tibs
A sleek Python library for binary data.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Tibs is actively maintained, stable (version 2.0), has no known vulnerabilities, and offers a genuinely useful abstraction for bit-level binary work that Python's standard library and most alternatives don't provide cleanly. Medium install friction is acceptable given the compiled-wheel coverage. Permissive MIT license poses no restrictions. Recommended for any project requiring non-byte-aligned binary parsing or bitwise operations.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.11 or later; pre-built wheels available for most platforms but compilation may be needed on unsupported architectures.
- Medium install friction due to compiled Rust components, but pre-built wheels cover most common platforms (macOS, Linux, Windows across multiple architectures).
- Active maintenance with a release 1 day old and no known vulnerabilities.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — MIT License permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects with minimal restrictions—only attribution and license inclusion required.
last release 2026-08-13 (1 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-13 · 6 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 4,306,389 downloads/mo, #2,337 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install tibs
from tibs import Tibs
frame = Tibs('0b10110') + b'message' + [0, 0, 0]
pos = frame.find(b'message')
print(pos, frame[pos:pos + 7].bytes)- Whether Rust compilation is required on platforms without pre-built wheels and what build dependencies are needed.
- Performance comparison specifics against bitarray and standard library on typical workloads.
- Thread-safety guarantees for Mutibs in free-threaded Python builds.
What it is and what it does
Tibs is a Rust-backed Python library for working with binary data at the bit level rather than the byte level. It provides two main classes: Tibs (immutable bit sequence, analogous to bytes) and Mutibs (mutable variant, analogous to bytearray). The library lets you treat binary data as a container of bits that you can slice, concatenate, and search using familiar Python patterns, extract typed fields (integers, floats, bytes) of arbitrary bit length without manual bit-shifting, and perform bitwise algebra and set operations efficiently.
Common use cases include parsing packet formats, instruction encodings, register layouts, and compressed data where fields don't align to byte boundaries. The library handles little-endian ordering and LSB0 field labeling transparently. A Reader class wraps Tibs to maintain bit position during stream parsing. Tibs is written entirely in Rust with PyO3 bindings and is used to power the bitstring library; it has no runtime dependencies and supports Python 3.11 and later.
Use it for
- Parse network packets or protocol messages where fields span non-byte-aligned bit ranges.
- Decode instruction formats (e.g., eBPF) with mixed endianness and scattered register fields.
- Implement large bitsets for algorithms like the Sieve of Eratosthenes or fingerprint comparisons.
- Extract and patch binary data in-place without converting to intermediate representations.
- Read typed fields (floats, integers) of any bit length from binary streams or files.
- Perform bitwise set operations (intersection, union, XOR) on large bit sequences efficiently.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Tibs is actively maintained, stable (version 2.0), has no known vulnerabilities, and offers a genuinely useful abstraction for bit-level binary work that Python's standard library and most alternatives don't provide cleanly. Medium install friction is acceptable given the compiled-wheel coverage. Permissive MIT license poses no restrictions. Recommended for any project requiring non-byte-aligned binary parsing or bitwise operations.
Install
tibs on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled Rust components, but pre-built wheels cover most common platforms (macOS, Linux, Windows across multiple architectures). Active maintenance with a release 1 day old and no known vulnerabilities.
Requires Python 3.11 or later; pre-built wheels available for most platforms but compilation may be needed on unsupported architectures.
License in practice
MIT License permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects with minimal restrictions—only attribution and license inclusion required.
Quickstart
pip install tibs
from tibs import Tibs
frame = Tibs('0b10110') + b'message' + [0, 0, 0]
pos = frame.find(b'message')
print(pos, frame[pos:pos + 7].bytes)Verify before relying
- Whether Rust compilation is required on platforms without pre-built wheels and what build dependencies are needed.
- Performance comparison specifics against bitarray and standard library on typical workloads.
- Thread-safety guarantees for Mutibs in free-threaded Python builds.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.11 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 1 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 4,306,389 / month, #2,337 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: Free Threading :: 3 - StableProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: RustTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-macosx_10_12_x86_64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-manylinux_2_17_armv7l.manylinux2014_armv7l.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-manylinux_2_17_ppc64le.manylinux2014_ppc64le.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-manylinux_2_17_s390x.manylinux2014_s390x.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-manylinux_2_5_i686.manylinux1_i686.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-musllinux_1_2_armv7l.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-musllinux_1_2_i686.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-win32.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-win_amd64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp311-abi3-win_arm64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp314-cp314t-macosx_10_12_x86_64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp314-cp314t-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp314-cp314t-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp314-cp314t-manylinux_2_17_armv7l.manylinux2014_armv7l.whl; tibs-2.0.1-cp314-cp314t-manylinux_2_17_ppc64le.manylinux2014_ppc64le.whl
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See also bitstring · hachoir · bitarray-hardbyte · bitarray · bitmap · fixedint · bitstruct · cbitstruct · bitmath · intbitset