---
id: standard-chunk
version: "3.13.0"
license: PSF-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# standard-chunk — Standard library chunk redistribution. "dead battery".

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 3.8M/mo

## What it is and what it does

standard-chunk is a pure-Python redistribution of the chunk module, which was removed from Python's standard library as part of PEP 594. The chunk module provides utilities for reading and writing AIFF-C audio files, specifically handling the chunk-based structure of those files.

This package exists to support legacy projects that depend on chunk but can no longer import it from the standard library. It is intentionally minimal—the maintainer explicitly discourages feature requests and new development, positioning this as an archive of the old standard library made installable via pip. If you have a project that imports chunk and broke after upgrading Python, this package restores that import; otherwise, you likely do not need it.

Use it for:

- Restore chunk imports in legacy projects that broke after Python 3.13 or later.
- Parse or manipulate AIFF-C audio files in codebases that rely on the standard library's chunk module.
- Maintain backward compatibility in audio processing tools that historically used the built-in chunk utilities.

## Worth the install?

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

Provides the chunk module, a removed Python standard library for reading and writing AIFF-C audio files, redistributed as a standalone package for projects that still depend on it.

Yes, but only if your project explicitly imports chunk and broke after Python 3.13. This is a compatibility shim for legacy code, not a new feature. Install it if you need chunk; skip it otherwise. Maintenance is dormant, so expect no active development or support—it is a snapshot of a removed standard library, not an actively maintained package.

## Install

pip install standard-chunk
uv add standard-chunk
poetry add standard-chunk

## Installing standard-chunk

Before you install: Low install friction; pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Maintenance is dormant—last release was 2024-10-30 and no commits since 2025-01-27—so expect no active development or bug fixes.

License in practice: Licensed under PSF-2.0 (Python Software Foundation License), a permissive license. You may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in most contexts.

Quickstart:

pip install standard-chunk

import chunk

with chunk.Chunk(open('file.aiff', 'rb')) as f:
    data = f.read()

Verify before relying:

- Whether chunk functionality is fully compatible with the removed standard library version across all Python versions.
- Whether this package will receive updates if future Python releases introduce breaking changes.

## Package facts

- License: PSF-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 3.8M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

chunk audio file reading, aiff-c file parsing, removed python stdlib, dead batteries redistribution, standard library backport, stdlib-backport, audio-format

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