--- id: magic-wormhole version: "0.24.0" license: MIT license_treatment: permissive maintenance: active --- # magic-wormhole — Securely transfer data between computers License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 684.1K/mo ## What it is and what it does Magic Wormhole is a tool for securely moving files, directories, or short text between two computers without requiring prior setup, shared infrastructure, or manual configuration. The sender generates a short, human-pronounceable code (like a passphrase) that the receiver types into their machine; the two endpoints then establish an encrypted connection and transfer the data. The codes are single-use, do not need memorization, and support tab-completion to minimize typing. The package works as both a command-line utility and a Python library, making it suitable for ad-hoc transfers as well as programmatic integration. It relies on end-to-end encryption (via pynacl and cryptography), a relay server for initial connection brokering, and the Twisted networking framework for asynchronous I/O. The tool is designed for simplicity and security: no accounts, no passwords, no pre-shared keys—just a code. Use it for: - Send a file or folder to a colleague without setting up cloud storage or email - Programmatically transfer data between two Python applications on different machines - Securely share sensitive files with end-to-end encryption and no persistent server storage - Quickly move a directory tree across a network without SSH or rsync setup - Integrate encrypted peer-to-peer file transfer into a Python application ## Worth the install? AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying. Magic Wormhole transfers files, directories, and text between computers using short, human-readable codes and end-to-end encryption, with both a command-line tool and a Python library. Yes. Magic Wormhole is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and solves a real problem—secure, code-based file transfer with minimal setup. The MIT license is permissive. Install it if you need to move files between machines without pre-arrangement or if you want to add encrypted transfer to a Python application. The only caveat is that it depends on external relay infrastructure (mailbox and transit servers) that you do not control; verify those services remain available for your use case. ## Install pip install magic-wormhole uv add magic-wormhole poetry add magic-wormhole ## Installing magic-wormhole Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel. Active maintenance as of 2026-07-26 with 22816 repository stars. Requires Python 3.10 or higher and depends on 15 runtime packages including cryptographic libraries (pynacl, cryptography) and networking stacks (twisted, autobahn). License in practice: Released under the MIT license (permissive), allowing use in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions. Quickstart: pip install magic-wormhole from wormhole import create wormhole_code = create() # generates a code to share # or use the CLI: wormhole send Requires Python 3.10 or higher; depends on system-level networking and cryptographic libraries that twisted and pynacl may require compilation for on some platforms. Verify before relying: - Whether the mailbox server and transit relay infrastructure remain publicly available and maintained - Performance characteristics when transferring very large files or directories - Whether pywin32 dependency affects non-Windows installation or is conditionally installed ## Package facts - License: MIT (permissive) - Python support: supports_current - Install friction: low - Maintenance: active - Downloads: 684.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI) - Known vulnerabilities: none known ## Tags secure file transfer between computers, encrypted data exchange with codes, wormhole command line tool, peer-to-peer file sharing, magic wormhole python library, safe file transfer no setup, human-readable transfer codes, file-transfer, encryption, cli-tool [View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/magic-wormhole) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/magic-wormhole/)