---
id: brother
version: "6.1.1"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# brother — Python wrapper for getting data from Brother laser and inkjet printers via SNMP.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 83.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Brother is an async Python wrapper for querying Brother laser and inkjet printers via SNMP. It abstracts the low-level SNMP protocol details and provides a simple interface to retrieve printer state, model, firmware version, serial number, and sensor readings. The package uses dacite for data deserialization and pyasn1 for ASN.1 encoding.

The typical workflow is to create a Brother instance with a printer's hostname or IP and printer type, call async_update() to fetch current data, and then access properties like status and model. It supports both internal and external SNMP engines, making it suitable for integration into monitoring systems or home automation platforms that need to track printer health and consumable levels.

Use it for:

- Monitor Brother printer status and alert when toner or ink is low or paper jams occur.
- Collect printer metrics for a network monitoring dashboard.
- Integrate printer data into home automation or IoT systems for device status tracking.
- Build a multi-printer inventory system that queries several Brother devices on a network.
- Log printer events and sensor readings for maintenance and usage analytics.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Queries Brother laser and inkjet printers over SNMP to retrieve status, sensor data, model, firmware, and serial information asynchronously.

Yes, if you own a Brother printer and need to query its status programmatically. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs cleanly, and provides a straightforward async interface. The Apache-2.0 license is permissive. The main constraint is the Python 3.13 or later requirement and the need for SNMP network access to your printer.

## Install

pip install brother
uv add brother
poetry add brother

## Installing brother

Before you install: Low friction installation with a pure-Python wheel. Actively maintained with a recent release; last commit 2026-08-08 and marked production/stable.

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

import asyncio
from brother import Brother

async def main():
    brother = await Brother.create('host', printer_type='laser')
    data = await brother.async_update()
    print(f"Status: {data.status}")
    brother.shutdown()

asyncio.run(main())

Requires Python 3.13 or later; printer must be reachable via SNMP on the network.

Verify before relying:

- Which specific Brother printer models are supported beyond 'laser' and 'inkjet' types.
- Whether SNMP v1, v2c, v3, or all versions are supported.
- Timeout and retry behavior when a printer is unreachable.
- Full range of sensor data and status fields available from async_update().

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 83.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

brother printer snmp, printer status monitoring, brother laser inkjet data, snmp printer query, printer sensor data async, brother device info, snmp, printer-monitoring, async

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/brother) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/brother/)