---
id: pymavlink
version: "2.4.49"
license: LGPLv3
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# pymavlink — Python MAVLink code

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 768.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Pymavlink is a Python library that implements the MAVLink protocol, a lightweight messaging protocol used to communicate with unmanned aerial vehicles, ground stations, and other robotic systems. It provides both a message parser and sender for MAVLink protocol packets, allowing developers to read telemetry, send commands, and interact with autopilot systems. The package includes a code generator (mavgen.py) that can produce MAVLink implementations for other programming languages, and command-line tools for analyzing flight logs recorded by UAVs.

The library depends on lxml for XML parsing (used to process MAVLink message definitions) and fastcrc for checksum computation. It is actively maintained, production-stable, and widely used in the ArduPilot ecosystem. Installation via pip handles dependency resolution, though on Linux systems you may need to install lxml's system-level build dependencies first.

Use it for:

- Build a ground control station that receives telemetry and sends commands to a drone or rover.
- Parse and analyze flight logs from ArduPilot-based vehicles to debug flight behavior.
- Integrate UAV communication into a Python application for autonomous mission planning.
- Generate MAVLink protocol implementations for embedded systems or other programming languages.
- Monitor real-time vehicle state over a network connection.

## Worth the install?

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

Pymavlink is a Python implementation of the MAVLink protocol for communicating with unmanned aerial vehicles and other robotic systems, plus tools for analyzing flight logs.

Yes. Pymavlink is the standard Python library for MAVLink protocol communication in the ArduPilot ecosystem. It is actively maintained, production-stable, has no known vulnerabilities, and is widely downloaded. The LGPLv3 copyleft license is standard for this domain. Medium install friction is manageable for most developers; lxml's system dependencies are well-documented and easily resolved on common platforms.

## Install

pip install pymavlink
uv add pymavlink
poetry add pymavlink

## Installing pymavlink

Before you install: Medium install friction due to compiled wheels and lxml dependency requiring system libraries (libxml2-dev, libxslt-dev on Linux). Actively maintained with recent commits and stable production status.

License in practice: LGPLv3 copyleft license means derivative works must be released under the same license; however, code generated by the included mavgen.py tool is available under the permissive MIT License.

Quickstart:

pip install pymavlink

import pymavlink.mavutil

mav = pymavlink.mavutil.mavlink_connection('udpin:localhost')

On Linux, lxml requires libxml2-dev and libxslt-dev system libraries to be installed before pip install.

Verify before relying:

- Whether fastcrc is a runtime dependency or only used optionally for performance
- Specific Python version floor (classifiers list 3.6+ but requires_python is unspecified)
- Whether numpy is required or optional for core functionality
- Example connection parameters and typical usage patterns beyond basic import

## Package facts

- License: LGPLv3 (copyleft)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: medium
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 768.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

mavlink protocol python, uav drone communication, flight log analysis, ardupilot python library, mavlink message parsing, unmanned vehicle control, mavlink code generator, robotics, uav-drone, protocol-implementation

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