identify

File identification library for Python

identify Permissive license MIT Active ★ 297 v2.6.19 released 2026-04-17

Install

identify on PyPI

pip

pip install identify

uv

uv add identify

poetry

poetry add identify

Package facts

License	MIT (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.10)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	none
Maintenance	actively maintained — 118 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-07-15
First released	2017-02-16
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: identify-2.6.19-py2.py3-none-any.whl

Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPy

About identify

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

build status (image) pre-commit.ci status (image)

identify

File identification library for Python.

Given a file (or some information about a file), return a set of standardized tags identifying what the file is.

Installation

pip install identify

Usage

With a file on disk

If you have an actual file on disk, you can get the most information possible (a superset of all other methods):

&gt;&gt;&gt; from identify import identify
&gt;&gt;&gt; identify.tags_from_path('/path/to/file.py')
{'file', 'text', 'python', 'non-executable'}
&gt;&gt;&gt; identify.tags_from_path('/path/to/file-with-shebang')
{'file', 'text', 'shell', 'bash', 'executable'}
&gt;&gt;&gt; identify.tags_from_path('/bin/bash')
{'file', 'binary', 'executable'}
&gt;&gt;&gt; identify.tags_from_path('/path/to/directory')
{'directory'}
&gt;&gt;&gt; identify.tags_from_path('/path/to/symlink')
{'symlink'}

When using a file on disk, the checks...

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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

Identifies file types by examining file paths, names, shebangs, and content, returning standardized tags for classification. Optionally identifies license types from LICENSE files.

Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies and active maintenance (118 days since last release, last commit 2026-07-15).

MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; attribution required.

Usage

pip install identify
from identify import identify
tags = identify.tags_from_path('/path/to/file.py')
print(tags)  # {'file', 'text', 'python', 'non-executable'}

Requires Python 3.10 or later.

Verdict: Lightweight, actively maintained file identification library with no dependencies and permissive licensing. Suitable for build tools, linters, and file-processing workflows. No known vulnerabilities and top-1000 PyPI popularity.

Needs verification

Performance characteristics on large files or high-volume classification tasks
Accuracy of license detection compared to other identification methods
Completeness of file type coverage for less common formats

file type detection pythonidentify file formatfile classification libraryshebang interpreter detectionlicense identificationfile extension recognitionbinary vs text detection