pkg-about
Unified access to Python package metadata at runtime.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Low install friction, active maintenance, permissive license, no known vulnerabilities, and a clear use case for any project that needs to read package metadata at runtime without reimplementing the logic. Install it if you're building tools, CLIs, or libraries that need to introspect package information.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.11 or higher.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel and only three runtime dependencies (typing-extensions, packaging, build).
- Active maintenance with a recent release 74 days ago; requires Python 3.11 or higher.
License · maintenance · safety
Zlib (permissive) — Licensed under Zlib (permissive), which allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
last release 2026-06-01 (74 days) · last repo commit 2026-06-01
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 290,997 downloads/mo, #7,979 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pkg-about
import pkg_about
metadata = pkg_about.about("pip")
print(metadata.__uri__)- Whether the metadata retrieval works consistently across all modern build backends (setuptools, poetry, hatch, etc.)
- Performance characteristics when querying metadata for packages with large or complex metadata
- Whether about() without arguments reliably detects the calling package in all contexts (e.g., installed vs. editable installs)
What it is and what it does
pkg_about provides a single interface to read Python package metadata at runtime, abstracting away differences between build systems and project layouts. It exposes three main functions: about(package_name) to query any installed package, about() to query the current package, and about_from_setup() to read metadata directly from pyproject.toml or setup.cfg. The package depends on typing-extensions, packaging, and build to handle the complexity of modern Python packaging standards.
This is useful when your code needs to inspect package versions, authors, URLs, or other metadata without hardcoding values or duplicating information already stored in project configuration. It works across CPython, PyPy, and GraalPy on Python 3.11 through 3.15, and has been in production use since 2021.
Use it for
- Embed the current package's version or author info in CLI help text or error messages without duplicating setup.cfg or pyproject.toml.
- Query installed dependencies' metadata (license, homepage, version) for compliance audits or dependency reports.
- Build introspection tools that need to read package metadata uniformly regardless of how the package was built or installed.
- Populate __version__ or __about__ module attributes from canonical package metadata at import time.
- Generate dynamic documentation or changelogs that reference package metadata retrieved at runtime.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Low install friction, active maintenance, permissive license, no known vulnerabilities, and a clear use case for any project that needs to read package metadata at runtime without reimplementing the logic. Install it if you're building tools, CLIs, or libraries that need to introspect package information.
Install
pkg-about on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel and only three runtime dependencies (typing-extensions, packaging, build). Active maintenance with a recent release 74 days ago; requires Python 3.11 or higher.
Requires Python 3.11 or higher.
License in practice
Licensed under Zlib (permissive), which allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
Quickstart
pip install pkg-about
import pkg_about
metadata = pkg_about.about("pip")
print(metadata.__uri__)Verify before relying
- Whether the metadata retrieval works consistently across all modern build backends (setuptools, poetry, hatch, etc.)
- Performance characteristics when querying metadata for packages with large or complex metadata
- Whether about() without arguments reliably detects the calling package in all contexts (e.g., installed vs. editable installs)
Package facts
| License | Zlib permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <4.0.0,>=3.11.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagestyping-extensionspackagingbuild |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 74 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 290,997 / month, #7,979 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 :: DevelopersNatural Language :: PolishOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.15Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: GraalPyProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPyTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: pkg_about-2.4.3-py3-none-any.whl
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