extra-platforms
🔎 Detect architectures, platforms, shells, terminals, CI systems and agents, grouped by family
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, supports current Python versions (3.10+), carries a permissive license, and solves a real problem for cross-platform and CI-aware development. It is especially valuable if you write platform-conditional code, maintain pytest suites across multiple OS/arch combinations, or need to detect CI or AI agent environments.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low install friction with no runtime dependencies.
- Actively maintained with recent release (11 days old) and steady commit activity.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 (permissive) — Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-08-03 (11 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 31 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 135,141 downloads/mo, #11,453 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install extra-platforms
from extra_platforms import current_platform, is_linux, LINUX
my_os = current_platform()
print(my_os.id, my_os.name, my_os.icon)
print(is_linux())
print(current_platform() in LINUX)- Whether the package's caching mechanism and heuristics are performant enough for frequent calls in tight loops.
- Completeness and accuracy of CI environment detection across all supported systems.
- How well the AI agent detection handles emerging or custom agent implementations.
What it is and what it does
Extra Platforms is a lightweight library that detects your runtime environment—CPU architecture, operating system (including specific Linux distributions), shell, terminal emulator, CI system, and AI coding agent—and exposes this information as rich, queryable metadata. It provides version numbers, codenames, icons, and canonical URLs for each detected component, and groups them into semantic families (BSD, UNIX, LINUX, etc.) for easier conditional logic.
The library is designed for zero external dependencies and uses lightweight heuristics (primarily reading `/etc/os-release` for Linux detection). It integrates with pytest via decorators and markers like `@skip_` and `@unless_` to make platform-aware testing concise. You can use it as a Python library, via the command line, or through the `python -m extra_platforms` module interface, with JSON output for scripting.
Use it for
- Skip or run specific pytest tests only on certain platforms or architectures using decorators.
- Detect if running inside a CI system and adjust build or test behavior accordingly.
- Identify the current Linux distribution and apply distro-specific package or configuration logic.
- Determine shell and terminal type to customize shell completions or output formatting.
- Detect AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Cline) to enable or disable agent-specific features.
- Group heterogeneous platforms into families for simplified multi-platform compatibility checks.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, supports current Python versions (3.10+), carries a permissive license, and solves a real problem for cross-platform and CI-aware development. It is especially valuable if you write platform-conditional code, maintain pytest suites across multiple OS/arch combinations, or need to detect CI or AI agent environments.
Install
extra-platforms on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with recent release (11 days old) and steady commit activity.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install extra-platforms
from extra_platforms import current_platform, is_linux, LINUX
my_os = current_platform()
print(my_os.id, my_os.name, my_os.icon)
print(is_linux())
print(current_platform() in LINUX)Verify before relying
- Whether the package's caching mechanism and heuristics are performant enough for frequent calls in tight loops.
- Completeness and accuracy of CI environment detection across all supported systems.
- How well the AI agent detection handles emerging or custom agent implementations.
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 11 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 135,141 / month, #11,453 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleEnvironment :: MacOS XEnvironment :: WebAssemblyEnvironment :: WebAssembly :: EmscriptenEnvironment :: WebAssembly :: WASIEnvironment :: Win32 (MS Windows)Framework :: PytestIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: AndroidOperating System :: BeOSOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: MacOS :: MacOS 9Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS XOperating System :: MicrosoftOperating System :: Microsoft :: MS-DOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 10Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 11Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 3.1 or EarlierOperating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 7Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 8Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 8.1Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 95/98/2000Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows CEOperating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows NT/2000Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows Server 2003Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows Server 2008Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows VistaOperating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows XPOperating System :: OS IndependentOperating System :: OS/2Operating System :: Other OSOperating System :: PDA SystemsOperating System :: POSIXOperating System :: POSIX :: AIXOperating System :: POSIX :: BSDOperating System :: POSIX :: BSD :: BSD/OSOperating System :: POSIX :: BSD :: FreeBSDOperating System :: POSIX :: BSD :: NetBSDOperating System :: POSIX :: BSD :: OpenBSDOperating System :: POSIX :: GNU HurdOperating System :: POSIX :: HP-UXOperating System :: POSIX :: IRIXOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxOperating System :: POSIX :: OtherOperating System :: POSIX :: SCOOperating System :: POSIX :: SunOS/SolarisOperating System :: PalmOSOperating System :: RISC OSOperating System :: UnixOperating System :: iOSProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: System :: HardwareTopic :: System :: Operating SystemTopic :: System :: Operating System KernelsTopic :: System :: Operating System Kernels :: BSDTopic :: System :: Operating System Kernels :: GNU HurdTopic :: System :: Operating System Kernels :: LinuxTopic :: UtilitiesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: extra_platforms-13.6.0-py3-none-any.whl
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