---
id: jaraco-windows
version: "5.10.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# jaraco.windows — Windows Routines by Jason R. Coombs

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 81.8K/mo

## What it is and what it does

jaraco.windows is a pure-Python wrapper around Windows system APIs using ctypes, designed to provide access to Windows-specific functionality as needed by contributors rather than as an exhaustive API surface. It includes modules for filesystem operations, registry access, and other Windows system interactions, all implemented without compiled extensions.

The package is most commonly used to add Unix-like symlink support to the os module on Windows systems. By importing and calling the filesystem module's patch function, developers can use os.symlink and os.readlink on Windows Vista and later with the same interface as Unix, with an additional optional parameter to specify directory targets. It depends on a suite of jaraco utility packages for iteration, UI, collections, text, and functional programming helpers.

Use it for:

- Add Unix-compatible symlink support to Python code running on Windows Vista or later.
- Access Windows registry, file system metadata, or other Windows APIs from pure Python without writing C extensions.
- Monkeypatch the os module in a sitecustomize or usercustomize file to enable cross-platform symlink code.
- Integrate Windows system calls into cross-platform applications that need Windows-specific behavior.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides a pure-Python interface to Windows APIs via ctypes, allowing developers to call Windows system functions directly from Python code without compiled extensions.

Yes, if you are developing on Windows and need access to Windows APIs or cross-platform symlink support. The package is stable (Production/Stable status), actively maintained, MIT-licensed, and has low install friction. It is Windows-only and requires Python 3.9+, so it is not suitable for non-Windows platforms.

## Install

pip install jaraco-windows
uv add jaraco-windows
poetry add jaraco-windows

## Installing jaraco.windows

Before you install: Low install friction with a wheel distribution. The package is actively maintained with a recent commit on 2026-04-13 and has been in production use since 2009, though it depends on eight runtime packages including jaraco.ui, jaraco.collections, and others from the jaraco ecosystem.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive, allowing free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.

Quickstart:

pip install jaraco-windows

import jaraco.windows.filesystem as fs
fs.patch_os_module()  # Enable os.symlink on Windows
os.symlink(target, link_name, target_is_directory=True)

Windows-only; requires Python 3.9 or later. The symlink functionality requires Windows Vista or later.

Verify before relying:

- Exact scope and completeness of Windows APIs covered by the package beyond filesystem and symlink operations.
- Performance characteristics when calling Windows APIs through ctypes versus native implementations.
- Compatibility with Windows 11 and recent Windows Server versions.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 81.8K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

windows api ctypes, windows system calls python, windows api wrapper, ctypes windows interface, windows filesystem symlink, windows registry access, windows system integration, windows-specific, ctypes, system-integration

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