file-magic

library0.4.1pypypi✓ verified 91d ago

Python front end for libmagic(3) — uses ctypes to wrap libmagic for file type detection. Current version 0.4.1, last released 2016; requires libmagic (system library). Unmaintained; prefer `python-magic` for active development.

serialization

pip install file-magic

package ↗homepage ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · FILE-MAGIC

file-magic

serializationpythonv0.4.1

Install

1.5s avg

Import

—

Disk

16MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.4.1 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.000s · 17.8MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 1.5s · import 0.000s · 18MB

16MB installed

● package 16MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

magic

✓ import magic

Top-level import; no submodule needed.

Basic usage: create a magic cookie, load magic database, detect file type.

import magic m = magic.open(magic.MAGIC_NONE) m.load() type_ = m.file('/path/to/file') # e.g., 'ASCII text' print(type_)

Debug

Known issues

gotcha`file-magic` is unmaintained (last release 2016). Prefer `pip install python-magic` instead, which has a similar API and is actively maintained.

fix

Use `python-magic` for new projects.

affects: all

gotchaRequires system libmagic installed. If missing, get an OSError or ImportError.

fix

Install libmagic (e.g., apt-get install libmagic1 on Debian/Ubuntu).

affects: all

gotchaOn Windows, libmagic is not preinstalled; need to bundle DLL or use alternative.

fix

Consider using `python-magic-bin` or `python-magic` with appropriate binary.

affects: all

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ImportError: No module named magic

Both `file-magic` and `python-magic` create a module named `magic`. If both are installed, import may fail or wrong version used.

fix

Uninstall both and reinstall only one: `pip uninstall file-magic python-magic python-magic-bin` then `pip install python-magic`.

OSError: libmagic not found

System library libmagic is missing.

fix

Install libmagic: on Linux `sudo apt-get install libmagic1` (or equivalent), on macOS `brew install libmagic`.

TypeError: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

In Python 3, file path must be bytes or string; often happens when passing string to .file() where lib expects bytes.

fix

Encode path if needed: `m.file(bytes(path, 'utf-8'))` or ensure string path works (usual).

Upgrade

Version history

0.4.1latest on PyPI · released Sep 1, 2022

Audit

Dependencies

libmagicrequiredSystem library (libmagic) must be installed; Linux: apt-get install libmagic1, macOS: brew install libmagic

Agent activity

14 hits · last 30 days

node

Amazon

Resources

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/file-magic/ ↗

homepagehttps://https://darwinsys.com/file/ ↗