mac-alias

library2.2.3pypypi✓ verified 93d ago

Generate and parse macOS Alias records from Python. Version 2.2.3 supports Python >=3.10. Used by dmgbuild for creating macOS disk images. Stable release cadence, maintained as part of dmgbuild ecosystem.

serialization

pip install mac-alias

github ↗package ↗docs ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · MAC-ALIAS

mac-alias

serializationpythonv2.2.3

Install

1.5s avg

Import

23ms

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 v2.2.3 · 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 0.026s · 17.9MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 1.5s · import 0.020s · 18MB

16MB installed

● package 16MB

Code

Verified usage

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

Alias

✓ from mac_alias import Alias

The Alias class is in the mac_alias package.

Create a macOS Alias from a file path, serialize to bytes, and resolve later.

from mac_alias import Alias # Create an Alias from a file path (requires macOS) alias = Alias.from_path('/Applications') # Serialize to bytes alias_bytes = alias.to_bytes() # Later, read alias and resolve alias2 = Alias.from_bytes(alias_bytes) path = alias2.to_path() print(path)

Debug

Known issues

gotchamacOS-only: mac-alias works on macOS only. It will fail on Linux/Windows with an OSError or import errors for underlying macOS frameworks.

fix

Only use this library on macOS; use conditional imports or platform checks.

affects: all

gotchaalias.to_path() may return None if the target no longer exists. The alias data can still be valid but resolution fails silently.

fix

Always check if result is None before using the path.

affects: all

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ImportError: No module named 'mac_alias'

Package not installed or wrong import path. Some older docs reference 'mac_alias' as 'mac_alias'.

fix

Install with 'pip install mac-alias' and import 'from mac_alias import Alias'.

OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/path/to/file'

Alias.from_path() expects an existing file or folder on disk. Non-existent paths raise this error.

fix

Ensure the path exists before calling from_path().

Upgrade

Version history

2.2.3latest on PyPI · released Dec 4, 2025

Audit

Dependencies

No dependency data recorded yet.

Agent activity

10 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/dmgbuild/mac_alias ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/mac-alias/ ↗

docshttps://mac-alias.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ ↗