mediatype
Media Type parsing and creation
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need reliable MIME type parsing and don't require active maintenance. The package is stable, has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a narrow, well-defined problem with minimal dependencies. The dormant maintenance status is acceptable for a utility library with a stable specification (RFC-6838), but unsuitable if you need ongoing bug fixes or Python version support beyond 3.10.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low install friction; pure Python wheel with a single lightweight dependency (enumb).
- Maintenance is dormant—last release was 2022-04-12 and no commits since 2024-08-14, but the repository is not archived and the package remains functional for current Python versions.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license (permissive) places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in proprietary or open-source projects.
last release 2022-04-12 (1585 days) · last repo commit 2024-08-14 · 3 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 96,908 downloads/mo, #13,185 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install mediatype
import mediatype
media_type = mediatype.parse('application/manifest+json')
print(media_type.type, media_type.subtype, media_type.suffix)- Whether the package handles all RFC-6838 edge cases (e.g., quoted parameters, charset encoding) or only common cases.
- Performance characteristics when parsing large numbers of media types or complex parameter strings.
- Whether enumb dependency is actively maintained and compatible with future Python releases.
What it is and what it does
mediatype is a lightweight library for parsing and constructing MIME types (also called media types or content types). It breaks down a media type string like 'application/manifest+json' into its structural components—type, subtype, suffix, and optional parameters—and can reconstruct the string from those components. The library follows RFC-6838 specifications and is useful anywhere HTTP content negotiation, file type handling, or protocol parsing requires reliable media type manipulation.
The package depends only on enumb and installs as a pure Python wheel, making it quick to add to any project. It supports Python 3.8 through 3.10. Because the last release was in April 2022 and the repository shows no recent activity, the package is stable but not actively developed; it is suitable for projects that need straightforward media type handling without expecting ongoing feature additions.
Use it for
- Parse Content-Type headers in HTTP request/response handlers to extract and validate media types.
- Build or validate MIME type strings programmatically when constructing HTTP responses or file metadata.
- Decompose media types in content negotiation logic to match client Accept headers against server capabilities.
- Normalize or canonicalize media type strings in APIs or data pipelines that consume untrusted input.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need reliable MIME type parsing and don't require active maintenance.
The package is stable, has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a narrow, well-defined problem with minimal dependencies. The dormant maintenance status is acceptable for a utility library with a stable specification (RFC-6838), but unsuitable if you need ongoing bug fixes or Python version support beyond 3.10.
Install
mediatype on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction; pure Python wheel with a single lightweight dependency (enumb). Maintenance is dormant—last release was 2022-04-12 and no commits since 2024-08-14, but the repository is not archived and the package remains functional for current Python versions.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive) places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in proprietary or open-source projects.
Quickstart
pip install mediatype
import mediatype
media_type = mediatype.parse('application/manifest+json')
print(media_type.type, media_type.subtype, media_type.suffix)Verify before relying
- Whether the package handles all RFC-6838 edge cases (e.g., quoted parameters, charset encoding) or only common cases.
- Performance characteristics when parsing large numbers of media types or complex parameter strings.
- Whether enumb dependency is actively maintained and compatible with future Python releases.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.8,<4.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packageenumb |
| Maintenance | Dormant 1,585 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 96,908 / month, #13,185 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9 |
Evidence: mediatype-0.1.6-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 › “media type handling”
- mediatypeParses and creates MIME types (media types) according to RFC-6838,…
- crewai-filesProvides file type abstractions for CrewAI multimodal inputs,…
- python-mimeparseParses and matches MIME types against media-ranges according to RFC…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More WWW/HTTP packages
urllib3 is an HTTP client library that provides thread-safe connection pooling, SSL/TLS verification, multipart file uploads, request retries, compression support, and proxy handling for Python applications.
Requests is a Python HTTP library that simplifies sending HTTP/1.1 requests with automatic handling of headers, authentication, cookies, and response parsing.
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.
HTTPX is a fully featured HTTP client library for Python that provides both sync and async APIs, with support for HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2, plus an integrated command-line client.
Install it if you are building new projects or modernizing existing ones that rely on HTTP.
A minimal low-level HTTP client library that sends HTTP requests with thread-safe and task-safe connection pooling, supporting HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, proxies, and both sync and async interfaces.
aiohttp is an async HTTP client and server framework built on asyncio, supporting both WebSockets and middleware-based routing for building concurrent web applications.
Install it if you need async HTTP client or server capabilities in asyncio-based applications.
See also python-mimeparse · zope.contenttype · typecode · filetype · knowit · c2pa-python · tinytag · cigam · tika · libmagic