diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/build_deploy.yml
index 07f8f845177..9229fc50175 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_deploy.yml
@@ -73,65 +73,3 @@ jobs:
       cibw_build: 'cp39* cp310* cp311* cp312* cp313* cp314*'
       cibw_skip: 'cp39-win_arm64 cp310-win_arm64 cp314t* *_i686'
       library_version: ${{ needs.compute_version.outputs.library_version }}
-
-  build_sdist:
-    needs: [ "compute_version" ]
-    name: Build source distribution
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    env:
-      SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION_FOR_DDTRACE: ${{ needs.compute_version.outputs.library_version }}
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
-        # Include all history and tags
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - uses: actions-rust-lang/setup-rust-toolchain@9d7e65c320fdb52dcd45ffaa68deb6c02c8754d9 # v1.12.0
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@a26af69be951a213d495a4c3e4e4022e16d87065 # v5.6.0
-        name: Install Python
-        with:
-          python-version: '3.12'
-      - name: Build sdist
-        run: |
-          pip install "setuptools_scm[toml]>=4" "cython" "cmake>=3.24.2,<3.28" "setuptools-rust<2"
-          # Disable cython extensions to avoid compiling .pyx files
-          DD_CYTHONIZE=0 python setup.py sdist
-      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4.6.2
-        with:
-          name: source-dist
-          path: dist/*.tar.gz
-
-  test_alpine_sdist:
-    # alpine is the only environment not built/tested by cibuildwheel
-    name: Test source distribution on Alpine Linux
-    needs: [build_sdist]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-alpine
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
-        with:
-          persist-credentials: false
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@d3f86a106a0bac45b974a628896c90dbdf5c8093 # v4.3.0
-        with:
-          name: source-dist
-          path: dist
-
-      - name: Install build dependencies
-        # Rust + Cargo are needed for Cryptography
-        run: apk add git gcc g++ musl-dev libffi-dev openssl-dev bash rust cargo make cmake patchelf
-
-      - name: Check source package
-        # https://github.com/theacodes/cmarkgfm/issues/84
-        run: |
-          pip install twine readme_renderer[md] "cmarkgfm<2025.10.20"
-          twine check dist/*.tar.gz
-      - name: Install source package
-        env:
-          CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL: 12
-        run: pip install dist/*.tar.gz
-
-      - name: Test the source package
-        run: python $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/tests/smoke_test.py
-        # Move out of the workspace to avoid importing ddtrace from the source
-        working-directory: /
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_python_3.yml b/.github/workflows/build_python_3.yml
index 6b718bb4502..2f366c6db1c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_python_3.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_python_3.yml
@@ -64,12 +64,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           MATRIX_INCLUDE=$(
             {
-              cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform linux --archs x86_64,i686 | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "ubuntu-latest-16-cores"}' \
-              && cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform linux --archs aarch64  | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "arm-8core-linux"}' \
-              && cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform windows --archs AMD64,x86 | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "windows-latest"}' \
-              && cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform windows --archs ARM64    | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "windows-11-arm"}' \
-              && cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform macos --archs x86_64 | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "macos-15-large"}' \
-              && cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform macos --archs arm64 | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "macos-15-xlarge"}'
+              cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform windows --archs AMD64,x86 | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "windows-latest"}' \
+              && cibuildwheel --print-build-identifiers --platform windows --archs ARM64    | jq -cR '{only: ., os: "windows-11-arm"}'
             } | jq -sc
           )
           echo $MATRIX_INCLUDE
@@ -87,39 +83,12 @@ jobs:
       SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION_FOR_DDTRACE: ${{ needs.compute_version.outputs.library_version }}
       CIBW_SKIP: ${{ inputs.cibw_skip }}
       CIBW_PRERELEASE_PYTHONS: ${{ inputs.cibw_prerelease_pythons }}
-      CIBW_MANYLINUX_X86_64_IMAGE: manylinux2014
-      CIBW_MANYLINUX_AARCH64_IMAGE: manylinux2014
-      CIBW_MUSLLINUX_I686_IMAGE: ghcr.io/datadog/dd-trace-py/pypa_musllinux_1_2_i686:latest
       CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_WINDOWS: ${{ matrix.os == 'windows-latest' && 'rustup target add i686-pc-windows-msvc' || (matrix.os == 'windows-11-arm' && 'rustup target add aarch64-pc-windows-msvc') }}
-      CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_MACOS: rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin
-      CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_LINUX: |
-        if [[ "$(uname -m)-$(uname -i)-$(uname -o | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')-$(ldd --version 2>&1 | head -n 1 | awk '{print $1}')" != "i686-unknown-linux-musl" ]]; then
-          curl -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y;
-        fi
-      CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_LINUX: PATH=$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=24 CMAKE_ARGS="-DNATIVE_TESTING=OFF" SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION_FOR_DDTRACE=${{ needs.compute_version.outputs.library_version }}
-      # SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT is a workaround for versioning issue, a.k.a.
-      # `platform.mac_ver()` reports incorrect MacOS version at 11.0
-      # See: https://stackoverflow.com/a/65402241
-      CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_MACOS: CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=24 SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT=0 CMAKE_ARGS="-DNATIVE_TESTING=OFF" SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION_FOR_DDTRACE=${{ needs.compute_version.outputs.library_version }}
       CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_WINDOWS: SETUPTOOLS_SCM_PRETEND_VERSION_FOR_DDTRACE=${{ needs.compute_version.outputs.library_version }}
       # cibuildwheel repair will copy anything's under /output directory from the
       # build container to the host machine. This is a bit hacky way, but seems
       # to be the only way getting debug symbols out from the container while
       # we don't mess up with RECORD file.
-      CIBW_REPAIR_WHEEL_COMMAND_LINUX: |
-        mkdir -p /output/debugwheelhouse &&
-        python scripts/extract_debug_symbols.py {wheel} --output-dir /output/debugwheelhouse &&
-        python scripts/zip_filter.py {wheel} \*.c \*.cpp \*.cc \*.h \*.hpp \*.pyx \*.md &&
-        mkdir ./tempwheelhouse &&
-        unzip -l {wheel} | grep '\.so' &&
-        auditwheel repair -w ./tempwheelhouse {wheel} &&
-        mv ./tempwheelhouse/*.whl {dest_dir} &&
-        rm -rf ./tempwheelhouse
-      CIBW_REPAIR_WHEEL_COMMAND_MACOS: |
-        mkdir -p ./debugwheelhouse &&
-        python scripts/extract_debug_symbols.py {wheel} --output-dir ./debugwheelhouse &&
-        python scripts/zip_filter.py {wheel} \*.c \*.cpp \*.cc \*.h \*.hpp \*.pyx \*.md &&
-        MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=12.7 delocate-wheel --require-archs {delocate_archs} -w {dest_dir} -v {wheel}
       CIBW_REPAIR_WHEEL_COMMAND_WINDOWS: python scripts/zip_filter.py "{wheel}" "*.c" "*.cpp" "*.cc" "*.h" "*.hpp" "*.pyx" "*.md" && mv "{wheel}" "{dest_dir}"
       CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: "python {project}/tests/smoke_test.py"
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0afc6197e46..93e39980faa 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ var/
 .installed.cfg
 *.egg
 *.whl
+pywheels/
+debugwheelhouse/
 
 # PyInstaller
 #  Usually these files are written by a python script from a template
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index a478ff79fe5..df2fcaa7f0a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -137,11 +137,28 @@ run-tests-trigger:
 
 microbenchmarks:
   stage: benchmarks
-  needs: [ "download_ddtrace_artifacts" ]
+  needs:
+    - job: "build linux"
+      parallel:
+        matrix:
+          - ARCH_TAG: "amd64"
+            PYTHON_TAG: "cp39-cp39"
+            IMAGE_TAG: "v85383392-751efc0-manylinux2014_x86_64"
   rules:
+    # Allow failures if explicitly asked
     - if: $RELEASE_ALLOW_BENCHMARK_FAILURES == "true"
       allow_failure: true
-    - allow_failure: false
+    # Always run on PRs, tagged releases, and main or release branches
+    - if: $HAS_OPEN_PR == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $IS_MAIN_BRANCH == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $IS_RELEASE_BRANCH == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $IS_RELEASE == "true"
+      when: always
+    # Otherwise, run manually
+    - when: manual
   trigger:
     include: .gitlab/benchmarks/microbenchmarks.yml
     strategy: depend
@@ -152,19 +169,32 @@ microbenchmarks:
 
 macrobenchmarks:
   stage: benchmarks
-  needs: [ "download_ddtrace_artifacts" ]
+  needs:
+    - job: "build linux"
+      parallel:
+        matrix:
+          - ARCH_TAG: "amd64"
+            PYTHON_TAG: "cp39-cp39"
+            IMAGE_TAG: "v85383392-751efc0-manylinux2014_x86_64"
   trigger:
     include: .gitlab/benchmarks/macrobenchmarks.yml
   variables:
     PARENT_PIPELINE_ID: $CI_PIPELINE_ID
     # Disable VPA for benchmarks
     DD_DISABLE_VPA: true
-  allow_failure: true
+  allow_failure: false
   rules:
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"
+    # Allow failures if explicitly asked
+    - if: $RELEASE_ALLOW_BENCHMARK_FAILURES == "true"
+      allow_failure: true
+    # Always run on tagged releases, and main or release branches
+    - if: $IS_MAIN_BRANCH == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $IS_RELEASE_BRANCH == "true"
       when: always
     - if: $IS_RELEASE == "true"
       when: always
+    # Otherwise, run manually
     - when: manual
 
 check_new_flaky_tests:
diff --git a/.gitlab/benchmarks/macrobenchmarks.yml b/.gitlab/benchmarks/macrobenchmarks.yml
index 04d4f37381b..58c9a083d06 100644
--- a/.gitlab/benchmarks/macrobenchmarks.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/benchmarks/macrobenchmarks.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ candidate:
     - interruptible: true
   needs:
     - pipeline: $PARENT_PIPELINE_ID
-      job: download_ddtrace_artifacts
+      job: "build linux: [amd64, cp39-cp39, v85383392-751efc0-manylinux2014_x86_64]"
+      artifacts: true
   script: |
     cp pywheels/*-cp39-cp39-manylinux*_x86_64*.whl ./
     echo "CANDIDATE_WHL=$(ls *.whl | head -n 1)" | tee candidate.env
diff --git a/.gitlab/benchmarks/microbenchmarks.yml b/.gitlab/benchmarks/microbenchmarks.yml
index 773ed92e5a2..0c36ed009d8 100644
--- a/.gitlab/benchmarks/microbenchmarks.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/benchmarks/microbenchmarks.yml
@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ candidate:
   tags: [ "arch:amd64" ]
   needs:
     - pipeline: $PARENT_PIPELINE_ID
-      job: download_ddtrace_artifacts
+      job: "build linux: [amd64, cp39-cp39, v85383392-751efc0-manylinux2014_x86_64]"
+      artifacts: true
   script: |
     cp pywheels/*-cp39-cp39-manylinux*_x86_64*.whl ./
     echo "CANDIDATE_WHL=$(ls *.whl | head -n 1)" | tee candidate.env
@@ -211,8 +212,8 @@ benchmarks-pr-comment:
     UPSTREAM_COMMIT_SHA: $CI_COMMIT_SHA # The commit revision the project is built for.
 
 # Unlike pre-release SLO checks that run unconditionally (which have
-# "when: always"), this PR-level check runs only if benchmarks succeed. 
-# Since benchmark failures block the PR directly, this job blocks the PR if 
+# "when: always"), this PR-level check runs only if benchmarks succeed.
+# Since benchmark failures block the PR directly, this job blocks the PR if
 # benchmarks succeed but there are SLO breaches.
 check-slo-breaches:
   extends: .check-slo-breaches
diff --git a/.gitlab/package.yml b/.gitlab/package.yml
index 3589a4a530b..a937d3c56e7 100644
--- a/.gitlab/package.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/package.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,125 @@
+variables:
+  IMAGE_BASE_URL: "registry.ddbuild.io/dd-trace-py"
+
+.PYTHON_VERSIONS: &PYTHON_VERSIONS
+  - "3.9"
+  - "3.10"
+  - "3.11"
+  - "3.12"
+  - "3.13"
+  - "3.14"
+
+.PYTHON_TAGS: &PYTHON_TAGS
+  - "cp39-cp39"
+  - "cp310-cp310"
+  - "cp311-cp311"
+  - "cp312-cp312"
+  - "cp313-cp313"
+  - "cp314-cp314"
+
+.AARCH64_IMAGES: &AARCH64_IMAGES
+  - "v85383414-751efc0-manylinux2014_aarch64"
+  - "v85383359-751efc0-musllinux_1_2_aarch64"
+
+.X86_64_IMAGES: &X86_64_IMAGES
+  - "v85383392-751efc0-manylinux2014_x86_64"
+  - "v85383325-751efc0-musllinux_1_2_x86_64"
+
+.build_base:
+  stage: package
+  variables:
+    CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL: "12"
+    CARGO_BUILD_JOBS: "12"
+    CMAKE_ARGS: "-DNATIVE_TESTING=OFF"
+    # DEV: Hack to make ASM CMake able to find the Python3 library
+    CIBW_BUILD: "1"
+    # job resource requests
+    KUBERNETES_CPU_REQUEST: "6"
+    KUBERNETES_MEMORY_REQUEST: "10Gi"
+    KUBERNETES_MEMORY_LIMIT: "10Gi"
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - "pywheels/*.whl"
+      - "pywheels/*.tar.gz"
+
+"build sdist":
+  extends: .build_base
+  image: "${IMAGE_BASE_URL}:v85280965-e932d4a-manylinux2014_x86_64"
+  tags: [ "arch:amd64" ]
+  variables:
+    DD_CYTHONIZE: "0"
+    UV_PYTHON: "/opt/python/cp314-cp314/bin/python"
+  script:
+    - .gitlab/scripts/build-sdist.sh
+
+"build linux":
+  extends: .build_base
+  image: ${IMAGE_BASE_URL}:${IMAGE_TAG}
+  tags: [ "arch:$ARCH_TAG" ]
+  parallel:
+    matrix:
+      - ARCH_TAG: "amd64"
+        PYTHON_TAG: *PYTHON_TAGS
+        IMAGE_TAG: *X86_64_IMAGES
+      - ARCH_TAG: "arm64"
+        PYTHON_TAG: *PYTHON_TAGS
+        IMAGE_TAG: *AARCH64_IMAGES
+  script:
+    - manylinux-interpreters ensure "${PYTHON_TAG}"
+    - export UV_PYTHON="/opt/python/${PYTHON_TAG}/bin/python"
+    - |
+      find src/native -type f -exec touch -t 202401010000 {} \;
+      find ddtrace/ -type f -name "*.pyx" -exec touch -t 202401010000 {} \;
+      find ddtrace/ -type f -name "*.c" -exec touch -t 202401010000 {} \;
+      find ddtrace/ -type f -name "*.cpp" -exec touch -t 202401010000 {} \;
+      find ddtrace/ -type f -name "*.h" -exec touch -t 202401010000 {} \;
+    - .gitlab/scripts/build-wheel.sh
+
+"build macos":
+  extends: .build_base
+  tags: [ "macos:sonoma-$ARCH_TAG" ]
+  parallel:
+    matrix:
+      - ARCH_TAG: "amd64"
+        UV_PYTHON: *PYTHON_VERSIONS
+      - ARCH_TAG: "arm64"
+        UV_PYTHON: *PYTHON_VERSIONS
+  variables:
+    SYSTEM_VERSION_COMPAT: "0"
+  rules:
+    - if: $IS_MAIN_BRANCH == "true" || $IS_RELEASE_BRANCH == "true" || $IS_RELEASE == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $UV_PYTHON == "3.14"
+      when: always
+    - when: manual
+  script:
+    - .gitlab/scripts/build-wheel.sh
+
+"test sdist":
+  image: registry.ddbuild.io/images/mirror/python:3.9.6-alpine3.14
+  tags: [ "arch:arm64" ]
+  stage: package
+  variables:
+    CARGO_BUILD_JOBS: "12"
+    CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL: "12"
+    KUBERNETES_CPU_REQUEST: "6"
+    KUBERNETES_MEMORY_REQUEST: "10Gi"
+    KUBERNETES_MEMORY_LIMIT: "10Gi"
+  needs:
+    - job: "build sdist"
+      artifacts: true
+  script:
+    - SDIST_FILE=$(ls ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/pywheels/*.tar.gz | head -n 1)
+    - TMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d) && cd $TMP_DIR
+    - |
+      apk add curl git gcc g++ musl-dev libffi-dev openssl-dev bash cargo make cmake patchelf
+      curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y
+      export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
+      pip install twine readme_renderer[md] "cmarkgfm<2025.10.20"
+    - twine check ${SDIST_FILE}
+    - pip install ${SDIST_FILE}
+    - python ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/tests/smoke_test.py
+
 download_ddtrace_artifacts:
   image: registry.ddbuild.io/images/dd-octo-sts-ci-base:2025.06-1
   tags: [ "arch:amd64" ]
@@ -5,6 +127,16 @@ download_ddtrace_artifacts:
   id_tokens:
     DDOCTOSTS_ID_TOKEN:
       aud: dd-octo-sts
+  rules:
+    - if: $IS_MAIN_BRANCH == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $IS_RELEASE_BRANCH == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $IS_RELEASE == "true"
+      when: always
+    - if: $HAS_OPEN_PR == "true"
+      when: always
+    - when: manual
   script: |
     if [ -z ${GH_TOKEN} ]
     then
@@ -26,7 +158,9 @@ download_dependency_wheels:
   image: registry.ddbuild.io/images/mirror/python:$PYTHON_IMAGE_TAG
   tags: [ "arch:amd64" ]
   stage: package
-  needs: [ download_ddtrace_artifacts ]
+  needs:
+    - job: "build linux"
+      artifacts: true
   variables:
     PIP_CACHE_DIR: "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/.cache/pip"
   parallel:
@@ -58,7 +192,7 @@ publish-wheels-to-s3:
   image: registry.ddbuild.io/images/mirror/amazon/aws-cli:2.4.29
   stage: package
   needs:
-    - job: download_ddtrace_artifacts
+    - job: "build linux"
       artifacts: true
   variables:
     BUCKET: dd-trace-py-builds
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/build-sdist.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/build-sdist.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..a58700c1b8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/build-sdist.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Source helper functions
+source "$(dirname "$0")/build-wheel-helpers.sh"
+
+# Skipped sccache setup for sdist build
+setup
+
+section_start "build_sdist" "Building source distribution"
+uv build --sdist --out-dir pywheels/
+section_end "build_sdist"
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/build-wheel-helpers.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/build-wheel-helpers.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..0d88437b1eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/build-wheel-helpers.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Helper functions for GitLab CI collapsible sections
+section_start() {
+    echo -e "\e[0Ksection_start:`date +%s`:$1\r\e[0K$2"
+}
+
+section_end() {
+    echo -e "\e[0Ksection_end:`date +%s`:$1\r\e[0K"
+}
+
+
+# Setup Rust (verify/install if needed)
+setup_rust() {
+  section_start "install_rust" "Rust toolchain"
+  export PATH="${CARGO_HOME:-$HOME/.cargo}/bin:${PATH}"
+  if ! command -v rustc &> /dev/null; then
+    curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y
+  fi
+  rustup default stable
+  which rustc && rustc --version
+  section_end "install_rust"
+}
+
+# Setup Python (verify/install uv if needed)
+setup_python() {
+  section_start "setup_python" "Setting up Python ${UV_PYTHON}"
+  # Set up PATH for uv and system tools
+  export PATH="${UV_INSTALL_DIR:-$HOME/.local/bin}:${PATH}"
+  # If UV_PYTHON is a full path (manylinux), add its bin directory to PATH
+  if [[ "${UV_PYTHON}" == /* ]]; then
+    export PATH="$(dirname "${UV_PYTHON}"):${PATH}"
+  fi
+  if ! command -v uv &> /dev/null; then
+    curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
+  fi
+  which python && python --version
+  section_end "setup_python"
+}
+
+# Setup directories
+setup_env() {
+  section_start "setup_env" "Setup environment"
+  export PROJECT_DIR="${CI_PROJECT_DIR:-$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)}"
+  export WORK_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
+  trap "rm -rf '${WORK_DIR}'" EXIT
+  export BUILT_WHEEL_DIR="${WORK_DIR}/built_wheel"
+  export TMP_WHEEL_DIR="${WORK_DIR}/tmp_wheel"
+  export FINAL_WHEEL_DIR="${PROJECT_DIR}/pywheels"
+  export DEBUG_WHEEL_DIR="${PROJECT_DIR}/debugwheelhouse"
+  mkdir -p "${BUILT_WHEEL_DIR}" "${TMP_WHEEL_DIR}" "${FINAL_WHEEL_DIR}" "${DEBUG_WHEEL_DIR}"
+  section_end "setup_env"
+}
+
+
+build_wheel() {
+  section_start "build_wheel_function" "Building wheel function"
+  uv build --wheel --out-dir "${BUILT_WHEEL_DIR}" .
+  export BUILT_WHEEL_FILE=$(ls ${BUILT_WHEEL_DIR}/*.whl | head -n 1)
+  section_end "build_wheel_function"
+}
+
+repair_wheel() {
+  # Extract debug symbols
+  section_start "extract_debug_symbols" "Extracting debug symbols"
+  uv run --no-project scripts/extract_debug_symbols.py "${BUILT_WHEEL_FILE}" --output-dir "${DEBUG_WHEEL_DIR}"
+  section_end "extract_debug_symbols"
+
+  # Strip wheel
+  section_start "strip_wheel" "Stripping unneeded files"
+  uv run --no-project scripts/zip_filter.py "${BUILT_WHEEL_FILE}" \*.c \*.cpp \*.cc \*.h \*.hpp \*.pyx \*.md
+  section_end "strip_wheel"
+
+  # List .so files
+  section_start "list_so_files" "Listing .so files"
+  unzip -l "${BUILT_WHEEL_FILE}" | grep '\.so$'
+  section_end "list_so_files"
+
+  # Repair wheel (ONLY PLATFORM-SPECIFIC CODE)
+  section_start "repair_wheel" "Repairing wheel"
+  if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Linux" ]]; then
+    auditwheel repair -w "${TMP_WHEEL_DIR}" "${BUILT_WHEEL_FILE}"
+  else
+    # macOS
+    MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=14.7 uvx --from="delocate" delocate-wheel \
+        --require-archs "${ARCH_TAG}" -w "${TMP_WHEEL_DIR}" -v "${BUILT_WHEEL_FILE}"
+  fi
+  section_end "repair_wheel"
+}
+
+setup() {
+  setup_env
+  setup_python
+  setup_rust
+}
+
+# Finalize
+finalize() {
+  section_start "finalize_wheel" "Finalizing wheel"
+  export TMP_WHEEL_FILE=$(ls ${TMP_WHEEL_DIR}/*.whl | head -n 1)
+  mv "${TMP_WHEEL_FILE}" "${FINAL_WHEEL_DIR}/"
+  export FINAL_WHEEL_FILE=$(ls ${FINAL_WHEEL_DIR}/*.whl | head -n 1)
+  section_end "finalize_wheel"
+}
+
+
+# Test wheel
+test_wheel() {
+  section_start "test_wheel" "Testing wheel"
+  export UV_LINK_MODE=copy
+  export TEST_WHEEL_DIR="${WORK_DIR}/test_wheel"
+  mkdir -p "${TEST_WHEEL_DIR}"
+  export VENV_PATH="${TEST_WHEEL_DIR}/venv"
+  uv venv --python="${UV_PYTHON}" "${VENV_PATH}"
+  export VIRTUAL_ENV="${VENV_PATH}"
+  export PATH="${VENV_PATH}/bin:${PATH}"
+  cd "${TEST_WHEEL_DIR}"
+  # Activate venv and install wheel in a subshell
+  # Unset UV_PYTHON so uv respects the venv instead of the global setting
+  (
+    unset UV_PYTHON
+    source "${VENV_PATH}/bin/activate"
+    uv pip install "${FINAL_WHEEL_FILE}"
+  )
+
+  # Diagnostics before running smoke test
+  echo "=== Environment Diagnostics ==="
+  echo "VIRTUAL_ENV: ${VIRTUAL_ENV}"
+  echo "PATH: ${PATH}"
+  echo "which python: $(which python)"
+  "${VENV_PATH}/bin/python" --version
+  echo "=== pip freeze ==="
+  uv pip freeze
+  echo "=== site-packages contents ==="
+  "${VENV_PATH}/bin/python" -c "import site; print('site-packages:', site.getsitepackages())"
+  ls -la "${VENV_PATH}/lib/"*/site-packages/ | head -30
+  echo "=== Testing direct import ==="
+  "${VENV_PATH}/bin/python" -c "import ddtrace; print('✓ ddtrace import successful')" || echo "✗ ddtrace import failed"
+
+  echo "=== Running smoke test ==="
+  "${VENV_PATH}/bin/python" "${PROJECT_DIR}/tests/smoke_test.py"
+  section_end "test_wheel"
+}
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/build-wheel.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/build-wheel.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..0f69eb1a4a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/build-wheel.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Source helper functions
+source "$(dirname "$0")/build-wheel-helpers.sh"
+
+setup
+build_wheel
+repair_wheel
+finalize
+test_wheel
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4e08266b6b9..906fa86ae2e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ def run(self):
 
 
 class LibraryDownload:
-    CACHE_DIR = HERE / ".download_cache"
+    CACHE_DIR = Path(os.getenv("DD_SETUP_CACHE_DIR", HERE / ".download_cache"))
     USE_CACHE = os.getenv("DD_SETUP_CACHE_DOWNLOADS", "1").lower() in ("1", "yes", "on", "true")
 
     name = None