license-expression

license-expression is a comprehensive utility library to parse, compare, simplify and normalize license expressions (such as SPDX license expressions) using boolean logic.

license-expression Permissive license Apache-2.0 Active ★ 73 v30.4.4 released 2025-07-22

Install

license-expression on PyPI

pip

pip install license-expression

uv

uv add license-expression

poetry

poetry add license-expression

Package facts

License	Apache-2.0 (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.9)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	1 — boolean.py
Maintenance	actively maintained — 387 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-05-26
First released	2016-08-23
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: license_expression-30.4.4-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: open source, license expression, license, spdx, boolean, parse expression, normalize expression, compare expression, licence

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyTopic :: Software DevelopmentTopic :: Utilities

About license-expression

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

================== license-expression ==================

license-expression is a comprehensive utility library to parse, compare, simplify and normalize license expressions (such as SPDX license expressions) using boolean logic.

License: Apache-2.0
Python: 3.9+
Homepage: https://github.com/aboutcode-org/license-expression/
Install: pip install license-expression also available in most Linux distro.

Software project licenses are often a combination of several free and open source software licenses. License expressions -- as specified by SPDX -- provide a concise and human readable way to express these licenses without having to read long license texts, while still being machine-readable.

License expressions are used by key FOSS projects such as Linux; several packages ecosystem use them to document package licensing metadata such as npm and Rubygems; they are important when exchanging software data (such as with SPDX and SBOM in general) as a way to express licensing precisely.

license-expression is a comprehensive utility library to parse, compare, simplify and normalize these license expressions (such as SPDX license expressions) using boolean logic like...

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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

Parses, validates, compares, and normalizes license expressions (including SPDX format) using boolean logic to handle complex multi-license combinations.

Low friction: pure Python wheel with a single runtime dependency (boolean.py). Active maintenance with last commit on 2026-05-26 and a stable production release cycle.

Apache-2.0 is permissive; you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial or proprietary projects provided you include a copy of the license and note any material changes.

Usage

pip install license-expression

from license_expression import get_spdx_licensing
licensing = get_spdx_licensing()
parsed = licensing.parse('GPL-2.0-or-later WITH Classpath-exception-2.0 AND MIT')
print(parsed.pretty())

Requires Python 3.9 or later.

Verdict: Production-ready library for parsing and normalizing SPDX and custom license expressions. No known vulnerabilities, permissive Apache-2.0 license, minimal dependencies, and active maintenance make it a solid choice for license metadata handling in compliance and SBOM workflows.

Needs verification

Whether the package's boolean.py dependency has its own maintenance status and security record.
Performance characteristics when parsing very large or deeply nested license expressions.
Whether the bundled SPDX 3.26 and ScanCode LicenseDB data can be updated independently or requires a new release.

spdx license expression parserlicense expression parserparse license expressionsnormalize license expressionslicense boolean logicspdx license validatorlicense expression simplify