diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 507167933e2..5d9af92abbd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ jobs:
           ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
-        python -m pip install jupyterlab~=3.0
-        python -m pip install jupyter_packaging
+        python -m pip install jupyterlab~=3.0 jupyter_packaging~=0.9 check-manifest
     - name: Build the extension
       run: |
         pip install .
@@ -57,3 +56,5 @@ jobs:
         jupyter labextension list
 
         python -m jupyterlab.browser_check
+
+        check-manifest -v
diff --git a/jupyterlab_widgets/package.json b/jupyterlab_widgets/package.json
index bd387f95807..8fa0c23a9f0 100644
--- a/jupyterlab_widgets/package.json
+++ b/jupyterlab_widgets/package.json
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
   ],
   "scripts": {
     "build": "jlpm run build:lib && jlpm run build:labextension:dev",
-    "build:prod": "jlpm run build:lib && jlpm run build:labextension",
+    "build:prod": "jlpm run clean && jlpm run build:lib && jlpm run build:labextension",
     "build:labextension": "jupyter labextension build .",
     "build:labextension:dev": "jupyter labextension build --development True .",
     "build:lib": "tsc",
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
     "clean:lib": "rimraf lib tsconfig.tsbuildinfo",
     "eslint": "eslint . --ext .ts,.tsx --fix",
     "eslint:check": "eslint . --ext .ts,.tsx",
-    "install:extension": "jupyter labextension develop --overwrite .",
+    "install:extension": "jlpm run build",
     "prepare": "jlpm run clean && jlpm run build:prod",
     "watch": "run-p watch:src watch:labextension",
     "watch:labextension": "jupyter labextension watch .",
diff --git a/jupyterlab_widgets/pyproject.toml b/jupyterlab_widgets/pyproject.toml
index ba04c53f810..124fa3822a7 100644
--- a/jupyterlab_widgets/pyproject.toml
+++ b/jupyterlab_widgets/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
 [build-system]
-requires = ["jupyter_packaging~=0.7.9", "jupyterlab~=3.0", "setuptools>=40.8.0", "wheel"]
-build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+requires = ["jupyter_packaging~=0.9,<1", "jupyterlab~=3.0"]
+build-backend = "jupyter_packaging.build_api"
+
+[tool.jupyter-packaging.builder]
+factory = "jupyter_packaging.npm_builder"
+
+[tool.jupyter-packaging.build-args]
+build_cmd = "build:prod"
+npm = ["jlpm"]
+
+[tool.check-manifest]
+ignore = ["jupyterlab_widgets/labextension/**", "yarn.lock", ".*", "package-lock.json"]
diff --git a/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.cfg b/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.cfg
index 555d6f328ee..29a85ec9be6 100644
--- a/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.cfg
+++ b/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.cfg
@@ -30,3 +30,5 @@ python_requires = >=3.6
 zip_safe=False
 include_package_data = True
 packages = find:
+install_requires =
+  jupyter_packaging~=0.9,<1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.py b/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.py
index dcb777c8190..858a57cfe4e 100644
--- a/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.py
+++ b/jupyterlab_widgets/setup.py
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
 jupyterlab_widgets setup
 """
 from jupyter_packaging import (
-    create_cmdclass, install_npm, ensure_targets,
-    combine_commands, ensure_python, get_version,
-    skip_if_exists
+    wrap_installers,
+    npm_builder,
+    get_data_files
 )
 from pathlib import Path
 from setuptools import setup
@@ -21,33 +21,21 @@
 labext_name = "@jupyter-widgets/jupyterlab-manager"
 
 # Representative files that should exist after a successful build
-jstargets = [LAB_PATH / "package.json"]
-
-package_data_spec = {name: ["*"]}
+ensured_targets = [LAB_PATH / "package.json"]
 
 data_files_spec = [
     (f"share/jupyter/labextensions/{labext_name}", LAB_PATH, "**"),
     (f"share/jupyter/labextensions/{labext_name}", HERE, "install.json"),
 ]
 
-cmdclass = create_cmdclass(
-    "jsdeps",
-    package_data_spec=package_data_spec,
-    data_files_spec=data_files_spec
-)
-
-# if the static assets already exist, do not invoke npm so we can make a wheel
-# from the sdist package, since the npm build really only works from this
-# repo.
-js_command = combine_commands(
-    install_npm(HERE, build_cmd="build:prod", npm=["jlpm"]),
-    ensure_targets(jstargets),
+post_develop = npm_builder(
+    build_cmd="install:extension", source_dir="src", build_dir=LAB_PATH
 )
 
-if IS_REPO:
-    cmdclass["jsdeps"] = js_command
-else:
-    cmdclass["jsdeps"] = skip_if_exists(jstargets, js_command)
+cmdclass = wrap_installers(post_develop=post_develop, ensured_targets=ensured_targets)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    setup(cmdclass=cmdclass)
+    setup(
+        cmdclass=cmdclass,
+        data_files=get_data_files(data_files_spec),
+    )