find-libpython
Finds the libpython associated with your environment, wherever it may be hiding
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package solves a genuine cross-platform problem with no dependencies, active maintenance, and a permissive license. Install it if you need to locate libpython for embedding, linking, or build automation. The low friction and clear scope make it a safe addition to build toolchains.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or later.
- Low install friction with no runtime dependencies.
- Actively maintained with a recent release and steady repository activity.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; attribution required.
last release 2026-02-11 (184 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-10 · 22 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 986,854 downloads/mo, #4,572 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install find-libpython
from find_libpython import find_libpython
path = find_libpython()
print(path) # e.g., /home/user/miniconda3/envs/test/lib/libpython3.8.so.1.0- Whether the package successfully locates libpython in all edge-case installations (e.g., static builds, non-standard layouts).
- Performance characteristics when called repeatedly or on systems with many candidate paths.
What it is and what it does
find_libpython is a utility that discovers the path to the libpython shared library for your current Python environment. It handles the complexity of locating libpython across different installation methods—conda, system package managers, custom builds—and different operating systems. The package works both as a command-line tool (useful in makefiles and build scripts) and as a Python library (useful in distutils-based build systems or Python code that embeds a Python interpreter).
The main use case is enabling other projects to link against or embed Python without hardcoding library paths. It abstracts away platform-specific search logic and installation variations, returning either the path as a string or None if the library cannot be found. No external dependencies are required, making it lightweight to integrate into build toolchains.
Use it for
- Embed a Python interpreter in a C/C++ application by discovering the correct libpython to link against.
- Build Python extension modules in makefile-based systems by querying the script for the libpython path.
- Automate library path resolution in distutils or setuptools-based build systems across multiple platforms.
- Locate libpython in conda environments or custom Python installations for FFI bindings.
- Debug Python installation issues by inspecting candidate library names and paths via CLI flags.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package solves a genuine cross-platform problem with no dependencies, active maintenance, and a permissive license. Install it if you need to locate libpython for embedding, linking, or build automation. The low friction and clear scope make it a safe addition to build toolchains.
Install
find-libpython on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with a recent release and steady repository activity.
Requires Python 3.9 or later.
License in practice
MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; attribution required.
Quickstart
pip install find-libpython
from find_libpython import find_libpython
path = find_libpython()
print(path) # e.g., /home/user/miniconda3/envs/test/lib/libpython3.8.so.1.0Verify before relying
- Whether the package successfully locates libpython in all edge-case installations (e.g., static builds, non-standard layouts).
- Performance characteristics when called repeatedly or on systems with many candidate paths.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 184 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 986,854 / month, #4,572 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Programming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries |
Evidence: find_libpython-0.5.1-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “find libpython path”
- find-libpythonLocates the libpython dynamic library path for the current Python…
- find-exeFinds executables on the system matching specified criteria, such as…
- svg.pathParses SVG path definitions and provides objects to manipulate path…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Libraries packages
urllib3 is an HTTP client library that provides thread-safe connection pooling, SSL/TLS verification, multipart file uploads, request retries, compression support, and proxy handling for Python applications.
Requests is a Python HTTP library that simplifies sending HTTP/1.1 requests with automatic handling of headers, authentication, cookies, and response parsing.
Pluggy provides a plugin system that lets you define hook specifications and register implementations to be called in sequence, enabling extensible Python applications without tight coupling.
Install it if you're building an extensible application or framework.
Provides parsing, arithmetic, and recurrence rule computation for dates and times, with timezone support and iCalendar RFC compliance.
Install it if you need to parse flexible date strings, compute relative dates, handle timezones, or work with recurrence rules—it's the de facto choice for these tasks.
Six provides utility functions to write Python code that runs on both Python 2.7 and Python 3.3+, smoothing over language differences between the two versions.
pytest is a testing framework that lets you write test functions using plain assert statements and automatically discovers and runs them, with detailed failure reporting.
See also python-discovery · libusb-package · dllist · dlinfo · ptpython · cppyy-cling · whichcraft · juliacall · findlibs · nbsphinx-link