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

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

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 951.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package wraps Apple's UniformTypeIdentifiers framework for use in Python on macOS. It lets you work with macOS's native type system—identifying file types, querying type properties, and handling uniform type descriptors—directly from Python code. The wrapper translates between Python and Objective-C, so you call the framework's methods as if they were Python functions, but you'll need to consult Apple's official documentation to understand what each method does, since the wrapper itself provides only the bridge, not the documentation.

You'll use this when building macOS applications that need to identify or work with file types at the system level, or when integrating with other Cocoa frameworks that depend on UniformTypeIdentifiers. It requires Python 3.10 or later and depends on pyobjc-core and pyobjc-framework-Cocoa, which handle the core Objective-C interop.

Use it for:

- Identify file types in a macOS file picker or drag-and-drop handler without relying on file extensions.
- Query type properties (MIME types, file extensions, descriptions) for files your application handles.
- Build macOS desktop applications that integrate with Cocoa and need native type system support.
- Filter or validate files based on their uniform type identifier in a native macOS context.

## Worth the install?

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

Provides Python bindings to macOS's UniformTypeIdentifiers framework, enabling type identification and handling of file types and uniform type descriptors in native macOS applications.

Yes, if you are building a macOS application in Python and need to work with the native UniformTypeIdentifiers framework. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and installs with low friction. However, it is only useful on macOS and requires Python 3.10+; it is not a general-purpose library for cross-platform type identification.

## Install

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

## Installing pyobjc-framework-UniformTypeIdentifiers

Before you install: Low friction installation with active maintenance—released 3 days ago with a recent commit history. Depends on pyobjc-core and pyobjc-framework-Cocoa, both part of the same PyObjC ecosystem, so dependency resolution is straightforward.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive; you can use this package in commercial or proprietary projects without restriction, though you must include the license notice.

Quickstart:

pip install pyobjc-framework-uniformtypeidentifiers

from UniformTypeIdentifiers import UTType

# Query a uniform type identifier
uttype = UTType.typeWithFilenameExtension_('txt')
if uttype:
    print(uttype.identifier())

macOS only; requires Python 3.10 or later and a working Objective-C bridge (provided by pyobjc-core).

Verify before relying:

- Whether this framework wrapper includes type-checking stubs or runtime type hints for IDE support.
- Performance characteristics when handling large numbers of type identifiers or frequent type lookups.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 951.2K/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

macos uniform type identifiers, pyobjc framework bindings, file type identification macos, cocoa framework wrappers, objective-c python bridge, macos type system python, macos-only, cocoa-bindings, objective-c-interop

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