---
id: developer-disk-image
version: "0.3.0"
license: unclear
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# developer-disk-image — Download DeveloperDiskImage ans Personalized images from GitHub

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 314.9K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package provides a Python interface to download and manage Apple's DeveloperDiskImage files from a GitHub repository. It handles three formats: legacy DeveloperDiskImage.dmg files for iOS versions before 17.0, newer personalized images split into APFS, BuildManifest.plist, and trustcache components, and Cryptex1 assets for alternative installation methods. The package normalizes file names across releases so download URLs remain predictable, and it exposes a simple API to fetch the appropriate variant for your use case.

The package depends only on requests and supports Python 3.9 through 3.13. It fetches payloads from raw.githubusercontent.com, which bypasses GitHub's REST API rate limits, so no authentication token is required. The repository is actively maintained and includes an update script for refreshing variants from a local Xcode installation on macOS.

Use it for:

- Automate downloading DeveloperDiskImage files for iOS development workflows without manual GitHub interaction.
- Build CI/CD pipelines that need to provision iOS developer images for testing or device provisioning.
- Access personalized or cryptex variants of developer images for alternative installation methods beyond the standard image mounter.
- Programmatically retrieve legacy DeveloperDiskImage files for iOS versions before 17.0 in bulk or on-demand.
- Integrate developer image provisioning into tools that manage iOS device setup and deployment.

## Worth the install?

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

Fetches Apple's DeveloperDiskImage files (legacy DMG format and newer personalized/cryptex variants) from a GitHub repository and provides a Python API to access them programmatically.

Yes, if you need to programmatically fetch Apple's DeveloperDiskImage files in an automated workflow. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, and handles multiple image formats. Be aware of the GPLv3+ copyleft license if you plan to distribute derivative work, and note that some functionality (the update script) is macOS-only.

## Install

pip install developer-disk-image
uv add developer-disk-image
poetry add developer-disk-image

## Installing developer-disk-image

Before you install: Low install friction with a single runtime dependency (requests). Actively maintained with a recent release (7 days ago) and steady development history since 2023.

License in practice: Licensed under GPLv3+, a copyleft license requiring that any derivative work or distribution must also be open-source under compatible terms.

Quickstart:

pip install developer-disk-image

from developer_disk_image.repo import DeveloperDiskImageRepository

repo = DeveloperDiskImageRepository.create()
developer_disk_image = repo.get_developer_disk_image('16.4')
personalized_disk_image = repo.get_personalized_disk_image()
cryptex_disk_image = repo.get_cryptex_disk_image()

Requires Python 3.9 or later. The repository fetches from raw.githubusercontent.com, so internet connectivity is needed.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works on non-macOS systems for accessing downloaded images (description mentions OS* other than macOS may have trouble with original APFS extraction)
- Performance characteristics when fetching large DeveloperDiskImage files over the network

## Package facts

- License: not declared (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 314.9K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

developer disk image download, ios ddi fetch, apple xcode ddi repository, personalized disk image cryptex, ios developer image api, ios-development, apple-tools, ci-cd

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/developer-disk-image) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/developer-disk-image/)