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.
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Metadata
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Release files for pycocoa 25.12.4
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Total release size: 785.7 kB
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