keystone-engine
Keystone assembler engine
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
No, unless you have a specific legacy project already using it. The package is abandoned (last release 2020-06-21) with no maintenance or security updates. GPLv2 licensing also restricts commercial use unless you purchase a separate license. For new projects, consider actively maintained alternatives.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires the native Keystone C library to be installed on the system; pre-built wheels are provided for common platforms but may not work on all architectures or systems.
- Medium install friction due to binary wheels for multiple platforms (macOS, Linux, Windows, 32/64-bit).
- However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2020-06-21, over 2245 days ago—so no maintenance or security updates are forthcoming.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Licensed under GPLv2 (without 'any later version' clause) or a commercial license. GPLv2 requires derivative works to be open source; commercial use in production requires purchasing a separate license from the authors.
last release 2020-06-21 (2245 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 181,360 downloads/mo, #10,127 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
from keystone import Ks, KS_ARCH_X86, KS_MODE_32
ks = Ks(KS_ARCH_X86, KS_MODE_32)
encoding, count = ks.asm("mov eax, ebx")
print(encoding)- Whether the package works reliably on modern Python versions given its abandonment status.
- Whether pre-built wheels are still compatible with current operating system versions.
- Whether the GPLv2 license restriction applies to your use case or if a commercial license is needed.
What it is and what it does
Keystone is a multi-platform assembler framework that converts assembly language into machine code for a wide range of CPU architectures. It provides a simple, architecture-neutral API and is implemented in C/C++ with Python bindings, making it suitable for tools that need to generate or analyze machine code across different processors.
The package is thread-safe and supports Arm, Arm64, Ethereum Virtual Machine, Hexagon, Mips, PowerPC, Sparc, SystemZ, and X86 (16/32/64-bit variants). However, the project is no longer maintained—the last release was in 2020—so users should expect no bug fixes, security patches, or compatibility updates for newer Python or operating system versions.
Use it for
- Generate machine code for reverse-engineering tools or binary analysis frameworks that need to assemble instructions across multiple architectures.
- Build emulators or virtual machines that require dynamic code generation for different CPU instruction sets.
- Create security research tools that analyze or synthesize assembly code for different processors.
- Develop compiler backends or code generation utilities that target multiple architectures from a single codebase.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
No, unless you have a specific legacy project already using it.
The package is abandoned (last release 2020-06-21) with no maintenance or security updates. GPLv2 licensing also restricts commercial use unless you purchase a separate license. For new projects, consider actively maintained alternatives.
Install
keystone-engine on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to binary wheels for multiple platforms (macOS, Linux, Windows, 32/64-bit). However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2020-06-21, over 2245 days ago—so no maintenance or security updates are forthcoming.
Requires the native Keystone C library to be installed on the system; pre-built wheels are provided for common platforms but may not work on all architectures or systems.
License in practice
Licensed under GPLv2 (without 'any later version' clause) or a commercial license. GPLv2 requires derivative works to be open source; commercial use in production requires purchasing a separate license from the authors.
Quickstart
from keystone import Ks, KS_ARCH_X86, KS_MODE_32
ks = Ks(KS_ARCH_X86, KS_MODE_32)
encoding, count = ks.asm("mov eax, ebx")
print(encoding)Verify before relying
- Whether the package works reliably on modern Python versions given its abandonment status.
- Whether pre-built wheels are still compatible with current operating system versions.
- Whether the GPLv2 license restriction applies to your use case or if a commercial license is needed.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Abandoned 2,245 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 181,360 / month, #10,127 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 2Programming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Software Development :: Build Tools |
Evidence: keystone_engine-0.9.2-py2.py3-none-macosx_10_14_x86_64.whl; keystone_engine-0.9.2-py2.py3-none-manylinux1_i686.whl; keystone_engine-0.9.2-py2.py3-none-manylinux1_x86_64.whl; keystone_engine-0.9.2-py2.py3-none-win32.whl; keystone_engine-0.9.2-py2.py3-none-win_amd64.whl
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See also capstone · unicorn · pyevmasm · vllm-cpu · keystonemiddleware · keystone · ropper · mnn · python-keystoneclient · akracer