pyclibrary
C binding automation
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Low install friction, active maintenance, no known vulnerabilities, and permissive MIT license make this a safe choice. Install it if you need to call C libraries from Python and want to avoid hand-writing ctypes boilerplate; skip it if you prefer explicit control over bindings or are already using a dedicated FFI tool like cffi.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later; C header files must be present and syntactically valid for the parser to process them.
- Low friction: pure-Python wheel with a single runtime dependency (pyparsing).
- Actively maintained as of 2026-07-17 with recent release history since 2015.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — MIT license (permissive): you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects, with minimal restrictions beyond preserving the license notice.
last release 2025-09-03 (345 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-17 · 72 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 399,719 downloads/mo, #6,945 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pyclibrary
from pyclibrary import CParser
parser = CParser(['myheader.h'])
print(parser.defs['functions'])- Extent of C syntax coverage beyond the documented macro, typedef, struct, union, enum, function prototype, and global variable support.
- Whether the ctypes backend handles all common calling conventions and platform-specific type mappings automatically.
- Real-world performance on large or complex header files with heavy macro nesting or conditional compilation.
What it is and what it does
PyClibrary is a pure-Python C parser and ctypes binding automation library that reads C header files and extracts their definitions—macros, typedefs, structs, unions, enums, function prototypes, and global variables—then uses those definitions to simplify calling C libraries from Python. It evaluates typedefs down to their fundamental C types and can automatically build C structs and perform type conversions when invoking functions through ctypes' cdll or windll interfaces.
The package aims to be FFI-agnostic, presenting a backend-independent API; currently only ctypes is implemented, though a cffi backend is noted as theoretically possible. It depends only on pyparsing and runs on Python 3.10 and later. The library is a maintained fork of an earlier Launchpad project and is actively developed, making it suitable for projects that need to reduce boilerplate when wrapping existing C libraries.
Use it for
- Automatically generate Python ctypes wrappers from C header files to call compiled C libraries without manual struct and type definitions.
- Parse and evaluate C macros and typedefs to determine their underlying C types for use in Python binding code.
- Simplify integration of legacy C libraries into Python projects by automating the extraction of function signatures and struct layouts.
- Build Python-friendly wrappers around Windows DLLs or Unix shared libraries with automatic type conversion on function calls.
- Reduce maintenance burden when C library headers change by regenerating bindings from the updated headers.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Low install friction, active maintenance, no known vulnerabilities, and permissive MIT license make this a safe choice. Install it if you need to call C libraries from Python and want to avoid hand-writing ctypes boilerplate; skip it if you prefer explicit control over bindings or are already using a dedicated FFI tool like cffi.
Install
pyclibrary on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure-Python wheel with a single runtime dependency (pyparsing). Actively maintained as of 2026-07-17 with recent release history since 2015.
Requires Python 3.10 or later; C header files must be present and syntactically valid for the parser to process them.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive): you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects, with minimal restrictions beyond preserving the license notice.
Quickstart
pip install pyclibrary
from pyclibrary import CParser
parser = CParser(['myheader.h'])
print(parser.defs['functions'])Verify before relying
- Extent of C syntax coverage beyond the documented macro, typedef, struct, union, enum, function prototype, and global variable support.
- Whether the ctypes backend handles all common calling conventions and platform-specific type mappings automatically.
- Real-world performance on large or complex header files with heavy macro nesting or conditional compilation.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packagepyparsing |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 345 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 399,719 / month, #6,945 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 LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules |
Evidence: pyclibrary-0.3.0-py3-none-any.whl
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