metaedit 0.1.21

Surgical Binary Metadata Editing. Powered by Rust.

MetaEdit

Surgical Binary Metadata Editing. Powered by Rust.

MetaEdit is a high-performance, cross-platform library and CLI tool designed for surgical binary manipulation. It allows you to patch executable metadata (icons, version strings, manifests) with 1:1 precision, without re-compiling your source.

Originally built for the CactusCat framework, MetaEdit is now available as a standalone power-tool for any Python or Rust project that needs to brand and identify binaries post-build.

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Features

• Rust-Native Performance: Zero-overhead metadata patching. No reliance on legacy .exe tools like rcedit.
• 1:1 Binary Surgery: Directly manipulates PE resources (Windows), Info.plist (macOS), and Desktop entries (Linux).
• Icon Injection: High-fidelity icon patching with multi-resolution support.
• Fluent API: Modern, chainable Python API for complex branding sequences.
• Unified CLI: A single command to rule all platforms.

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💻 Python Usage

MetaEdit provides three distinct ways to brand your binaries:

1. Dictionary-based (Clean & Pythonic)

Best for dynamic configuration files or settings blocks.

import metaedit

metaedit.edit("app.exe", {
    "icon": "app.ico",
    "version": "1.2.3.4",
    "CompanyName": "CactusCat Industries",
    "FileDescription": "The Next Big Thing",
    "LegalCopyright": "© 2026"
}).apply()

2. Direct Update (Fast & Simple)

One-liner for quick patches.

metaedit.update("app.exe", icon="logo.ico", version="1.0.0.1")

3. Fluent API (Chainable)

Maximum control and readability.

metaedit.edit("app.exe") \
    .set_icon("app.ico") \
    .set_version("1.2.3.4") \
    .set_string("ProductName", "CactusCat Engine") \
    .apply()

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📟 CLI Usage

MetaEdit is its own standalone power-tool. Install globally and brand anything.

metaedit app.exe --icon logo.ico --version 2.0.0.0 --company "Acme Corp"

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🌍 Platform Specifics

Platform	Technique	Result
Windows	Direct PE Resource Patching	Built-in Icons & Version Info (Task Manager ready)
macOS	Bundle Synthesis	Full .app structure with Info.plist and .icns
Linux	Desktop Integration	.desktop entry generation and Icon distribution

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📦 Installation

pip install metaedit

MetaEdit ships with pre-compiled Rust wheels. You do not need a Rust compiler installed to use it.

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⚖️ License

MetaEdit is open-source software licensed under the MIT License.