DOC: add page stating Meson compatibility

Fixes #392.

docs/index.rst

@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ free to open an issue on our bugtracker_.
    reference/environment-variables
    explanations/default-options
    reference/limitations
+   reference/meson-compatibility
 
 .. reference/quirks
 

docs/reference/meson-compatibility.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+.. SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2023 The meson-python developers
+..
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+.. _meson-compatibility:
+
+*******************
+Meson compatibility
+*******************
+
+``meson-python`` tightly integrates with Meson to produce Python
+wheels and sdists. Therefore, correct operation depends on
+functionality implemented by Meson.  ``meson-python`` strives to
+maintain compatibility with as old as possible Meson releases.
+However, some functionality is available only with more recent Meson
+versions.
+
+.. option:: 0.63.3
+
+   Meson is 0.63.3 is the minimum required version.
+
+.. option:: 1.1.0
+
+   Meson 1.1.0 or later is required to support the ``exclude_files``
+   and ``exclude_directories`` arguments to Meson ``install_subdir``
+   and similar installation functions. On older Meson versions, these
+   arguments have no effect.
+
+.. option:: 1.3.0
+
+   Meson 1.3.0 or later is required for compiling extension modules
+   targeting the Python limited API.
+
+Build front-ends by default build packages in an isolated Python
+environment where build dependencies are installed. Most often, unless
+a package or its build dependencies declare explicitly a version
+constraint, this results in the most recent version of the build
+dependencies to be installed. However, if a package uses
+functionalities implemented only in combination with a specific Meson
+version, it is recommended to explicitly declare a version
+requirement in ``pyproject.toml``. For example:
+
+.. code-block:: toml
+
+   [build-system]
+   build-backend = 'mesonpy'
+   requires = [
+     'meson-python',
+     'meson >= 1.1.0',
+   ]