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

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

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 1.5M/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package redistributes the sunau module, which Python removed from its standard library as part of PEP 594's "dead batteries" cleanup. The sunau module reads and writes Sun audio (.au) files, a legacy audio format. It is a pure-Python archive of the original standard library code with minimal compatibility work—no new features or enhancements are planned.

If your project imports sunau and you are running Python 3.13 or later, installing standard-sunau allows that import to work without code changes. The package depends on audioop-lts, another standard library redistribution, to handle audio data operations. This is a compatibility shim for legacy codebases; new projects should consider alternative audio libraries.

Use it for:

- Maintain a legacy application that reads or writes .au audio files without rewriting audio handling code
- Migrate a codebase to Python 3.13+ that previously relied on the built-in sunau module
- Provide backward compatibility for users running older code that imports sunau on newer Python versions

## Worth the install?

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

Provides the sunau module, a standard library audio file handler removed from Python 3.13, as an installable package for projects that still depend on it.

Yes, if your project depends on sunau and you need to run on Python 3.13 or later. Install it as a drop-in replacement with no code changes required. The low install friction, permissive license, and zero known vulnerabilities make it a straightforward compatibility fix. Do not install if you are starting a new project or can migrate to a modern audio library.

## Install

pip install standard-sunau
uv add standard-sunau
poetry add standard-sunau

## Installing standard-sunau

Before you install: Low install friction with a single lightweight dependency. Maintenance is dormant with the last release on 2024-10-30, but the package is not archived; no active development is expected for a frozen standard library module.

License in practice: Licensed under PSF-2.0 (permissive), matching the original Python standard library license, so there are no licensing barriers to using this package in most projects.

Quickstart:

pip install standard-sunau

import sunau

with sunau.open('file.au', 'rb') as f:
    params = f.getparams()
    frames = f.readframes(params[3])

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works correctly on all Python versions after 3.13 (requires_python is unspecified)
- Whether audioop-lts is maintained and compatible with current Python releases
- Full scope of compatibility work performed beyond minimal standard library archival

## Package facts

- License: PSF-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 1.5M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

sunau audio files, python removed stdlib, dead batteries redistribution, au audio format, standard library backport, stdlib-backport, legacy-audio

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