---
id: pykdebugparser
version: "1.2.8"
license: MIT License Copyright (c) 2021 Matan Perelman Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to… (full text in the JSON record)
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# pykdebugparser — Python parser for kdebug events

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 322.6K/mo

## What it is and what it does

pykdebugparser is a specialized utility for parsing Darwin kernel debug (kdebug) trace events from iOS and macOS systems. It reads binary kdebug dumps generated by the ktrace utility and converts them into human-readable event logs, displaying timestamps, event names, function codes, process information, and raw event data. Unlike generic tracing tools like fs_usage or ktrace itself, pykdebugparser focuses on clean trace parsing and flexible output formatting.

The package works as both a command-line tool and a Python library, depending on your workflow. It depends on construct for binary parsing, pygments for syntax highlighting, click for CLI argument handling, and termcolor for colored terminal output. It supports Python 3.8 through 3.14 and has no known security vulnerabilities.

Use it for:

- Debug system-level I/O performance issues on macOS by parsing and analyzing kdebug traces from file system operations.
- Analyze kernel-level memory management events (MACH_vm_page_release, PMAP_flush_TLBS) to understand virtual memory behavior.
- Inspect system call sequences (BSC_pread, BSC_open, VFS_LOOKUP) to trace application behavior at the kernel level.
- Automate kdebug trace processing in CI/CD or performance testing pipelines using the Python API.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Parses Darwin kdebug trace events from iOS and macOS systems, converting kernel debug output into readable formatted event logs with timestamps, function names, and raw event data.

Yes, if you work with macOS/iOS kernel-level tracing. The package is actively maintained, has no vulnerabilities, low install friction, and fills a specific niche for parsing kdebug events that other tools don't address as cleanly. Not relevant for non-Darwin platforms.

## Install

pip install pykdebugparser
uv add pykdebugparser
poetry add pykdebugparser

## Installing pykdebugparser

Before you install: Low friction: pure Python wheel with only four runtime dependencies (construct, pygments, click, termcolor). Actively maintained with a recent release and no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice: MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with only attribution required—no restrictions on commercial or proprietary use.

Quickstart:

pip install pykdebugparser

from pykdebugparser import KdebugParser

parser = KdebugParser()
events = parser.parse('trace001.ktrace')
for event in events:
    print(event)

Requires macOS or iOS kdebug trace files (generated via ktrace utility); not functional on non-Darwin systems.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package can parse trace files programmatically or only via CLI
- API stability and backward compatibility guarantees across versions
- Performance characteristics with large trace files

## Package facts

- License: MIT License Copyright (c) 2021 Matan Perelman Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to… (full text in the JSON record) (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 322.6K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

kdebug trace parser, darwin kernel debug events, ios macos trace analysis, ktrace event formatter, kernel debug log parser, macos-debugging, kernel-tracing, system-analysis

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