title: kain description: Runtime introspection, dynamic imports, and monkey-patching utilities for Python

[ref: #kain]

kain

kain is a small Python toolbox for runtime introspection, dynamic imports, and controlled monkey-patching.

It gives you several public entry points:

• Is — type and shape predicates.
• Who — introspection helpers for names, modules, and inheritance.
• Monkey — runtime patching, binding, and exception suppression.
• required, optional, add_path — dynamic imports and sys.path management.
• to_ascii, to_bytes, unique — small text and iteration helpers.

[ref: #installation]

Installation

Install with uv:

uv add kain

Or with any PEP 517-compatible tool:

pip install kain

[ref: #is]

Type and shape checks with Is

Is is a namespace of predicates for classes, collections, primitives, mappings, and more.

from zx.core import Is

assert Is.Class(int) is True
assert Is.Class(42) is False
assert Is.collection([1, 2, 3]) is True
assert Is.mapping({"a": 1}) is True
assert Is.primitive(42) is True
assert Is.subclass(42, int | str) is True

[ref: #who]

Introspection with Who

Who gives you readable names, source files, argument lists, and inheritance chains.

from zx.core import Who

assert Who.Is(42) == "int"
assert Who.Name(str) == "str"
assert Who.Cast(42) == "(int)42"
assert Who.Args(1, 2, a=3) == "'1', '2', a=3"

class A:
    pass

class B(A):
    pass

assert A in Who.Inheritance(B)
assert Who.Inheritance(B, glue=" -> ") == "__main__.A"

[ref: #importer]

Dynamic imports with required, optional, and add_path

required imports by dotted path and raises on failure; optional returns a default instead. add_path resolves a directory or file path and appends it to sys.path.

from zx.core import add_path, optional, required

assert required("os.path.join") is __import__("os").path.join
assert optional("nonexistent_package_xyz") is None
assert optional("nonexistent_package_xyz", default="fallback") == "fallback"

# Add a directory or a file's parent directory to sys.path.
add_path(".")

[ref: #monkey]

Runtime patching with Monkey

Monkey provides helpers for suppressing exceptions, attaching functions to objects, and replacing attributes while preserving the original in Monkey.mapping.

from zx.core import Monkey

assert Parser.parse("not-a-number") is None
assert Parser.parse("42") == 42

node = type("Node", (), {})()


@Monkey.bind(node)
def greet(name: str) -> str:
    return f"hi {name}"


assert node.greet("world") == "hi world"

[ref: #text-and-unique]

Text coercion and deduplication with to_ascii, to_bytes, and unique

to_ascii and to_bytes coerce between str and bytes with an optional charset. unique yields distinct items from an iterable, optionally by a key function.

from zx.core import to_ascii, to_bytes, unique

assert to_ascii(b"hello") == "hello"
assert to_bytes("hello") == b"hello"
assert to_ascii("é".encode("utf-8"), charset="utf-8") == "é"

assert list(unique([1, 2, 2, 3, 1])) == [1, 2, 3]
assert list(unique(["a", "A", "b"], key=str.lower)) == ["a", "b"]

[ref: #full-example]

Full example

from zx.core import Is, Monkey, Who, add_path, optional, required, to_ascii, unique


class Config:
    def port(cls, raw: str) -> int | None:
        return int(raw)


assert Config.port("8080") == 8080

assert Is.primitive("hello") is True
assert Who.Is(Config.port).endswith("Config.port")

join = required("os.path.join")
assert callable(join)

parser = optional("nonexistent_parser", default=str)
assert parser is str

add_path(".")

assert to_ascii(b"kain") == "kain"
assert list(unique(["x", "x", "y"])) == ["x", "y"]