---
id: pyobjc-framework-addressbook
version: "12.2.2"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# pyobjc-framework-AddressBook — Wrappers for the framework AddressBook on macOS

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 664.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package wraps Apple's AddressBook framework for use in Python, giving you access to the system's centralized contact database on macOS. It lets you read and manipulate contact information programmatically through Python code that calls into the underlying Objective-C framework. The package is part of the larger PyObjC project and depends on pyobjc-core and pyobjc-framework-Cocoa to bridge between Python and Objective-C.

Because it is a thin wrapper around the native framework, it does not include its own documentation—you rely on Apple's AddressBook documentation and PyObjC's general translation guides to understand how to use it. The package is production-stable and actively maintained, with wheels built for Python 3.10 through 3.15 on macOS.

Use it for:

- Build a macOS application that reads contact information from the system address book
- Automate contact management tasks by programmatically querying or modifying address book entries
- Integrate contact data from the address book into a Python workflow or data pipeline on macOS
- Create a macOS utility that syncs or exports address book contacts to external services

## Worth the install?

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

Provides Python bindings to macOS's AddressBook framework, allowing programmatic access to the system's centralized contact database from Python code.

Yes, if you are developing on macOS and need programmatic access to the system address book. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and carries a permissive MIT license. Install friction is moderate due to platform specificity and compiled dependencies, but that is unavoidable for framework bindings. Not applicable on non-macOS systems.

## Install

pip install pyobjc-framework-addressbook
uv add pyobjc-framework-addressbook
poetry add pyobjc-framework-addressbook

## Installing pyobjc-framework-AddressBook

Before you install: Medium install friction due to platform-specific wheels (macOS only, multiple Python versions) and compiled dependencies on pyobjc-core and pyobjc-framework-Cocoa. Actively maintained with recent releases.

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.

Quickstart:

pip install pyobjc-framework-addressbook
import AddressBook
ab = AddressBook.ABAddressBook.sharedAddressBook()

macOS only; requires Python 3.10 or later and a macOS system with the AddressBook framework available

Verify before relying:

- Whether the AddressBook framework is available on all supported macOS versions listed in the wheel filenames
- Whether pyobjc-core and pyobjc-framework-Cocoa have their own unresolved security issues or maintenance gaps

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: medium
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 664.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

macos addressbook python bindings, access contacts from python, pyobjc addressbook wrapper, macos contact database python, addressbook framework python, macos-only, framework-bindings, contact-management

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/pyobjc-framework-addressbook) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/pyobjc-framework-addressbook/)