Fix distribution embeds and update docs

.gitignore

@@ -20,3 +20,6 @@ Cargo.lock
 # Documentation
 /.cache/
 /site/
+
+# Editor configs
+.vscode/

build.rs

@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ fn set_distribution() {
         let mut file = File::open(&embed_path).unwrap();
         std::io::copy(&mut file, &mut hasher).unwrap();
 
-        "".to_string()
+        local_path
     } else if is_enabled("PYAPP_DISTRIBUTION_EMBED") {
         let distribution_source = get_distribution_source();
         let bytes = reqwest::blocking::get(&distribution_source)
@@ -572,6 +572,11 @@ fn set_python_path(distribution_source: &str) {
     let python_path = env::var(distribution_variable).unwrap_or_default();
     let relative_path = if !python_path.is_empty() {
         python_path
+    } else if !env::var("PYAPP_DISTRIBUTION_PATH")
+        .unwrap_or_default()
+        .is_empty()
+    {
+        panic!("\n\nThe following option must be set when embedding a custom distribution: {distribution_variable}\n\n");
     } else if distribution_source.starts_with(DEFAULT_CPYTHON_SOURCE) {
         if get_python_version() == "3.7" {
             if on_windows {

docs/config.md

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Setting the `PYAPP_PYTHON_VERSION` option will determine the distribution used a
 | `3.10` |
 | `3.11` |
 
-The source of distributions is the [python-build-standalone](https://github.com/indygreg/python-build-standalone) project.
+The source for pre-built distributions is the [python-build-standalone](https://github.com/indygreg/python-build-standalone) project.
 
 Some distributions have [variants](https://gregoryszorc.com/docs/python-build-standalone/main/running.html) that may be configured with the `PYAPP_DISTRIBUTION_VARIANT` option:
 
@@ -110,7 +110,9 @@ You may indicate whether pip is already installed by setting the `PYAPP_DISTRIBU
 
 ### Embedding ### {: #distribution-embedding }
 
-You may set the `PYAPP_DISTRIBUTION_EMBED` option to `true` or `1` to embed the distribution in the executable at build time to avoid fetching it at runtime. You can set the `PYAPP_DISTRIBUTION_PATH` option to use a local path rather than fetching the source, which implicitly enables embedding.
+You may set the `PYAPP_DISTRIBUTION_EMBED` option to `true` or `1` to embed the distribution in the executable at build time to avoid fetching it at runtime.
+
+You can set the `PYAPP_DISTRIBUTION_PATH` option to use a local path rather than fetching the source, which implicitly enables embedding. The local archive should be similar to the [default distributions](#python-distribution) in that there should be a Python interpreter ready for use.
 
 ## pip