---
id: sdbus
version: "0.14.2"
license: LGPL-2.1-or-later
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# sdbus — Modern Python D-Bus library. Based on sd-bus from libsystemd.

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 616.9K/mo

## What it is and what it does

sdbus is a modern Python wrapper around systemd's sd-bus library, providing both synchronous and asynchronous D-Bus communication for Linux systems. It exposes D-Bus methods, properties, and signals through a unified interface that works for both client and server roles, with full type hints and asyncio support. The library statically links libsystemd in its binary wheels, eliminating the need to install system dependencies on supported platforms.

The package is designed for developers building inter-process communication (IPC) on Linux, whether calling existing D-Bus services or implementing new ones. It supports keyword and default arguments in D-Bus methods, integrates with the asyncio event loop, and includes implementations for common D-Bus interfaces like Freedesktop Notifications, Network Manager, and Secrets. The API is still evolving—documented features are considered stable but may be deprecated with warnings—and the project actively maintains compatibility with modern Python versions.

Use it for:

- Build a D-Bus service that exposes methods and properties to other system processes without writing boilerplate interface definitions twice.
- Call systemd or other system D-Bus services asynchronously from Python applications with type-safe method signatures.
- Implement desktop notifications, network configuration, or secret storage integration using Freedesktop D-Bus standards.
- Create inter-process communication between Python services on Linux with minimal system dependency overhead.
- Monitor and react to D-Bus signals (e.g., system events) in an asyncio-based application.

## Worth the install?

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

Python library for D-Bus communication with asyncio and blocking call support, built on systemd's sd-bus for efficient inter-process communication on Linux.

Yes, if you need D-Bus communication on Linux and are targeting x86_64, aarch64, or armv7l with glibc 2.28+. The library is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, offers good type hint support, and eliminates system dependency friction via static linking. The copyleft license (LGPL-2.1-or-later) is permissive for most use cases but requires attention if you plan to modify or redistribute the library itself. Not suitable for non-Linux platforms or unsupported architectures.

## Install

pip install sdbus
uv add sdbus
poetry add sdbus

## Installing sdbus

Before you install: Medium install friction due to binary wheel availability limited to x86_64, aarch64, and armv7l architectures with glibc 2.28+. Active maintenance with recent commits and no known vulnerabilities. Requires Python 3.9 or higher.

License in practice: Licensed under LGPL-2.1-or-later, a copyleft license. Derivative works and modifications must be distributed under compatible terms; static linking of libsystemd is included in the binary package.

Quickstart:

pip install --only-binary ':all:' sdbus

from sdbus import DbusInterfaceCommonAsync, dbus_method_async

class MyInterface(DbusInterfaceCommonAsync, interface_name='org.example.test'):
    @dbus_method_async(input_signature='s', result_signature='s')
    async def echo(self, text: str) -> str:
        return text

Requires Python 3.9+, glibc 2.28+, and x86_64/aarch64/armv7l architecture. Source builds need libsystemd headers, GCC, and pkg-config.

Verify before relying:

- Stability of the API beyond documented interfaces—description notes API is not stable and features may be deprecated.
- Performance characteristics compared to other D-Bus bindings for Python.
- Completeness of type hints coverage across all public APIs.

## Package facts

- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: medium
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 616.9K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

d-bus python library, asyncio dbus client server, systemd sd-bus python, linux ipc communication, freedesktop dbus interface, dbus method signals properties, systemd integration python, dbus-ipc, asyncio, systemd

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