py-cid
Self-describing content-addressed identifiers for distributed systems
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you are building on IPFS or IPLD. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive MIT license, and has no known vulnerabilities. The Pre-Alpha classifier is a minor signal to check the project's stability guarantees, but the active maintenance and long release history since first release in 2017 suggest it is production-ready for its intended use. Install it if you need to work with CIDs; skip it if you have no IPFS/IPLD integration.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later (supports 3.10–3.14).
- Low install friction: pure Python wheel with four runtime dependencies (py-multibase, py-multicodec, morphys, py-multihash).
- Actively maintained with a recent commit on 2026-07-13 and regular release cadence since first release in 2017.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license (permissive) places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in proprietary or open-source projects.
last release 2026-02-13 (182 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-13 · 42 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 164,458 downloads/mo, #10,548 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
from cid import make_cid
cid = make_cid('QmaozNR7DZHQK1ZcU9p7QdrshMvXqWK6gpu5rmrkPdT3L4')
print(cid.version, cid.codec, cid.multihash)
print(cid.encode())- Whether py-multihash, py-multicodec, py-multibase, and morphys are actively maintained and have no known vulnerabilities.
- Performance characteristics when encoding/decoding large batches of CIDs.
- Whether the Pre-Alpha status (Development Status :: 2) indicates API stability concerns or ongoing breaking changes.
What it is and what it does
py-cid is a Python implementation of the CID specification, a format for self-describing, content-addressed identifiers used in distributed systems like IPFS and IPLD. It wraps cryptographic hashing (via multihash), codec selection (via multicodec), and string encoding (via multibase) into a single identifier that can be created from a hash string, inspected for its version, codec, and multihash components, and re-encoded back to string form.
The package is primarily useful for applications that interact with IPFS or IPLD networks, or that need to work with content-addressed storage systems. It handles both CIDv0 (legacy) and newer CID formats, and provides a straightforward API to parse existing CIDs and generate new ones from hash data.
Use it for
- Parse and validate IPFS content hashes (CIDv0 strings) in Python applications.
- Generate CIDs from raw multihash data for storing or referencing content in IPFS.
- Inspect CID metadata (version, codec, hash algorithm) for routing or validation logic.
- Convert between CID string representations and their structured components.
- Build IPLD-compatible applications that need to work with content-addressed identifiers.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you are building on IPFS or IPLD.
The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive MIT license, and has no known vulnerabilities. The Pre-Alpha classifier is a minor signal to check the project's stability guarantees, but the active maintenance and long release history since first release in 2017 suggest it is production-ready for its intended use. Install it if you need to work with CIDs; skip it if you have no IPFS/IPLD integration.
Install
py-cid on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction: pure Python wheel with four runtime dependencies (py-multibase, py-multicodec, morphys, py-multihash). Actively maintained with a recent commit on 2026-07-13 and regular release cadence since first release in 2017.
Requires Python 3.10 or later (supports 3.10–3.14).
License in practice
MIT license (permissive) places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in proprietary or open-source projects.
Quickstart
from cid import make_cid
cid = make_cid('QmaozNR7DZHQK1ZcU9p7QdrshMvXqWK6gpu5rmrkPdT3L4')
print(cid.version, cid.codec, cid.multihash)
print(cid.encode())Verify before relying
- Whether py-multihash, py-multicodec, py-multibase, and morphys are actively maintained and have no known vulnerabilities.
- Performance characteristics when encoding/decoding large batches of CIDs.
- Whether the Pre-Alpha status (Development Status :: 2) indicates API stability concerns or ongoing breaking changes.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 4 packagespy-multibasepy-multicodecmorphyspy-multihash |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 182 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 164,458 / month, #10,548 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 2 - Pre-AlphaIntended Audience :: DevelopersNatural Language :: EnglishProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14 |
Evidence: py_cid-0.5.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also ipfshttpclient · libipld · py-multicodec · py-multibase · py-multihash · ulid-py · rlp · multiaddr · bech32m · hashids