diff --git a/.github/pre-commit b/.github/pre-commit
index d76935698..0dc61a141 100755
--- a/.github/pre-commit
+++ b/.github/pre-commit
@@ -28,4 +28,30 @@ then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# Run `ruff` python formatting
+if ! poetry run ruff format --check
+then
+    echo ""
+    echo "There are some python code style issues."
+    echo "Run `poetry run ruff format` first."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Run `mypy` for python type checking
+if ! poetry run mypy .
+then
+    echo ""
+    echo "There are some python code style issues."
+    echo "Fix the warnings returned by `poetry run mypy .` first."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Run `ruff` python linting
+if ! poetry run ruff check
+then
+    echo ""
+    echo "There are some python linting issues."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 exit 0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-py.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-py.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d83043c21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-py.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+name: Continuous integration 🐍
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  merge_group:
+    types: [checks_requested]
+  workflow_dispatch: {}
+
+env:
+  SCCACHE_GHA_ENABLED: "true"
+
+jobs:
+  # Check if changes were made to the relevant files.
+  # Always returns true if running on the default branch, to ensure all changes are throughly checked.
+  changes:
+    name: Check for changes in Python files
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Required permissions
+    permissions:
+      pull-requests: read
+    # Set job outputs to values from filter step
+    outputs:
+      python: ${{ github.ref_name == github.event.repository.default_branch || steps.filter.outputs.python }}
+    steps:
+    # For pull requests it's not necessary to checkout the code
+    - uses: dorny/paths-filter@v3
+      id: filter
+      with:
+        filters: |
+          python:
+            - 'quantinuum-hugr-py/**'
+            - 'pyproject.toml'
+
+  check:
+    needs: changes
+    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.python == 'true' }}
+
+    name: check python
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        python-version: ['3.10']
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Run sccache-cache
+        uses: mozilla-actions/sccache-action@v0.0.3
+      - name: Install poetry
+        run: pipx install poetry
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v3
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+          cache: "poetry"
+
+      - name: Install the project libraries
+        run: poetry install
+
+      - name: Type check with mypy
+        run: poetry run mypy .
+
+      - name: Check formatting with ruff
+        run: poetry run ruff format --check
+
+      - name: Lint with ruff
+        run: poetry run ruff check
+
+      - name: Run tests
+        run: poetry run pytest
+
+  # This is a meta job to mark successful completion of the required checks,
+  # even if they are skipped due to no changes in the relevant files.
+  required-checks:
+    name: Required checks 🐍
+    needs: [check]
+    if: always()
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Fail if required checks failed
+        if: (failure() || cancelled())
+        run: |
+          echo "Required checks failed"
+          echo "Please check the logs for more information"
+          exit 1
+      - name: Pass if required checks passed
+        run: |
+          echo "All required checks passed"
+
+  coverage:
+    needs: [changes, check]
+    # Run only if there are changes in the relevant files and the check job passed or was skipped
+    if: always() && !failure() && !cancelled() && needs.changes.outputs.python == 'true' && github.event_name != 'merge_group'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Run sccache-cache
+        uses: mozilla-actions/sccache-action@v0.0.3
+      - name: Install poetry
+        run: pipx install poetry
+      - name: Set up Python 3.10
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v3
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.10'
+          cache: "poetry"
+
+      - name: Install the project libraries
+        run: poetry install
+
+      - name: Run python tests with coverage instrumentation
+        run: poetry run pytest --cov=./ --cov-report=xml
+
+      - name: Upload python coverage to codecov.io
+        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
+        with:
+          files: coverage.xml
+          name: python
+          flags: python
+          token: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-rs.yml
similarity index 50%
rename from .github/workflows/ci.yml
rename to .github/workflows/ci-rs.yml
index 725dea474..4472981ba 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-rs.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-name: Continuous integration
+name: Continuous integration 🦀
 
 on:
   push:
@@ -21,7 +21,31 @@ env:
   RUSTC_WRAPPER: "sccache"
 
 jobs:
+  # Check if changes were made to the relevant files.
+  # Always returns true if running on the default branch, to ensure all changes are throughly checked.
+  changes:
+    name: Check for changes in Rust files
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Required permissions
+    permissions:
+      pull-requests: read
+    # Set job outputs to values from filter step
+    outputs:
+      rust: ${{ github.ref_name == github.event.repository.default_branch || steps.filter.outputs.rust }}
+    steps:
+    # For pull requests it's not necessary to checkout the code
+    - uses: dorny/paths-filter@v3
+      id: filter
+      with:
+        filters: |
+          rust:
+            - 'quantinuum-hugr/**'
+            - 'Cargo.toml'
+            - 'specification/schema/**'
+
   check:
+    needs: changes
+    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.rust == 'true' }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -40,7 +64,8 @@ jobs:
           RUSTDOCFLAGS: "-Dwarnings"
 
   benches:
-    if: github.event_name != 'merge_group'
+    needs: changes
+    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.rust == 'true' }} && github.event_name != 'merge_group'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -52,22 +77,39 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build benchmarks with all features
         run: cargo bench --verbose --no-run --workspace --all-features
 
-  tests:
+  # Run tests on Rust stable
+  tests-stable:
+    needs: changes
+    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.rust == 'true' }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: tests (Rust stable)
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: mozilla-actions/sccache-action@v0.0.4
+      - id: toolchain
+        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@master
+        with:
+          toolchain: 'stable'
+      - name: Configure default rust toolchain
+        run: rustup override set ${{steps.toolchain.outputs.name}}
+      - name: Build with no features
+        run: cargo test --verbose --workspace --no-default-features --no-run
+      - name: Tests with no features
+        run: cargo test --verbose --workspace --no-default-features
+      - name: Build with all features
+        run: cargo test --verbose --workspace --all-features --no-run
+      - name: Tests with all features
+        run: cargo test --verbose --workspace --all-features
+
+  # Run tests on other toolchains
+  tests-other:
+    needs: changes
+    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.rust == 'true' && github.event_name != 'merge_group' }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
+      fail-fast: true
       matrix:
-        rust: ['1.75', stable, beta, nightly]
-        # workaround to ignore non-stable tests when running the merge queue checks
-        # see: https://github.community/t/how-to-conditionally-include-exclude-items-in-matrix-eg-based-on-branch/16853/6
-        isMerge:
-            - ${{ github.event_name == 'merge_group' }}
-        exclude:
-          - rust: '1.75'
-            isMerge: true
-          - rust: beta
-            isMerge: true
-          - rust: nightly
-            isMerge: true
+        rust: ['1.75', beta, nightly]
     name: tests (Rust ${{ matrix.rust }})
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -87,9 +129,28 @@ jobs:
       - name: Tests with all features
         run: cargo test --verbose --workspace --all-features
 
+  # This is a meta job to mark successful completion of the required checks,
+  # even if they are skipped due to no changes in the relevant files.
+  required-checks:
+    name: Required checks 🦀
+    needs: [check, tests-stable]
+    if: always()
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Fail if required checks failed
+        if: (failure() || cancelled())
+        run: |
+          echo "Required checks failed"
+          echo "Please check the logs for more information"
+          exit 1
+      - name: Pass if required checks passed
+        run: |
+          echo "All required checks passed"
+
   coverage:
-    if: github.event_name != 'merge_group'
-    needs: [tests, check]
+    needs: [changes, tests-stable, tests-other, check]
+    # Run only if there are changes in the relevant files and the check job passed or was skipped
+    if: always() && !failure() && !cancelled() && needs.changes.outputs.rust == 'true' && github.event_name != 'merge_group'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -110,6 +171,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
         with:
           files: coverage.json
-          name: ubuntu
-        env:
-          CODECOV_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
+          name: rust
+          flags: rust
+          token: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1b0b35659..836f10146 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -24,4 +24,25 @@ devenv.local.nix
 .pre-commit-config.yaml
 
 # Coverage report
-lcov.info
\ No newline at end of file
+lcov.info
+
+# Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*$py.class
+
+# Unit test / coverage reports
+htmlcov/
+.coverage
+
+# Jupyter Notebook
+.ipynb_checkpoints
+
+# Environments
+.env
+.venv
+env/
+venv/
+
+# ruff
+.ruff_cache
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 79baadaf6..749ab51db 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ See [DEVELOPMENT.md](https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/blob/main/DEVELOPMENT.md) for
 This project is licensed under Apache License, Version 2.0 ([LICENSE][] or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).
 
   [API documentation here]: https://docs.rs/quantinuum-hugr/
-  [build_status]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/workflows/Continuous%20integration/badge.svg?branch=main
+  [build_status]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/actions/workflows/ci-rs.yml/badge.svg?branch=main
   [msrv]: https://img.shields.io/badge/rust-1.75.0%2B-blue.svg
   [crates]: https://img.shields.io/crates/v/quantinuum-hugr
   [codecov]: https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/gh/CQCL/hugr?logo=codecov
diff --git a/codecov.yml b/codecov.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aec1d6163
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codecov.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Codecov coverage report configuration
+
+# Coverage report
+# Do not fail if the coverage is not met
+coverage:
+  status:
+    patch:
+      default:
+        informational: false
+        only_pulls: true
+    project:
+      default:
+        informational: true
+
+# Ignore tests and binaries
+ignore:
+  - "quantinuum-hugr-py/tests"
+
+# Coverage groups config
+flag_management:
+  default_rules: # the rules that will be followed for any flag added, generally
+    # Use previous coverage if one is not available for the current commit.
+    #
+    # (E.g. if the PR doesn't modify a subproject, we don't submit a coverage report for it.)
+    carryforward: true
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index bc395e953..941274c20 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ test:
 # Auto-fix all clippy warnings
 fix:
     cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features --workspace --fix --allow-staged
+    poetry run ruff check --fix
 
 # Run the pre-commit checks
 check:
@@ -17,7 +18,20 @@ check:
 # Format the code
 format:
     cargo fmt
+    poetry run ruff format
 
 # Generate a test coverage report
 coverage:
     cargo llvm-cov --lcov > lcov.info
+
+# Load a poetry shell with the dependencies installed
+pyshell:
+    poetry shell
+
+# Run the python tests
+pytest:
+    poetry run pytest
+
+# Generate a python test coverage report
+pycoverage:
+    poetry run pytest --cov=./ --cov-report=html
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6aaaf3166
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,294 @@
+# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 1.8.2 and should not be changed by hand.
+
+[[package]]
+name = "colorama"
+version = "0.4.6"
+description = "Cross-platform colored terminal text."
+optional = false
+python-versions = "!=3.0.*,!=3.1.*,!=3.2.*,!=3.3.*,!=3.4.*,!=3.5.*,!=3.6.*,>=2.7"
+files = [
+    {file = "colorama-0.4.6-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4f1d9991f5acc0ca119f9d443620b77f9d6b33703e51011c16baf57afb285fc6"},
+    {file = "colorama-0.4.6.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:08695f5cb7ed6e0531a20572697297273c47b8cae5a63ffc6d6ed5c201be6e44"},
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "coverage"
+version = "7.4.4"
+description = "Code coverage measurement for Python"
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.8"
+files = [
+    {file = "coverage-7.4.4-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:e0be5efd5127542ef31f165de269f77560d6cdef525fffa446de6f7e9186cfb2"},
+    {file = "coverage-7.4.4-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl", hash = "sha256:ccd341521be3d1b3daeb41960ae94a5e87abe2f46f17224ba5d6f2b8398016cf"},
+    {file = "coverage-7.4.4-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl", hash = "sha256:09fa497a8ab37784fbb20ab699c246053ac294d13fc7eb40ec007a5043ec91f8"},
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+    {file = "coverage-7.4.4-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_5_x86_64.manylinux1_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:690db6517f09336559dc0b5f55342df62370a48f5469fabf502db2c6d1cffcd2"},
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diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ab5aef9cc
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[tool.poetry]
+description = "Namespace for the python packages in the HUGR repository. See the individual packages for more information."
+name = "hugr-project"
+version = "0.0.0"
+authors = []
+readme = "README.md"
+packages = []
+
+package-mode = false
+
+[tool.poetry.group.main.dependencies]
+python = "^3.10"
+
+[tool.poetry.group.dev.dependencies]
+pytest = "^8.1.1"
+pytest-cov = "^4.1.0"
+mypy = "^1.9.0"
+ruff = "^0.3.3"
+
+[tool.poetry.group.quantinuum-hugr.dependencies]
+quantinuum-hugr = { path = "quantinuum-hugr-py", develop = true }
+
+[build-system]
+requires = ["poetry-core"]
+build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"
diff --git a/quantinuum-hugr-py/CHANGELOG.md b/quantinuum-hugr-py/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..825c32f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quantinuum-hugr-py/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Changelog
diff --git a/quantinuum-hugr-py/README.md b/quantinuum-hugr-py/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a03779b7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quantinuum-hugr-py/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+quantinuum_hugr
+===============
+
+[![build_status][]](https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/actions)
+[![codecov][]](https://codecov.io/gh/CQCL/hugr)
+
+The Hierarchical Unified Graph Representation (HUGR, pronounced _hugger_) is the
+common representation of quantum circuits and operations in the Quantinuum
+ecosystem.
+
+This library provides a pure-python implementation of the HUGR data model, and
+a low-level API for constructing HUGR objects.
+
+This library is intended to be used as a dependency for other high-level tools.
+See [`guppylang`][] and [`tket2`][] for examples of such tools.
+
+The HUGR specification is [here](https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/blob/main/specification/hugr.md).
+
+  [`guppylang`]: https://pypi.org/project/guppylang/
+  [`tket2`]: https://github.com/CQCL/tket2
+
+
+## Installation
+
+TODO
+
+The package name is `quantinuum_hugr`, but it hasn't been published yet.
+The current experimental version can be installed from the source code:
+
+```bash
+pip install "quantinuum_hugr@git+https://github.com/CQCL/hugr.git@main#subdirectory=quantinuum-hugr-py"
+```
+
+## Usage
+
+TODO
+
+## Recent Changes
+
+TODO
+
+## Development
+
+TODO
+
+## License
+
+This project is licensed under Apache License, Version 2.0 ([LICENSE][] or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).
+
+  [build_status]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/actions/workflows/ci-py.yml/badge.svg?branch=main
+  [codecov]: https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/gh/CQCL/hugr?logo=codecov
+  [LICENSE]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/blob/main/LICENCE
+  [CHANGELOG]: https://github.com/CQCL/hugr/blob/main/quantinuum-hugr-py/CHANGELOG.md
diff --git a/quantinuum-hugr-py/pyproject.toml b/quantinuum-hugr-py/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ae1b60f8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quantinuum-hugr-py/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+[tool.poetry]
+name = "quantinuum_hugr"
+version = "0.0.0"
+description = "Quantinuum's common representation for quantum programs"
+classifiers = []                                                        # TODO
+keywords = []                                                           # TODO
+authors = []                                                            # TODO
+maintainers = []                                                        # TODO
+license = "Apache-2.0"
+readme = "README.md"
+homepage = "https://github.com/CQCL/hugr"
+repository = "https://github.com/CQCL/hugr"
+
+[tool.poetry.dependencies]
+python = ">=3.10"
+
+[tool.pytest.ini_options]
+# Lark throws deprecation warnings for `src_parse` and `src_constants`.
+filterwarnings = "ignore::DeprecationWarning:lark.*"
diff --git a/quantinuum-hugr-py/src/quantinuum_hugr/__init__.py b/quantinuum-hugr-py/src/quantinuum_hugr/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..606c3dc58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quantinuum-hugr-py/src/quantinuum_hugr/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+"""`quantinuum-hugr` is a Python package for the Quantinuum HUGR common
+representation.
+"""
+
+
+def it_works() -> str:
+    """Return a string to confirm that the package is installed and working."""
+    return "It works!"
diff --git a/quantinuum-hugr-py/tests/__init__.py b/quantinuum-hugr-py/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/quantinuum-hugr-py/tests/serialization/__init__.py b/quantinuum-hugr-py/tests/serialization/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/quantinuum-hugr-py/tests/serialization/test_basic.py b/quantinuum-hugr-py/tests/serialization/test_basic.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e29fd40c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quantinuum-hugr-py/tests/serialization/test_basic.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+def test_it_works():
+    """TODO: Replace this with a real test."""
+    assert 2 + 2 != "🐟"