---
id: filetype
version: "1.2.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# filetype — Infer file type and MIME type of any file/buffer. No external dependencies.

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

## Install

pip install filetype
uv add filetype
poetry add filetype

## Description

filetype.py |Build Status| |PyPI| |Pyversions| |API|
====================================================

Small and dependency free `Python`_ package to infer file type and MIME
type checking the `magic numbers`_ signature of a file or buffer.

This is a Python port from `filetype`_ Go package.

Features
--------

-  Simple and friendly API
-  Supports a `wide range`_ of file types
-  Provides file extension and MIME type inference
-  File discovery by extension or MIME type
-  File discovery by kind (image, video, audio…)
-  `Pluggable`_: add new custom type matchers
-  `Fast`_, even processing large files
-  Only first 261 bytes representing the max file header is required, so
   you can just `pass a list of bytes`_
-  Dependency free (just Python code, no C extensions, no libmagic
   bindings)
-  Cross-platform file recognition

Installation
------------

::

    pip install filetype

API
---

See `annotated API reference`_.

Examples
--------

Simple file type checking
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. code-block:: python

    import filetype

    def main():
        kind = filetype.guess('tests/fixtures/sample.jpg')
        if kind is None:
            print('Cannot guess...

## AI interpretation — verify before relying

Identifies file types and MIME types by examining magic number signatures in file headers, supporting images, videos, audio, archives, documents, and fonts without external dependencies.

Verdict: A mature, dependency-free utility for file type detection safe for production use. No known vulnerabilities, permissive MIT licensing, and straightforward installation make it low-risk. Aging maintenance (no releases since 2022-11-02) is not a blocker for a stable library, but users should expect no updates for new formats.

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