
+PREFERRED_LOAD_FLAG = ctypes.RTLD_LOCAL
+
+
+def _load_system_installation(soname: str):
+    """Try to dlopen() the library indicated by ``soname``
+    Raises ``OSError`` if library cannot be loaded.
+    """
+    return ctypes.CDLL(soname, PREFERRED_LOAD_FLAG)
+
+
+def _load_wheel_installation(soname: str):
+    """Try to dlopen() the library indicated by ``soname``
+
+    Returns ``None`` if the library cannot be loaded.
+    """
+    if os.path.isfile(lib := os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "lib64", soname)):
+        return ctypes.CDLL(lib, PREFERRED_LOAD_FLAG)
+    return None
+
+
+def load_library():
+    """Dynamically load libwholegraph.so and its dependencies"""
+    try:
+        # these libraries must be loaded before libwholegraph because
+        # libwholegraph references their symbols
+        import libraft
+        import rapids_logger
+
+        libraft.load_library()
+        rapids_logger.load_library()
+    except ModuleNotFoundError:
+        # 'libwholegraph' has a runtime dependency on 'libraft' et al.. However,
+        # that dependency might be satisfied by a conda package
+        # (which does not have any Python modules), instead of a wheel.
+        #
+        # In that situation, assume that a shared object is in a place where
+        # the loader can find it.
+        pass
+
+    prefer_system_installation = (
+        os.getenv("RAPIDS_LIBWHOLEGRAPH_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIBRARY", "false").lower()
+        != "false"
+    )
+
+    libs_to_return = []
+    for soname in ["libwholegraph.so"]:
+        libwholegraph_lib = None
+        if prefer_system_installation:
+            # Prefer a system library if one is present to
+            # avoid clobbering symbols that other packages might expect, but if no
+            # other library is present use the one in the wheel.
+            try:
+                libwholegraph_lib = _load_system_installation(soname)
+            except OSError:
+                libwholegraph_lib = _load_wheel_installation(soname)
+        else:
+            # Prefer the libraries bundled in this package. If they aren't found
+            # (which might be the case in builds where the library was prebuilt before
+            # packaging the wheel), look for a system installation.
+            try:
+                libwholegraph_lib = _load_wheel_installation(soname)
+                if libwholegraph_lib is None:
+                    libwholegraph_lib = _load_system_installation(soname)
+            except OSError:
+                # If none of the searches above succeed, just silently return None
+                # and rely on other mechanisms (like RPATHs on other DSOs) to
+                # help the loader find the library.
+                pass
+        if libwholegraph_lib:
+            libs_to_return.append(libwholegraph_lib)
+
+    # The caller almost never needs to do anything with these libraries, but no
+    # harm in offering the option since these objects at least provide handles
+    # to inspect where libcugraph was loaded from.
+
+    return libs_to_return
diff --git a/python/libwholegraph/pyproject.toml b/python/libwholegraph/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cf3394d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/libwholegraph/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+[build-system]
+build-backend = "rapids_build_backend.build"
+requires = [
+    "rapids-build-backend>=0.3.0,<0.4.0.dev0",
+    "scikit-build-core[pyproject]>=0.10.0",
+] # This list was generated by `rapids-dependency-file-generator`. To make changes, edit ../../dependencies.yaml and run `rapids-dependency-file-generator`.
+
+[project]
+name = "libwholegraph"
+dynamic = ["version"]
+description = "wholegraph"
+readme = { file = "README.md", content-type = "text/markdown" }
+authors = [
+    { name = "NVIDIA Corporation" },
+]
+license = { text = "Apache-2.0" }
+requires-python = ">=3.10"
+classifiers = [
+    "Intended Audience :: Developers",
+    "Topic :: Database",
+    "Topic :: Scientific/Engineering",
+    "License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License",
+    "Programming Language :: C++",
+    "Environment :: GPU :: NVIDIA CUDA",
+]
+dependencies = [
+    "libraft==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0",
+    "rapids-logger==0.1.*,>=0.0.0a0",
+] # This list was generated by `rapids-dependency-file-generator`. To make changes, edit ../../dependencies.yaml and run `rapids-dependency-file-generator`.
+
+
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {file = "libwholegraph/VERSION"}
+
+[project.urls]
+Homepage = "https://github.com/rapidsai/cugraph-gnn"
+
+[project.entry-points."cmake.prefix"]
+# this tells scikit-build-core to add this to cmake.prefix so
+# find_package(libwholegraph) can find the files from this wheel
+libwholegraph = "libwholegraph"
+
+[tool.pydistcheck]
+select = [
+    "distro-too-large-compressed",
+]
+
+# detect when package size grows significantly
+max_allowed_size_compressed = '0.4G'
+
+[tool.scikit-build]
+build-dir = "build/{wheel_tag}"
+cmake.build-type = "Release"
+cmake.version = "CMakeLists.txt"
+minimum-version = "build-system.requires"
+ninja.make-fallback = true
+sdist.reproducible = true
+wheel.packages = ["libwholegraph"]
+wheel.install-dir = "libwholegraph"
+wheel.py-api = "py3"
+
+[tool.scikit-build.metadata.version]
+provider = "scikit_build_core.metadata.regex"
+input = "libwholegraph/VERSION"
+regex = "(?P<value>.*)"
+
+[tool.rapids-build-backend]
+build-backend = "scikit_build_core.build"
+dependencies-file = "../../dependencies.yaml"
+matrix-entry = "cuda_suffixed=true"
+requires = [
+    "cmake>=3.30.4",
+    "libraft==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0",
+    "librmm==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0",
+    "ninja",
+] # This list was generated by `rapids-dependency-file-generator`. To make changes, edit ../../dependencies.yaml and run `rapids-dependency-file-generator`.
diff --git a/python/pylibwholegraph/CMakeLists.txt b/python/pylibwholegraph/CMakeLists.txt
index 4fd8fc00..3263f958 100644
--- a/python/pylibwholegraph/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/pylibwholegraph/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,54 +27,11 @@ project(
   LANGUAGES CXX CUDA
 )
 
-# ##################################################################################################
-# * User Options  ------------------------------------------------------------
-
-option(WHOLEGRAPH_BUILD_WHEELS "Whether we're building a wheel for pypi" OFF)
-
-# ##################################################################################################
-# * Base Rapids Options  -----------------------------------------------------
-
-set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)
-
-# default build type
-rapids_cmake_build_type(Release)
-
-rapids_cpm_init()
-
-include(../../cpp/cmake/thirdparty/get_raft.cmake)
-
-# ##################################################################################################
-# * Dependencies  ------------------------------------------------------------
-
-# use <package>_ROOT here to take precedence over any other package
-if(DEFINED ENV{LIBWHOLEGRAPH_DIR})
-  set(wholegraph_ROOT "$ENV{LIBWHOLEGRAPH_DIR}")
-endif()
-find_package(wholegraph "${RAPIDS_VERSION}")
-message("WholeGraph")
-if(WHOLEGRAPH_FOUND)
-  message(STATUS "PYLIBWHOLEGRAPH: using pre-built wholegraph C++ package")
-elseif(WHOLEGRAPH_BUILD_WHEELS)
-  # statically link dependencies if building wheels
-  message(STATUS "PYLIBWHOLEGRAPH: build wheels")
-  add_subdirectory(../../cpp/ libwholegraph EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
-else()
-  message(FATAL_ERROR "PYLIBWHOLEGRAPH: could not find wholegraph package in "
-                      "cmake prefix ${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH} or user dir $ENV{LIBWHOLEGRAPH_DIR}"
-  )
-endif()
+find_package(wholegraph "${RAPIDS_VERSION}" REQUIRED)
 
 include(rapids-cython-core)
 rapids_cython_init()
 
-# ##################################################################################################
-# * Compiler options ---------------------------------------------------------
-
-message(STATUS "PYLIBWHOLEGRAPH: DEFAULT_CXX_FLAGS='${DEFAULT_CXX_FLAGS}'")
-message(STATUS "PYLIBWHOLEGRAPH: CXX_FLAGS='${CXX_FLAGS}'")
-message(STATUS "PYLIBWHOLEGRAPH: CXX_DEFINITIONS='${CXX_DEFINITIONS}'")
-
 # ##################################################################################################
 # * Cython modules -----------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/python/pylibwholegraph/pylibwholegraph/__init__.py b/python/pylibwholegraph/pylibwholegraph/__init__.py
index e600c30e..efb078f6 100644
--- a/python/pylibwholegraph/pylibwholegraph/__init__.py
+++ b/python/pylibwholegraph/pylibwholegraph/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2022-2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# Copyright (c) 2022-2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 # You may obtain a copy of the License at
@@ -12,3 +12,14 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from pylibwholegraph._version import __git_commit__, __version__
+
+# If libwholegraph was installed as a wheel, we must request it to load the
+# library symbols. Otherwise, we assume that the library was installed in a
+# system path that ld can find.
+try:
+    import libwholegraph
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    pass
+else:
+    libwholegraph.load_library()
+    del libwholegraph
diff --git a/python/pylibwholegraph/pyproject.toml b/python/pylibwholegraph/pyproject.toml
index 0a1ce3b0..c6cc49ce 100644
--- a/python/pylibwholegraph/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/pylibwholegraph/pyproject.toml
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
 ]
 dependencies = [
+    "libwholegraph==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0",
     "numpy>=1.23,<3.0a0",
 ] # This list was generated by `rapids-dependency-file-generator`. To make changes, edit ../../dependencies.yaml and run `rapids-dependency-file-generator`.
 
@@ -55,9 +56,13 @@ test = [
 [tool.rapids-build-backend]
 build-backend = "scikit_build_core.build"
 dependencies-file = "../../dependencies.yaml"
+matrix-entry = "cuda_suffixed=true"
 requires = [
     "cmake>=3.30.4",
     "cython>=3.0.0",
+    "libraft==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0",
+    "librmm==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0",
+    "libwholegraph==25.6.*,>=0.0.0a0",
     "ninja",
 ] # This list was generated by `rapids-dependency-file-generator`. To make changes, edit ../../dependencies.yaml and run `rapids-dependency-file-generator`.