rclone-python

What it is and what it does

rclone-python is a Python interface to rclone, the command-line tool for syncing files across cloud storage providers. It translates rclone's CLI operations into Python function calls, letting you perform cloud file operations—copy, move, sync, delete, hash validation, and remote configuration—directly from Python code. The wrapper depends on a system-installed rclone binary; it does not reimplement rclone itself.

The package is designed for developers who want to integrate rclone's multi-cloud capabilities into Python applications or scripts without shelling out to the CLI. It includes progress-bar integration via rich and supports custom rclone config files. Operations like copying between remotes, listing directory contents, generating file hashes, and managing cloud credentials are all exposed as straightforward Python methods.

Use it for:

• Automate cloud file backups or syncs between multiple cloud providers (OneDrive, Box, etc.) within a Python application.
• Build a Python CLI tool or web service that needs to move or copy files across cloud storage without direct API integration.
• Validate file integrity by computing and comparing hashes across local and remote storage using rclone's hash operations.
• Programmatically create and manage rclone remote configurations for multi-tenant or dynamic cloud storage scenarios.
• Monitor and display transfer progress in a Python GUI or web dashboard using custom rich progress bars.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

A Python wrapper that exposes rclone's cloud storage operations—copy, move, sync, delete, hash, and remote management—as callable Python functions, requiring rclone to be installed on the system.

Yes, if you already use rclone and want to automate its operations from Python. The wrapper is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and adds minimal install friction. However, do not install if rclone is not already on your system—the wrapper is useless without it. Verify that the wrapper covers the specific rclone operations you need before committing.

Install

rclone-python on PyPI

pip install rclone-python

uv add rclone-python

poetry add rclone-python

Installing rclone-python

Before you install

Low friction: pure Python wheel with a single runtime dependency (rich). Actively maintained with recent releases; last commit 2026-08-03. No known vulnerabilities.

License in practice

MIT license (permissive); you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions, provided you include the license notice.

Quickstart

pip install rclone-python

from rclone_python import rclone

print(rclone.is_installed())
rclone.copy('onedrive:data', 'data', ignore_existing=True)

rclone must be installed and available on the system PATH for any wrapper operations to work.

Verify before relying

• Whether the wrapper supports all rclone operations or only a subset of the CLI's full feature set.
• Performance overhead or latency introduced by the Python wrapper layer compared to direct rclone CLI calls.
• How authentication credentials are managed and whether sensitive data is logged or exposed.

Package facts

Evidence: rclone_python-0.1.25-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: rclone, wrapper, cloud sync

Tags

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