diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_package.yml b/.github/workflows/build_package.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..138e421580
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_package.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+name: Build Package
+
+# Build package on its own without additional pip install
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  pull_request:
+
+env:
+  POETRY_VERSION: "1.6.1"
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        python-version: ["3.9"]
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Set up python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+      - name: Install Poetry
+        uses: snok/install-poetry@v1
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: poetry install --no-root
+      - name: Build
+        shell: bash
+        run: poetry build
+      - name: Test installing built package
+        shell: bash
+        run: python -m pip install .
+      - name: Test import dspy
+        shell: bash
+        working-directory: ${{ vars.RUNNER_TEMP }}
+        run: python -c "import dspy"
+      - name: Test import dsp
+        shell: bash
+        working-directory: ${{ vars.RUNNER_TEMP }}
+        run: python -c "import dsp"
+        
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ac712706d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools>=40.8.0", "wheel"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "dspy-ai"
+version = "2.1.1"
+description = "DSPy"
+readme = "README.md"
+authors = [{name = "Omar Khattab", email = "okhattab@stanford.edu"}]
+license = {text = "MIT License"}
+requires-python = ">=3.9, <3.12"
+classifiers = [
+    "Development Status :: 3 - Alpha",
+    "Intended Audience :: Science/Research",
+    "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
+    "Operating System :: POSIX :: Linux",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3", # removed 3.8
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
+]
+dependencies = [
+    "backoff~=2.2.1",
+    "joblib~=1.3.2",
+    "openai~=0.28.1",
+    "pandas~=2.1.1",
+    "regex~=2023.10.3",
+    "ujson~=5.8.0",
+    "tqdm~=4.66.1",
+    "datasets~=2.14.6",
+    "requests~=2.31.0",
+    "optuna~=3.4.0",
+]
+
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+pinecone = ["pinecone-client~=2.2.4"]
+qdrant = ["qdrant-client~=1.6.2", "fastembed~=0.1.0"]
+chromadb = ["chromadb~=0.4.14"]
+marqo = ["marqo"]
+docs = [
+    "sphinx>=4.3.0",
+    "furo>=2023.3.27",
+    "docutils<0.17",
+    "m2r2",
+    "myst-parser",
+    "myst-nb",
+    "sphinx-autobuild",
+    "sphinx_rtd_theme",
+    "pydantic<2.0.0",
+    "autodoc_pydantic",
+    "sphinx-reredirects>=0.1.2",
+    "sphinx-automodapi==0.16.0"
+]
+
+[project.urls]
+homepage = "https://github.com/stanfordnlp/dspy"
+
+[tool.poetry]
+name = "dspy"
+version = "2.0.8"
+description = "DSPy"
+authors = ["Omar Khattab <okhattab@stanford.edu>"]
+license = "MIT"
+readme = "README.md"
+homepage = "https://github.com/stanfordnlp/dspy"
+repository = "https://github.com/stanfordnlp/dspy"
+# documentation = "https://dspy-ai.readthedocs.io"
+keywords = ["dspy", "ai", "language models", "llm", "openai"]
+# may be a bit much
+
+
+[tool.poetry.dependencies]
+python = ">=3.9,<3.12"
+backoff = "^2.2.1"
+joblib = "^1.3.2"
+openai = "^0.28.1"
+pandas = "^2.1.1"
+regex = "^2023.10.3"
+ujson = "^5.8.0"
+tqdm = "^4.66.1"
+datasets = "^2.14.6"
+requests = "^2.31.0"
+optuna = "^3.4.0"
+pinecone-client = {version = "^2.2.4", optional = true}
+qdrant-client = {version = "^1.6.2", optional = true}
+fastembed = {version = "^0.1.0", optional = true}
+chromadb = {version = "^0.4.14", optional = true}
+marqo = {version = "*", optional = true}
+sphinx = {version = ">=4.3.0", optional = true}
+furo = {version = ">=2023.3.27", optional = true}
+docutils = {version = "<0.17", optional = true}
+m2r2 = {version = "*", optional = true}
+myst-parser = {version = "*", optional = true}
+myst-nb = {version = "*", optional = true}
+sphinx-autobuild = {version = "*", optional = true}
+sphinx_rtd_theme = {version = "*", optional = true}
+pydantic = {version = "*", optional = true}
+autodoc_pydantic = {version = "*", optional = true}
+sphinx-reredirects = {version = "^0.1.2", optional = true}
+sphinx-automodapi = {version = "0.16.0", optional = true}
+
+[tool.poetry.extras]
+pinecone = ["pinecone-client"]
+qdrant = ["qdrant-client", "fastembed"]
+chromadb = ["chromadb"]
+marqo = ["marqo"]
+docs = [
+    "sphinx",
+    "furo",
+    "docutils",
+    "m2r2",
+    "myst-parser",
+    "myst-nb",
+    "sphinx-autobuild",
+    "sphinx_rtd_theme",
+    "pydantic",
+    "autodoc_pydantic",
+    "sphinx-reredirects",
+    "sphinx-automodapi"
+]