---
id: distlib
version: "0.4.3"
license: PSF-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# distlib — Distribution utilities

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Popularity: top 1,000 on PyPI

## Install

pip install distlib
uv add distlib
poetry add distlib

## Description

|badge1| |badge2|

.. |badge1| image:: https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/pypa/distlib/package-tests.yml
   :alt: GitHub Workflow Status (with event)

.. |badge2| image:: https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/pypa/distlib
   :target: https://app.codecov.io/gh/pypa/distlib
   :alt: GitHub coverage status

What is it?
-----------

Distlib is a library which implements low-level functions that relate to
packaging and distribution of Python software. It is intended to be used as the
basis for third-party packaging tools. The documentation is available at

https://distlib.readthedocs.io/

Main features
-------------

Distlib currently offers the following features:

* The package ``distlib.database``, which implements a database of installed
  distributions, as defined by :pep:`376`, and distribution dependency graph
  logic. Support is also provided for non-installed distributions (i.e.
  distributions registered with metadata on an index like PyPI), including
  the ability to scan for dependencies and building dependency graphs.
* The package ``distlib.index``, which implements an interface to perform
  operations on an index, such as registering a project,...

## AI interpretation — verify before relying

Distlib provides low-level packaging utilities for building, installing, and distributing Python software, including distribution metadata, version handling, wheel support, and dependency resolution.

Verdict: Distlib is a mature, actively maintained foundation library for Python packaging tools with zero dependencies, permissive licensing, and no known vulnerabilities. Its use by pip and other well-known projects, combined with comprehensive test coverage and broad Python version support, makes it a reliable choice for packaging infrastructure.

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