symbolfyi

Pure Python symbol encoder for developers. Compute 11 encoding representations and full Unicode properties for any character. Includes 51 HTML entity mappings, a CLI, MCP server for AI assistants, and an API client for symbolfyi.com.

Look up any symbol at symbolfyi.com -- symbol encoder, HTML entity collections, Unicode blocks

Table of Contents

• Install
• Quick Start
• What You Can Do
  • Symbol Encoding
  • Unicode Properties
• CLI
• MCP Server
• API Client
• API Reference
  • Core Functions
  • Data Types
  • Constants
• Features
• Learn More About Symbols
• Creative FYI Family
• License

Install

pip install symbolfyi              # Core (zero dependencies)
pip install "symbolfyi[full]"      # + fonttools for Unicode block/script
pip install "symbolfyi[cli]"       # + CLI (typer, rich)
pip install "symbolfyi[mcp]"       # + MCP server for AI assistants
pip install "symbolfyi[api]"       # + HTTP client for symbolfyi.com API
pip install "symbolfyi[all]"       # Everything

Quick Start

from symbolfyi import get_encodings, get_info, lookup_html_entity

# Encode any character (11 formats)
enc = get_encodings("->")
print(enc.unicode)        # U+2192
print(enc.html_entity)    # →
print(enc.css)            # \2192
print(enc.javascript)     # \u{2192}
print(enc.utf8_bytes)     # e2 86 92
print(enc.url_encoded)    # %E2%86%92

# Full Unicode properties (requires fonttools for block/script)
info = get_info("*")
print(info.name)          # BLACK SPADE SUIT
print(info.category_name) # Other Symbol
print(info.block)         # Miscellaneous Symbols
print(info.script)        # Common

# HTML entity reverse lookup
char = lookup_html_entity("♥")
print(char)               # (heart character)

What You Can Do

Symbol Encoding

When working with special characters in web development, you often need the same symbol in different encoding formats -- an HTML entity for markup, a CSS escape for stylesheets, a JavaScript literal for scripts, or raw UTF-8 bytes for server-side processing. The get_encodings() function computes all 11 representations from a single character input, covering every major platform and language.

Format	Example (U+2192 RIGHTWARDS ARROW)	Use Case
Unicode	U+2192	Documentation, Unicode charts
HTML Decimal	→	HTML numeric character references
HTML Hex	→	HTML hexadecimal references
HTML Entity	→	Named HTML entities (51 supported)
CSS	\2192	CSS content property, pseudo-elements
JavaScript	\u{2192}	ES6+ string literals
Python	\u2192	Python source code escapes
Java	\u2192	Java string literals
UTF-8 Bytes	e2 86 92	Network protocols, file encoding
UTF-16 Bytes	21 92	Windows APIs, Java internals
URL Encoded	%E2%86%92	Query strings, URL paths

from symbolfyi import get_encodings

# Encode any symbol into all 11 representation formats
enc = get_encodings("\u00a9")  # Copyright sign
print(enc.unicode)        # U+00A9
print(enc.html_entity)    # ©
print(enc.html_decimal)   # ©
print(enc.css)            # \00A9
print(enc.javascript)     # \u{A9}
print(enc.python)         # \u00a9
print(enc.utf8_bytes)     # c2 a9
print(enc.url_encoded)    # %C2%A9

Learn more: Symbol Encoding Tools · HTML Entity Collections

Unicode Properties

Every character in the Unicode Standard carries a set of properties that describe its behavior and classification. The Unicode General Category (e.g., "Lu" for uppercase letter, "Sm" for math symbol) determines how text processors handle the character. The block identifies which range of the Unicode codespace the character belongs to (e.g., "Arrows", "Mathematical Operators"), while the script property indicates the writing system (e.g., "Latin", "Common"). Bidirectional properties control text layout in mixed left-to-right and right-to-left content.

Property	Description	Example (U+2665 BLACK HEART SUIT)
Name	Official Unicode character name	BLACK HEART SUIT
Category	General category code + name	So (Other Symbol)
Block	Unicode block range	Miscellaneous Symbols
Script	Writing system	Common
Bidirectional	Text direction class	ON (Other Neutral)
Combining	Combining class value	0 (Not Reordered)
Mirrored	Whether glyph mirrors in RTL	N
Decomposition	Canonical decomposition	(empty for most symbols)

from symbolfyi import get_info

# Retrieve full Unicode properties for any character
info = get_info("\u2665")  # Black heart suit
print(info.name)           # BLACK HEART SUIT
print(info.category)       # So
print(info.category_name)  # Other Symbol
print(info.block)          # Miscellaneous Symbols
print(info.script)         # Common
print(info.bidirectional)  # ON

# Access the encodings alongside Unicode properties
print(info.encodings.html_entity)  # ♥
print(info.encodings.css)          # \2665

Learn more: ## CLI

Requires the cli extra: pip install symbolfyi[cli]

# Full symbol info (Unicode properties + all encodings)
symbolfyi info "->"

# Show all 11 encodings
symbolfyi encode "*"

# Reverse HTML entity lookup
symbolfyi entity "♥"
symbolfyi entity amp

MCP Server

Requires the mcp extra: pip install symbolfyi[mcp]

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "symbolfyi": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": ["-m", "symbolfyi.mcp_server"]
        }
    }
}

Available tools:

Tool	Description
symbol_info	Full Unicode properties + 11 encodings
symbol_encode	Encode a character into 11 representations
html_entity_lookup	Reverse HTML entity lookup

API Client

Requires the api extra: pip install symbolfyi[api]

from symbolfyi.api import SymbolFYI

with SymbolFYI() as api:
    # Encode a character
    info = api.encode("->")
    print(info["encodings"]["html_entity"])

    # Search symbols
    results = api.search("arrow")
    for r in results["results"]:
        print(r["character"], r["name"])

    # Browse Unicode blocks
    blocks = api.blocks()
    print(blocks["count"])

    # Get collection details
    arrows = api.collection("arrows")
    print(arrows["name"])

Full API documentation at symbolfyi.com/developers.

API Reference

Core Functions

Function	Description
get_encodings(char) -> EncodingInfo	Compute 11 encoding representations
get_info(char) -> SymbolInfo | None	Full Unicode properties + encodings
get_category_name(code) -> str	Category code to human name
lookup_html_entity(entity) -> str | None	Entity string to character

Data Types

• EncodingInfo -- 11-field NamedTuple: unicode, html_decimal, html_hex, html_entity, css, javascript, python, java, utf8_bytes, utf16_bytes, url_encoded
• SymbolInfo -- 12-field NamedTuple: codepoint, character, name, category, category_name, block, script, bidirectional, combining, mirrored, decomposition, encodings

Constants

Constant	Description
GENERAL_CATEGORIES	27 Unicode category codes with names
HTML_ENTITIES	51 codepoint-to-entity mappings
HTML_ENTITY_TO_CHAR	51 entity-to-character reverse mappings

Features

• 11 encoding types: Unicode, HTML decimal/hex/entity, CSS, JavaScript, Python, Java, UTF-8/UTF-16 bytes, URL-encoded
• Unicode properties: name, category, block, script, bidirectional, combining, mirrored, decomposition
• 51 HTML entities: Common entities with bidirectional lookup
• Zero required deps: Core uses only stdlib (unicodedata, urllib.parse)
• Optional fonttools: Install symbolfyi[full] for Unicode block and script info
• CLI: Rich terminal interface for symbol info, encoding, and entity lookup
• MCP server: AI assistant integration with 3 tools
• API client: HTTP client for symbolfyi.com REST API
• Type-safe: Full type annotations, py.typed marker (PEP 561)

Learn More About Symbols

• Browse: Symbol Search · - Collections: HTML Entities · - Guides: Glossary
• API: REST API Docs · OpenAPI Spec

Creative FYI Family

Part of the FYIPedia open-source developer tools ecosystem — design, typography, and character encoding.

Package	PyPI	npm	Description
colorfyi	PyPI	npm	Color conversion, WCAG contrast, harmonies -- colorfyi.com
emojifyi	PyPI	npm	Emoji encoding & metadata for 3,953 emojis -- emojifyi.com
symbolfyi	PyPI	npm	Symbol encoding in 11 formats -- symbolfyi.com
unicodefyi	PyPI	npm	Unicode lookup with 17 encodings -- unicodefyi.com
fontfyi	PyPI	npm	Google Fonts metadata & CSS -- fontfyi.com

Embed Widget

Embed SymbolFYI widgets on any website with symbolfyi-embed:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/symbolfyi-embed@1/dist/embed.min.js"></script>
<div data-symbolfyi="entity" data-slug="example"></div>

Zero dependencies · Shadow DOM · 4 themes (light/dark/sepia/auto) · Widget docs

License

MIT