file/file
Read-only mirror of file CVS repository, updated every half hour. NOTE: do not make pull requests here, nor comment any commits, submit them usual way to bug tracker or to the mailing list. Maintainer(s) are not tracking this git mirror. observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
77/100
- Activity 99
- Release rhythm 35
- Longevity 100
Flags: no_releases no_license
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 5696
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 10
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
1654 stars · 454 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
The classic Unix file(1) command and libmagic library that identifies file types by inspecting file contents and magic numbers rather than filename extensions. It is the standard file command shipped with most Linux and BSD distributions, and libmagic lets third-party programs detect file types in-process.
Use cases
- identify what type of data a file contains from the command line
- detect file type by content instead of file extension
- embed file type detection in my application via a library
- get MIME type of an uploaded file
- validate that a file matches its claimed format
- detect file types in a Python program
When to choose
- you need reliable content-based file type identification on Unix-like systems
- you want a battle-tested C library (libmagic) for file type detection in other software
- you need MIME type detection from actual file contents
When to avoid
- you only need simple extension-based type checks without I/O overhead
- you need deep format parsing or metadata extraction rather than type identification
- you want a pure high-level-language solution without a C dependency
Facets
cli-tool · maturity stable
cli parser file-system sdk developer-tools files windows bsd cross-platform cli c file-type-detection magic-numbers libmagic mime-detection command-line linux macos
3 sources
- readme: https://github.com/file/file · fetched 2026-08-28 · e08c54dbc794
- homepage: http://www.darwinsys.com/file/ · fetched 2026-08-29 · ee7c9198a3e1
- site_page: https://www.darwinsys.com/about · fetched 2026-08-29 · 8021cc55343e
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| file/file | main | 77 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem