How to get package metadata using importlib in Python

The metadata module

The metadata module in importlib module provides the metadata information about the installed modules. This module, along with importlib.resources module, replaces the older pkg_resources module.

Some of the metadata attributes are package version, name, description, and so on.

Note: Refer to Core metadata specifications to get all metadata attributes.

The metadata() method

The metadata() method of the metadata module provides all the core metadata specifications about a package.

Syntax

metadata.metadata(pkg_name)

The pkg_name is the package name.

Return value

The method returns an object that contains all metadata information about the package.

Code example

Let’s look at the code example:

from importlib import  metadata
sp_data = metadata.metadata("setuptools")
print("Metadata about setuptools pacakge:")
print("Version - ", sp_data['Version'])
print("Summary - ", sp_data['Summary'])
print("-"*8)
print("Metadata dictionary - ")
print(dict(sp_data))

Code explanation

  • Line 1: We import the metadata module.
  • Line 3: We retrieve the metadata about the setuptools package using the metadata() method.
  • Lines 5 to 6: We print the individual metadata attributes like the version and print the summary.
  • Line 11: We print the dictionary representation of the object.
Free AI Mock Interviews
Coding Interview
Coding PatternsFree Interview
Gain insights and practical experience with coding patterns through targeted MCQs and coding problems, designed to match and challenge your expertise level.
System Design
You TubeFree Interview
Learn to design a video streaming platform like YouTube by tackling functional and non-functional requirements, core components, and high-level to detailed design challenges.

Free Resources

License: Creative Commons-Attribution NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)