griffe

Signatures for entire Python programs. Extract the structure, the frame, the skeleton of your project, to generate API documentation or find breaking changes in your API.

griffe Permissive license ISC Active ★ 676 v2.1.0 released 2026-06-19

Install

griffe on PyPI

pip

pip install griffe

uv

uv add griffe

poetry

poetry add griffe

Package facts

License	ISC (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.10)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	2 — griffecli, griffelib
Maintenance	actively maintained — 55 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-07-20
First released	2021-09-09
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-13)

Evidence: griffe-2.1.0-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: api, breaking-changes, dynamic-analysis, signature, static-analysis

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: DocumentationTopic :: Software DevelopmentTopic :: Software Development :: DocumentationTopic :: UtilitiesTyping :: Typed

About griffe

from the package's own PyPI description — quoted content, verbatim

Griffe

ci (image) documentation (image) pypi version (image) gitter (image) radicle (image)

Signatures for entire Python programs. Extract the structure, the frame, the skeleton of your project, to generate API documentation or find breaking changes in your API.

Griffe, pronounced "grif" (/ɡʁif/), is a french word that means "claw", but also "signature" in a familiar way. "On reconnaît bien là sa griffe."

[User...

Read as markdown · JSON record · Source repository · Homepage · Docs

AI interpretation — verify before relying

AI-generated interpretation of the package facts above; every digit, version, license, or vulnerability id it cites is grounded in the facts already shown on this page

Griffe extracts the structure and signatures of Python programs to generate API documentation and detect breaking changes in your API.

Low friction: pure Python wheel with minimal runtime dependencies (griffecli, griffelib). Active maintenance with a recent release 55 days ago and ongoing repository activity.

ISC permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.

Usage

pip install griffe

import griffe

fastapi = griffe.load("fastapi")
for breakage in griffe.find_breaking_changes(griffe.load_git("mypackage", ref="0.2.0"), griffe.load("mypackage")):
    print(breakage)

Requires Python 3.10 or later. Optional `pypi` extra needed to check packages directly from PyPI.

Verdict: Griffe is a production-ready, actively maintained tool for Python API introspection and breaking-change detection. It installs cleanly with no friction, carries an ISC permissive license, and has no known vulnerabilities. Suitable for documentation generation pipelines and API compatibility testing.

Needs verification

Whether griffecli and griffelib are internal submodules or separate packages affecting actual install complexity
Performance characteristics when analyzing large or complex Python projects

python api documentation generatordetect breaking changes apiextract python signaturesstatic analysis python codeapi structure extractionpython code skeleton analysis