unearth
A utility to fetch and download python packages
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Unearth is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and fills a genuine gap by providing a stable, versioned API for package discovery. It is well-suited for anyone building package-management tools or workflows that need reliable access to package indexes.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python >=3.9
- Active maintenance with a recent release and low install friction—only two runtime dependencies (packaging and httpx).
- Supports Python 3.9 onward.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for integration into other tools.
last release 2026-08-14 (0 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 158 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 11,913,763 downloads/mo, #1,353 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
from unearth import PackageFinder
finder = PackageFinder(index_urls=["https://pypi.org/simple/"])
result = finder.find_best_match("flask>=2")
print(result.best)- Whether the package finder respects all PyPI-compatible index formats and authentication schemes beyond basic HTTP.
- Performance characteristics when querying large indexes or handling thousands of package candidates.
- Stability guarantees and backward-compatibility policy beyond semantic versioning claims in the description.
What it is and what it does
Unearth is a library for finding and downloading Python packages from package indexes. It extracts and stabilizes the core package-finding logic, offering a documented, versioned API that downstream projects can rely on. It works alongside other low-level package-management tools to form a complete package-management toolkit.
You use it either as a Python library—instantiating a PackageFinder with index URLs and calling find_best_match() to locate a package that satisfies a requirement—or via its CLI to query indexes and inspect matching distributions. It returns structured metadata about candidates, including version, download URL, Python version requirements, and metadata links.
Use it for
- Build a custom package manager or installer that needs stable package discovery without relying on pip's internal APIs.
- Query a private or custom PyPI-compatible index to find the best match for a requirement in an automated workflow.
- Inspect available versions and metadata for a package before deciding which to download.
- Integrate package finding into a tool that needs to locate distributions independently.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Unearth is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and fills a genuine gap by providing a stable, versioned API for package discovery. It is well-suited for anyone building package-management tools or workflows that need reliable access to package indexes.
Install
unearth on PyPI
Before you install
Active maintenance with a recent release and low install friction—only two runtime dependencies (packaging and httpx). Supports Python 3.9 onward.
Requires Python >=3.9
License in practice
MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for integration into other tools.
Quickstart
from unearth import PackageFinder
finder = PackageFinder(index_urls=["https://pypi.org/simple/"])
result = finder.find_best_match("flask>=2")
print(result.best)Verify before relying
- Whether the package finder respects all PyPI-compatible index formats and authentication schemes beyond basic HTTP.
- Performance characteristics when querying large indexes or handling thousands of package candidates.
- Stability guarantees and backward-compatibility policy beyond semantic versioning claims in the description.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagespackaginghttpx |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 0 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 11,913,763 / month, #1,353 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 3 - AlphaIntended Audience :: DevelopersProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9 |
Evidence: unearth-0.18.3-py3-none-any.whl
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See also pip-api · pypi-simple · resolvelib · installer · feu · pbs-installer · findpython · pyprojroot · ensureconda · pyrootutils