---
id: codeowners
version: "0.9.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# codeowners — Codeowners parser for Python

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 14.0M/mo

## What it is and what it does

codeowners is a Python parser for GitHub's CODEOWNERS file format. It reads CODEOWNERS syntax—which defines ownership rules for files and directories using glob patterns and owner identifiers—and provides a programmatic interface to query which owners are responsible for a given file path.

The package has no runtime dependencies and is designed for developers who need to automate workflows around code ownership: integrating ownership data into CI/CD pipelines, validating pull request reviewers, or building tools that reason about team responsibilities. It supports the full CODEOWNERS syntax including comments, glob patterns, and multiple owner formats.

Use it for:

- Validate that pull requests have been reviewed by the correct code owners before merging.
- Generate ownership reports or dashboards showing which teams own which parts of a codebase.
- Automate reviewer assignment in CI/CD by querying owners for changed files.
- Audit or migrate ownership data from CODEOWNERS files into other systems or formats.
- Build linting tools that check CODEOWNERS file syntax and consistency.

## Worth the install?

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

Parses GitHub CODEOWNERS files to extract ownership rules and determine which owners are responsible for a given file path.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, installs cleanly, carries no known vulnerabilities, and is licensed permissively under MIT. Install it if you need to programmatically parse CODEOWNERS files in Python.

## Install

pip install codeowners
uv add codeowners
poetry add codeowners

## Installing codeowners

Before you install: Low friction install with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with recent release activity and support for current Python versions (3.10–3.15).

License in practice: MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal legal constraints.

Quickstart:

from codeowners import CodeOwners

example = "*.js @ghost\n*.py user@example.com"
owners = CodeOwners(example)
print(owners.of("test.js"))

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 14.0M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

codeowners file parser, github codeowners parsing, code ownership rules, parse codeowners syntax, file ownership lookup, github code owners, github-integration, code-ownership

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