ifaddr
Cross-platform network interface and IP address enumeration library
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. ifaddr is a focused, well-maintained tool for a specific task—enumerating network interfaces—with zero runtime dependencies, no compilation, and proven cross-platform support. Install it if you need to query local network configuration programmatically. The MIT license carries no restrictions.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low friction: pure Python wheel, no compilation needed.
- Actively maintained with recent commits; last release was 1521 days ago but repo shows ongoing activity.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely with minimal restrictions.
last release 2022-06-15 (1521 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-05 · 91 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 6,751,617 downloads/mo, #1,857 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
import ifaddr
adapters = ifaddr.get_adapters()
for adapter in adapters:
print(f"{adapter.nice_name}: {[ip.ip for ip in adapter.ips]}")- Whether the package handles dynamic network changes (hot-plugging interfaces) or requires re-enumeration
- Performance characteristics when enumerating many network interfaces or on systems with hundreds of adapters
What it is and what it does
ifaddr is a lightweight Python library that discovers all network interfaces and their assigned IP addresses on your system. It works cross-platform on Linux, macOS, Windows, and BSD variants without needing to compile anything—just install and import. The library returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses with their network prefixes, and can optionally include unconfigured interfaces with no IPs assigned.
You call `get_adapters()` to retrieve a list of network adapters, then iterate through each adapter's `ips` property to access individual addresses. It provides human-readable adapter names and interface indexes, making it useful for applications that need to discover local network configuration programmatically.
Use it for
- Discover all local IP addresses for binding a server to the correct interface in multi-homed systems
- Build network diagnostic tools that display available adapters and their configurations
- Automatically detect IPv6 addresses with scope IDs for link-local communication
- Find unconfigured network interfaces for system inventory or monitoring applications
- Replace netifaces for projects that cannot tolerate compilation overhead
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
ifaddr is a focused, well-maintained tool for a specific task—enumerating network interfaces—with zero runtime dependencies, no compilation, and proven cross-platform support. Install it if you need to query local network configuration programmatically. The MIT license carries no restrictions.
Install
ifaddr on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel, no compilation needed. Actively maintained with recent commits; last release was 1521 days ago but repo shows ongoing activity.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
import ifaddr
adapters = ifaddr.get_adapters()
for adapter in adapters:
print(f"{adapter.nice_name}: {[ip.ip for ip in adapter.ips]}")Verify before relying
- Whether the package handles dynamic network changes (hot-plugging interfaces) or requires re-enumeration
- Performance characteristics when enumerating many network interfaces or on systems with hundreds of adapters
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 1,521 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 6,751,617 / month, #1,857 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: System :: Networking |
Evidence: ifaddr-0.2.0-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 › “get local IP addresses”
- ifaddrEnumerate network interfaces and their IP addresses across Linux,…
- ifcfgIfcfg parses network interface configuration from system commands…
- netifaces2Retrieves network interface information (addresses, gateways,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Networking packages
h11 is a pure-Python HTTP/1.1 protocol implementation that handles parsing and serializing HTTP messages without any built-in I/O, letting you integrate it with any network layer you choose.
psutil retrieves real-time information about running processes and system resources (CPU, memory, disks, network, sensors) across multiple operating systems, enabling system monitoring, process profiling, and resource management.
pyOpenSSL wraps OpenSSL's SSL/TLS functionality for Python, providing high-level connection objects and certificate handling through a Python-friendly interface around OpenSSL's cryptographic operations.
uvloop is a drop-in replacement for Python's built-in asyncio event loop, implemented in Cython and using libuv, that accelerates async I/O operations.
execnet lets you spawn and communicate with Python interpreters across local processes, remote hosts, and different platforms, using a simple API for task distribution and inter-process messaging.
However, the aging maintenance status (275 days since last release) means you should verify it meets your concurrency and performance needs before committing to a…
PyZMQ provides Python bindings for ZeroMQ (ØMQ), a lightweight messaging library that enables fast, asynchronous communication between distributed processes and applications.
See also netifaces-plus · netifaces · netifaces2 · getmac · ifcfg · netaddr · ipaddr · bluetooth-adapters · IP2Location · mac-alias