depyinstaller

Extract PyInstaller-packed executables back to Python source .pyc files.

• Automatically detects the Python version embedded in the executable
• If your Python version doesn't match, tells you exactly which version to use
• Filters out stdlib, third-party dependencies, and PyInstaller bootstrap files — only outputs your source code
• Supports PyInstaller 2.0 ~ 6.19.0, Python 3.6+

Install

pip install depyinstaller

Usage

python -m depyinstaller -F <exe_file> -n <output_dir>

Example

python -m depyinstaller -F app.exe -n output

If the Python version matches, you'll get a clean output directory containing only user source .pyc files:

output/
  main.pyc
  pkg/
    __init__.pyc
    mod.pyc

If the version doesn't match:

[!] Python version mismatch: this exe requires Python 3.8, but you are running Python 3.14

[*] To fix this, install and run depyinstaller with Python 3.8:
      pip install depyinstaller  # using Python 3.8
      python -m depyinstaller -F app.exe -n output

How it works

1. Extract — parses the PyInstaller archive (CArchive + PYZ) and extracts all embedded files
2. Filter — identifies user source code by:
   • Selecting entry point scripts (excluding PyInstaller bootstrap like pyiboot*, pyi_rth_*)
   • Dynamically detecting third-party packages from binary extensions (.pyd/.so) and .dist-info metadata in the archive
   • Filtering out stdlib modules
   • Tracing imports recursively from entry points to find all user modules
3. Output — copies only user .pyc files to the output directory, preserving the original package structure

License

GPL-3.0