pylibmagic

Common errors

• ImportError: failed to find libmagic. Check your installation

  cause The Python `magic` module (from `python-magic`) cannot locate the underlying `libmagic` C library. This is the primary problem `pylibmagic` aims to solve.
  fix Install `pylibmagic` to provide the `libmagic` binaries, and ensure `python-magic` is also installed: `pip install pylibmagic python-magic`. For non-wheel scenarios or persistent issues, install system-level `libmagic` (e.g., `sudo apt-get install libmagic1` on Linux, `brew install libmagic` on macOS).

• ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'magic'

  cause The user has installed `pylibmagic` but expects it to provide the `magic` module directly. The `magic` module is actually provided by the `python-magic` package.
  fix Install the `python-magic` library: `pip install python-magic`. Then, import `pylibmagic` before `magic` in your code: `import pylibmagic; import magic`.

• WindowsError: [Error 193] %1 is not a valid Win32 application

  cause This error on Windows typically indicates a mismatch in the bitness between the installed Python interpreter and the `libmagic` DLLs being loaded (e.g., 64-bit Python trying to use 32-bit DLLs).
  fix Ensure your `libmagic` DLLs match your Python installation's bitness. A common fix is to install `python-magic-bin` (`pip install python-magic-bin`), which bundles compatible binaries.

Warnings

• gotcha pylibmagic does not provide the 'magic' module directly. Its purpose is to bundle and make the underlying `libmagic` C library accessible. To use the Python bindings for `libmagic`, you typically need to install `python-magic` separately.
  Fix: Ensure both `pylibmagic` and `python-magic` are installed: `pip install pylibmagic python-magic`.
• gotcha On platforms or architectures without pre-built wheels, `pylibmagic` installation might fail or require system-level `libmagic` installation.
  Fix: On Debian/Ubuntu, install `libmagic1` or `libmagic-dev` (`sudo apt-get install libmagic1`). On macOS, install via Homebrew (`brew install libmagic`). For Windows, `python-magic-bin` might be a more robust solution, or ensure `libmagic` DLLs are correctly placed and match your Python's bitness.
• gotcha Using a 32-bit `libmagic` DLL with a 64-bit Python (or vice-versa) on Windows can lead to `WindowsError: [Error 193]`.
  Fix: Ensure that the `libmagic` DLLs and your Python installation are both either 32-bit or 64-bit. Consider using `pip install python-magic-bin` which often includes the correct binaries for Windows.

Install

• pip install pylibmagic Install stable version

Imports

• pylibmagic
  wrong:

  import magic

  correct:

  import pylibmagic
  import magic

  pylibmagic makes the libmagic C library available; the 'magic' module itself is typically provided by the 'python-magic' package. You should import pylibmagic first to ensure libmagic is found, then import magic.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to use `pylibmagic` in conjunction with the `python-magic` library. `pylibmagic` ensures that the `libmagic` C library is available for `python-magic` to use, solving common installation issues. After importing `pylibmagic`, you can then proceed to use the `magic` module from `python-magic` as intended.

import pylibmagic
import magic

# pylibmagic ensures the underlying libmagic library is available
# You can inspect the data path it uses:
print(f"pylibmagic data path: {pylibmagic.data}")

# Now, use the python-magic library as usual
try:
    m = magic.Magic()
    file_type = m.from_buffer(b"hello world")
    print(f"'hello world' is detected as: {file_type}")
    
    # Example with a common file type
    with open("temp_text.txt", "w") as f:
        f.write("This is a test file.")
    file_type_from_file = m.from_file("temp_text.txt")
    print(f"'temp_text.txt' is detected as: {file_type_from_file}")
    import os
    os.remove("temp_text.txt")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")
    print("Ensure 'python-magic' is also installed (`pip install python-magic`).")