wcmatch
Wildcard/glob file name matcher.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. wcmatch is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with minimal friction, and provides genuinely useful Bash-compatible globbing features that go well beyond Python's standard library. It's appropriate for any project that needs sophisticated file pattern matching or already relies on Bash-like glob syntax.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with a single lightweight runtime dependency (bracex).
- Actively maintained with a recent release (35 days ago) and no known vulnerabilities.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute wcmatch freely in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-07-10 (35 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-13 · 165 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 44,156,508 downloads/mo, #633 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install wcmatch
from wcmatch import glob
# Match files with Bash-like patterns
matches = glob.glob('**/*.py', flags=glob.GLOBSTAR)
for path in matches:
print(path)- Whether the pathlib variant fully replaces Python's pathlib.Path.glob() in all use cases.
- Performance characteristics when globbing very large directory trees compared to standard glob.
What it is and what it does
wcmatch is a file pattern matching and globbing library that extends Python's built-in fnmatch and glob modules with Bash-like features. It provides enhanced pattern matching with support for brace expansion (e.g., `a{b,c}` expands to `ab ac`), extended glob patterns (`@(...)`, `+(...)`, `*(...)`, `?(...)`, `!(...)`), recursive globbing with `**` and Zsh-style `***`, POSIX character classes, backslash escaping, and tilde expansion. The library also includes a pathlib variant that uses wcmatch's glob implementation and a file search utility called wcmatch built on top of fnmatch and globmatch.
The package is designed for developers who need more sophisticated file matching than Python's standard library offers, particularly those familiar with Bash globbing syntax. It maintains low install friction with a single runtime dependency (bracex) and is actively maintained with support for modern Python versions (3.10 through 3.14). The library has been in production use since 2018 and is used by projects like Rummage.
Use it for
- Build scripts that need Bash-compatible glob patterns to find and process files across nested directories.
- File search utilities or IDE plugins requiring flexible pattern matching with brace expansion and extended glob syntax.
- Configuration tools that parse file paths with POSIX character classes or complex wildcard patterns.
- Replacing pathlib.Path.glob() when you need Bash-like features like recursive symlink following with `***`.
- Filtering file lists with extended patterns like `!(*.pyc)` to exclude specific file types.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
wcmatch is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with minimal friction, and provides genuinely useful Bash-compatible globbing features that go well beyond Python's standard library. It's appropriate for any project that needs sophisticated file pattern matching or already relies on Bash-like glob syntax.
Install
wcmatch on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with a single lightweight runtime dependency (bracex). Actively maintained with a recent release (35 days ago) and no known vulnerabilities.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute wcmatch freely in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install wcmatch
from wcmatch import glob
# Match files with Bash-like patterns
matches = glob.glob('**/*.py', flags=glob.GLOBSTAR)
for path in matches:
print(path)Verify before relying
- Whether the pathlib variant fully replaces Python's pathlib.Path.glob() in all use cases.
- Performance characteristics when globbing very large directory trees compared to standard glob.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packagebracex |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 35 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 44,156,508 / month, #633 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/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: wcmatch-11.0-py3-none-any.whl
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