======= PyCocoa

A basic, ctypes_-based Python binding to the macOS_ Objective-C Cocoa runtime and several other macOS_ libraries.

This is package cocoa-python_ by Phillip Nguyen (C) 2011, modified, extended, tested, documented and published with permission under both the MIT License_ and the original New BSD License_.

Installation

To install pycocoa, type pip install pycocoa or easy_install pycocoa in a terminal window. Alternatively, download pycocoa-y.m.d.zip from PyPI_ or GitHub_, unzip the downloaded file, cd to directory pycocoa-y.m.d and type python setup.py install. To run all PyCocoa tests, type python setup.py test or python test/run.py before or after installation.

Examples cocoavlc.py_ and simple_VLCplayer.py require installation of the VLC App_ and the corresponding Python-VLC_ binding.

Documentation

In addition to the pycocoa_ package, the distribution files contain several tests, some examples and the documentation_ (generated by Epydoc_ using command line epydoc --html --no-private --no-source --name=pycocoa --url=... -v pycocoa).

Tests

The tests and examples have only been run with 64-bit Python 3.14, 3.13.4, 3.12.7 and 2.7.18 using Python-VLC_ 3.0.21, 3.0.18, 3.0.16, 3.0.12, 3.0.11, 3.0.10, 3.0.8, 3.0.6, 3.0.4 and 2.2.8 (with the compatible VLC App_) on maxOS 26.1 Tahoe, macOS 15.5 Sequoia, 14.7.3 Sonoma, 13.2 Ventura, 12.0.1 Monterey, 11.6.1 and 11.5.2 Big Sur (aka 10.16), 10.15.7 Catalina, 10.14.6 Mojave or 10.13.6 High Sierra. The tests run with and without lazy import in Python 3.

Python 3.14, 3.13.4 and 3.12.7 run on Apple M4 Si (arm64 natively), other Python versions run on Intel (x86_64) or Intel emulation (arm64_x86_64, see function pycocoa.machine), but only before macOS 15 Sequoia (see function pycocoa.segfaulty).

Previously, pycocoa was tested with 64-bit Python 3.11.5, 3.10.0, 3.9.6, 3.8.1-6, 3.7.4-6, 3.6.5, 2.7.17 and macOS' 2.7.16. However, pycocoa has not been tested on iOS nor with 32-bit Python and does not work with PyPy_ nor with Intel(R) Python_.

Notes

All pycocoa source code has been statically checked_ with Ruff_ using Python 3.13.9 and with PyChecker_, PyFlakes_, PyCodeStyle_ (formerly Pep8) and McCabe_ using Python 2.7.18, both in 64-bit on macOS 26.1 Tahoe.

Some alternatives to pycocoa are (a) PyObjC_, the most comprehensive Python to Objective-C bridge (no longer included in macOS\' Python), (b) Rubicon-ObjC for Python 3.5+, taking advantage of Python's typing_ annotations, (c) PyGUI_ for macOS_ and (d) wxPython_.

Last updated: Dec 04, 2025.

Licenses

Copyright (C) 2017-2026 -- mrJean1 at Gmail -- All Rights Reserved.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Copyright (C) 2011 -- Phillip Nguyen -- All Rights Reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

3. Neither the name of objective-ctypes nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

.. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/pyversions/PyCocoa.svg?label=Python :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa .. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/v/PyCocoa.svg?label=PyPI :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa .. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/wheel/PyCocoa.svg :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa/#files .. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/l/PyCocoa.svg :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa .. image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/dm/pycocoa :target: https://PyPI.org/project/pycocoa

.. _checked: https://GitHub.com/ActiveState/code/tree/master/recipes/Python/546532_PyChecker_postprocessor .. _cocoa-python: https://GitHub.com/phillip-nguyen/cocoa-python .. _cocoavlc.py: https://GitHub.com/oaubert/python-vlc/tree/master/examples .. _ctypes: https://Docs.Python.org/2.7/library/ctypes.html .. _documentation: https://mrJean1.GitHub.io/PyCocoa .. _Epydoc: https://PyPI.org/project/epydoc .. _Flake8: https://PyPI.org/project/flake8 .. _GitHub: https://GitHub.com/mrJean1/PyCocoa .. _Intel(R) Python: https://Software.Intel.com/en-us/distribution-for-python .. _macOS: https://WikiPedia.org/wiki/MacOS .. _macOS' Python: https://WikiPedia.org/wiki/PyObjC#History .. _McCabe: https://PyPI.org/project/mccabe .. _MIT License: https://OpenSource.org/licenses/MIT .. _New BSD License: https://OpenSource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause .. _PyChecker: https://PyPI.org/project/pychecker .. _pycocoa: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa .. _PyCodeStyle: https://PyPI.org/project/pycodestyle .. _PyFlakes: https://PyPI.org/project/pyflakes .. _PyGUI: https://CoSC.Canterbury.AC.NZ/greg.ewing/python_gui .. _PyObjC: https://PyPI.org/project/pyobjc .. _PyPI: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa .. _PyPy: https://PyPy.org .. _Rubicon-ObjC: https://PyPI.org/project/rubicon-objc .. _Ruff: https://GitHub.com/astral-sh/ruff .. _typing: https://Docs.Python.org/3/library/typing.html .. _Python-VLC: https://PyPI.org/project/python-vlc .. _VLC App: https://www.VideoLan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html .. _wxPython: https://wxPython.org/pages/overview/index.html