Traits¶

All aspects of a system are represented as traits.

There are six types of traits:

Architectures: CPU architectures, like x86_64 or ARM64
Platforms: Operating systems, like Windows, macOS or Ubuntu
Shells: Command-line interpreters, like Bash, Zsh or Fish
Terminals: Terminal emulators, like Kitty, Alacritty or iTerm2
CI systems: Continuous Integration environments, like GitHub Actions or Travis CI
Agents: AI coding agent environments, like Claude Code, Cursor or Cline

Trait usage¶

Current traits¶

You can get all currently detected traits via the current_traits() function.

>>> from extra_platforms import current_traits
>>> current_traits()
{
   Architecture(id='aarch64', name='ARM64 (AArch64)'),
   Platform(id='macos', name='macOS'),
   CI(id='github_ci', name='GitHub Actions runner'),
}

This function returns the set of all predefined traits that match the current system. It may include multiple traits of the same type when several are independently detectable (for instance, both BASH and POWERSHELL on GitHub Ubuntu runners where PSModulePath leaks from Azure infrastructure).

To get the single primary trait for a given type, use the dedicated current_*() functions, which apply disambiguation:

>>> from extra_platforms import current_architecture, current_platform, current_shell
>>> current_architecture()
Architecture(id='aarch64', name='ARM64 (AArch64)')
>>> current_platform()
Platform(id='macos', name='macOS')
>>> current_shell()
Shell(id='zsh', name='Zsh')

Predefined traits¶

All traits are available at the root of the extra_platforms package, as an uppercase symbol:

>>> from extra_platforms import X86_64  # import an architecture
>>> X86_64
Architecture(id='x86_64', name='x86-64 (AMD64)')
>>> from extra_platforms import DEBIAN  # import a platform
>>> DEBIAN
Platform(id='debian', name='Debian')
>>> from extra_platforms import GITHUB_CI  # import a CI system
>>> GITHUB_CI
CI(id='github_ci', name='GitHub Actions runner')

They all inherit from the Trait base class, and share a common interface.

Current property¶

Each trait has a current property that calls the corresponding detection function:

>>> X86_64.current
True
>>> DEBIAN.current
False
>>> GITHUB_CI.current
False

Detection functions¶

Each trait is associated with a detection function, which returns True if the current system matches that trait.

These functions are also exposed at the root of the extra_platforms package:

>>> from extra_platforms import is_x86_64, is_debian, is_github_ci
>>> is_x86_64()
True
>>> is_debian()
False
>>> is_github_ci()
False

Groups¶

Traits are combined into groups for easier detection of related traits.

You can get all groups a trait belongs to via the groups property:

>>> X86_64.groups
frozenset({
   Group(id='x86', name='x86 family'),
   Group(id='all_architectures', name='All architectures'),
   Group(id='arch_64_bit', name='64-bit architectures'),
   Group(id='little_endian', name='Little-endian architectures'),
   Group(id='all_traits', name='All architectures, platforms, shells, terminals, CI systems, and agents')})

Additional information¶

Each trait provides an info() method that returns a dictionary containing all available metadata about that trait:

>>> from extra_platforms import AARCH64, MACOS
>>> AARCH64.info()
{'id': 'aarch64', 'name': 'ARM64 (AArch64)', 'icon': '📱', 'url': 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AArch64', 'current': True, 'machine': 'arm64', 'processor': None}
>>> MACOS.info()
{'id': 'macos', 'name': 'macOS', 'icon': '🍎', 'url': 'https://apple.com/macos/', 'current': True, 'distro_id': None, 'release': None, 'version': '26.2', 'version_parts': {'major': '26', 'minor': '2', 'build_number': None}, 'like': None, 'codename': 'Tahoe'}

The exact structure depends on the trait type.

All traits¶

All recognized traits and their properties:

Icon	Symbol	Name	Detection function	Type
📱	`AARCH64`	ARM64 (AArch64)	`is_aarch64()`	Architecture
➿	`AIX`	IBM AIX	`is_aix()`	Platform
🔳	`ALACRITTY`	Alacritty	`is_alacritty()`	Terminal
	`ALMALINUX`	AlmaLinux	`is_almalinux()`	Platform
🏔️	`ALPINE`	Alpine Linux	`is_alpine()`	Platform
Δ	`ALTLINUX`	ALT Linux	`is_altlinux()`	Platform
⤻	`AMZN`	Amazon Linux	`is_amzn()`	Platform
🤖	`ANDROID`	Android	`is_android()`	Platform
🍏	`APPLE_TERMINAL`	Apple Terminal	`is_apple_terminal()`	Terminal
🎗️	`ARCH`	Arch Linux	`is_arch()`	Platform
📱	`ARM`	ARM (32-bit)	`is_arm()`	Architecture
📱	`ARMV5TEL`	ARMv5TE (little-endian)	`is_armv5tel()`	Architecture
📱	`ARMV6L`	ARMv6 (little-endian)	`is_armv6l()`	Architecture
📱	`ARMV7L`	ARMv7 (little-endian)	`is_armv7l()`	Architecture
📱	`ARMV8L`	ARMv8 (32-bit, little-endian)	`is_armv8l()`	Architecture
⟁	`ARTIX`	Artix Linux	`is_artix()`	Platform
🪶	`ASH`	Almquist Shell	`is_ash()`	Shell
═	`AZURE_PIPELINES`	Azure Pipelines	`is_azure_pipelines()`	CI
⟲	`BAMBOO`	Bamboo	`is_bamboo()`	CI
＃	`BASH`	Bash	`is_bash()`	Shell
🪁	`BUILDKITE`	Buildkite	`is_buildkite()`	CI
⛑️	`BUILDROOT`	Buildroot	`is_buildroot()`	Platform
⌬	`CACHYOS`	CachyOS	`is_cachyos()`	Platform
💠	`CENTOS`	CentOS	`is_centos()`	Platform
🧿	`CHROMEOS`	ChromeOS	`is_chromeos()`	Platform
⪾	`CIRCLE_CI`	Circle CI	`is_circle_ci()`	CI
≋	`CIRRUS_CI`	Cirrus CI	`is_cirrus_ci()`	CI
✴️	`CLAUDE_CODE`	Claude Code	`is_claude_code()`	Agent
✳️	`CLEARLINUX`	Clear Linux OS	`is_clearlinux()`	Platform
👾	`CLINE`	Cline	`is_cline()`	Agent
꩜	`CLOUDLINUX`	CloudLinux OS	`is_cloudlinux()`	Platform
▶	`CMD`	Command Prompt	`is_cmd()`	Shell
ᚙ	`CODEBUILD`	CodeBuild	`is_codebuild()`	CI
📕	`CODEX`	OpenAI Codex	`is_codex()`	Agent
◰	`CONTOUR`	Contour	`is_contour()`	Terminal
✈️	`COPILOT_CLI`	GitHub Copilot CLI	`is_copilot_cli()`	Agent
💘	`CRUSH`	Crush	`is_crush()`	Agent
✜	`CRUX`	CRUX	`is_crux()`	Platform
𝐂	`CSH`	C shell	`is_csh()`	Shell
➤	`CURSOR`	Cursor	`is_cursor()`	Agent
Ͼ	`CYGWIN`	Cygwin	`is_cygwin()`	Platform
💨	`DASH`	Dash	`is_dash()`	Shell
🌀	`DEBIAN`	Debian	`is_debian()`	Platform
🪰	`DRAGONFLY_BSD`	DragonFly BSD	`is_dragonfly_bsd()`	Platform
🚀	`ENDEAVOUROS`	EndeavourOS	`is_endeavouros()`	Platform
🐽	`EXHERBO`	Exherbo Linux	`is_exherbo()`	Platform
🎩	`FEDORA`	Fedora	`is_fedora()`	Platform
🐟	`FISH`	Fish	`is_fish()`	Shell
🦶	`FOOT`	foot	`is_foot()`	Terminal
😈	`FREEBSD`	FreeBSD	`is_freebsd()`	Platform
♊	`GEMINI_CLI`	Gemini CLI	`is_gemini_cli()`	Agent
🥚	`GENERIC_LINUX`	Generic Linux	`is_generic_linux()`	Platform
🗜️	`GENTOO`	Gentoo Linux	`is_gentoo()`	Platform
👻	`GHOSTTY`	Ghostty	`is_ghostty()`	Terminal
🐙	`GITHUB_CI`	GitHub Actions runner	`is_github_ci()`	CI
🦊	`GITLAB_CI`	GitLab CI	`is_gitlab_ci()`	CI
𝐆	`GNOME_TERMINAL`	GNOME Terminal	`is_gnome_terminal()`	Terminal
📺	`GNU_SCREEN`	GNU Screen	`is_gnu_screen()`	Terminal
🐃	`GUIX`	Guix System	`is_guix()`	Platform
🍂	`HAIKU`	Haiku	`is_haiku()`	Platform
🥫	`HERMETIC_BUILD`	Hermetic Build	`is_hermetic_build()`	CI
⥁	`HEROKU_CI`	Heroku CI	`is_heroku_ci()`	CI
🦬	`HURD`	GNU/Hurd	`is_hurd()`	Platform
⬡	`HYPER`	Hyper	`is_hyper()`	Terminal
𝗶	`I386`	Intel 80386 (i386)	`is_i386()`	Architecture
𝗶	`I586`	Intel Pentium (i586)	`is_i586()`	Architecture
𝗶	`I686`	Intel Pentium Pro (i686)	`is_i686()`	Architecture
🤹	`IBM_POWERKVM`	IBM PowerKVM	`is_ibm_powerkvm()`	Platform
🔥	`ILLUMOS`	illumos	`is_illumos()`	Platform
⬛	`ITERM2`	iTerm2	`is_iterm2()`	Terminal
🔱	`KALI`	Kali Linux	`is_kali()`	Platform
🐱	`KITTY`	Kitty	`is_kitty()`	Terminal
💎	`KONSOLE`	Konsole	`is_konsole()`	Terminal
𝐊	`KSH`	Korn shell	`is_ksh()`	Shell
🤹	`KVMIBM`	KVM for IBM z Systems	`is_kvmibm()`	Platform
🌿	`LINUXMINT`	Linux Mint	`is_linuxmint()`	Platform
🐉	`LOONGARCH64`	LoongArch (64-bit)	`is_loongarch64()`	Architecture
🍎	`MACOS`	macOS	`is_macos()`	Platform
⍥	`MAGEIA`	Mageia	`is_mageia()`	Platform
💫	`MANDRIVA`	Mandriva Linux	`is_mandriva()`	Platform
▲	`MANJARO`	Manjaro Linux	`is_manjaro()`	Platform
🌘	`MIDNIGHTBSD`	MidnightBSD	`is_midnightbsd()`	Platform
🔲	`MIPS`	MIPS (32-bit, big-endian)	`is_mips()`	Architecture
🔲	`MIPS64`	MIPS64 (big-endian)	`is_mips64()`	Architecture
🔲	`MIPS64EL`	MIPS64 (little-endian)	`is_mips64el()`	Architecture
🔲	`MIPSEL`	MIPS (32-bit, little-endian)	`is_mipsel()`	Architecture
🚩	`NETBSD`	NetBSD	`is_netbsd()`	Platform
❄️	`NIXOS`	NixOS	`is_nixos()`	Platform
	`NOBARA`	Nobara	`is_nobara()`	Platform
𝜈	`NUSHELL`	Nushell	`is_nushell()`	Shell
🃏	`NUTYX`	NuTyX	`is_nutyx()`	Platform
🐡	`OPENBSD`	OpenBSD	`is_openbsd()`	Platform
🦎	`OPENSUSE`	openSUSE	`is_opensuse()`	Platform
📶	`OPENWRT`	OpenWrt	`is_openwrt()`	Platform
🦴	`ORACLE`	Oracle Linux	`is_oracle()`	Platform
🟦	`OS400`	IBM i	`is_os400()`	Platform
∥	`PARALLELS`	Parallels	`is_parallels()`	Platform
π	`PI`	Pi	`is_pi()`	Agent
🍓	`PIDORA`	Pidora	`is_pidora()`	Platform
🐹	`PIKAOS`	PikaOS	`is_pikaos()`	Platform
🔷	`POWERSHELL`	PowerShell	`is_powershell()`	Shell
⚡	`PPC`	PowerPC (32-bit)	`is_ppc()`	Architecture
⚡	`PPC64`	PowerPC 64-bit (big-endian)	`is_ppc64()`	Architecture
⚡	`PPC64LE`	PowerPC 64-bit (little-endian)	`is_ppc64le()`	Architecture
🍓	`RASPBIAN`	Raspbian	`is_raspbian()`	Platform
🎩	`RHEL`	RedHat Enterprise Linux	`is_rhel()`	Platform
🏞️	`RIO`	Rio	`is_rio()`	Terminal
Ⅴ	`RISCV32`	RISC-V (32-bit)	`is_riscv32()`	Architecture
Ⅴ	`RISCV64`	RISC-V (64-bit)	`is_riscv64()`	Architecture
⛰️	`ROCKY`	Rocky Linux	`is_rocky()`	Platform
🏢	`S390X`	IBM z/Architecture (s390x)	`is_s390x()`	Architecture
⚛️	`SCIENTIFIC`	Scientific Linux	`is_scientific()`	Platform
𝐒	`SH`	Bourne Shell	`is_sh()`	Shell
🚬	`SLACKWARE`	Slackware	`is_slackware()`	Platform
🦎	`SLES`	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server	`is_sles()`	Platform
🕷️	`SLITAZ`	SliTaz GNU/Linux	`is_slitaz()`	Platform
🌞	`SOLARIS`	Solaris	`is_solaris()`	Platform
	`SOLUS`	Solus	`is_solus()`	Platform
🧙	`SOURCEMAGE`	Source Mage GNU/Linux	`is_sourcemage()`	Platform
☀️	`SPARC`	SPARC (32-bit)	`is_sparc()`	Architecture
☀️	`SPARC64`	SPARC (64-bit)	`is_sparc64()`	Architecture
🌅	`SUNOS`	SunOS	`is_sunos()`	Platform
🐈	`TABBY`	Tabby	`is_tabby()`	Terminal
𝐓	`TCSH`	tcsh	`is_tcsh()`	Shell
🏙️	`TEAMCITY`	TeamCity	`is_teamcity()`	CI
🔀	`TILIX`	Tilix	`is_tilix()`	Terminal
📟	`TMUX`	tmux	`is_tmux()`	Terminal
👷	`TRAVIS_CI`	Travis CI	`is_travis_ci()`	CI
🤵	`TUXEDO`	Tuxedo OS	`is_tuxedo()`	Platform
🎯	`UBUNTU`	Ubuntu	`is_ubuntu()`	Platform
🌊	`ULTRAMARINE`	Ultramarine	`is_ultramarine()`	Platform
❓	`UNKNOWN_AGENT`	Unknown agent	`is_unknown_agent()`	Agent
❓	`UNKNOWN_ARCHITECTURE`	Unknown architecture	`is_unknown_architecture()`	Architecture
❓	`UNKNOWN_CI`	Unknown CI	`is_unknown_ci()`	CI
❓	`UNKNOWN_PLATFORM`	Unknown platform	`is_unknown_platform()`	Platform
❓	`UNKNOWN_SHELL`	Unknown shell	`is_unknown_shell()`	Shell
❓	`UNKNOWN_TERMINAL`	Unknown terminal	`is_unknown_terminal()`	Terminal
∅	`VOID`	Void Linux	`is_void()`	Platform
🔵	`VSCODE_TERMINAL`	VS Code Terminal	`is_vscode_terminal()`	Terminal
🌐	`WASM32`	WebAssembly (32-bit)	`is_wasm32()`	Architecture
🌐	`WASM64`	WebAssembly (64-bit)	`is_wasm64()`	Architecture
🔡	`WEZTERM`	WezTerm	`is_wezterm()`	Terminal
🪟	`WINDOWS`	Windows	`is_windows()`	Platform
⊡	`WINDOWS_TERMINAL`	Windows Terminal	`is_windows_terminal()`	Terminal
⊞	`WSL1`	Windows Subsystem for Linux v1	`is_wsl1()`	Platform
⊞	`WSL2`	Windows Subsystem for Linux v2	`is_wsl2()`	Platform
🖥️	`X86_64`	x86-64 (AMD64)	`is_x86_64()`	Architecture
Ⓧ	`XENSERVER`	XenServer	`is_xenserver()`	Platform
🐍	`XONSH`	Xonsh	`is_xonsh()`	Shell
𝐗	`XTERM`	xterm	`is_xterm()`	Terminal
🪵	`ZELLIJ`	Zellij	`is_zellij()`	Terminal
ℤ	`ZSH`	Zsh	`is_zsh()`	Shell

Trait implementation¶

        classDiagram
  Trait <|-- Agent
  Trait <|-- Architecture
  Trait <|-- CI
  Trait <|-- Platform
  Trait <|-- Shell
  Trait <|-- Terminal
  _ClassMetadata <|-- _Identifiable
  _Identifiable <|-- Trait

class extra_platforms.Trait(id, name, icon='❓', url='', aliases=())[source]¶

Bases: _Identifiable

Base class for system traits like platforms and architectures.

A trait is a distinguishing characteristic of the runtime environment that can be detected and identified.

In addition to the common fields inherited from _Identifiable, each trait provides:

url: A link to official documentation or website for the trait.
aliases: Alternative IDs resolving to the trait.
current: A boolean indicating if the current environment matches this trait.
info(): A method returning a dictionary of gathered attributes about the trait.
groups: A set of Group objects that include this trait as a member.

url: str = ''¶: URL to the trait’s official website or documentation.

aliases: tuple[str, ...] = ()¶

Alternative IDs for this trait.

Aliases are alternative identifiers that resolve to the same trait. When an alias is used, a warning is emitted to encourage using the canonical ID.

Note

Aliases do not generate their own symbols, detection functions, or pytest decorators. Only the canonical id produces these artifacts.

_metadata_lines()[source]¶

The metadata list closing the generated docstring of the trait.

Return type:: list[str]

property groups: frozenset[Group][source]¶

Returns the set of groups this trait belongs to.

Returns:: A frozenset of Group objects that contain this trait as a member.

property current: bool¶

Returns whether the current environment matches this trait.

Calls the detection function named by detection_func_id, which caches its own result. That function is looked up in the registry of the detection module, where tests replace it to simulate another environment.

Raises NotImplementedError if a detection function cannot be found.

Hint

This is a property to avoid calling all detection heuristics on Trait object creation, which happens at module import time.

info()[source]¶

Returns all trait attributes that can be gathered.

This default implementation returns the identity metadata common to all traits. Subclasses extend it with category-specific fields by merging super().info() into their own result.

Return type:: dict[str, Any]

_reference_lines()¶

The metadata lines linking the detection function and Pytest decorators.

Return type:: tuple[str, str]

all_group = 'ALL_TRAITS'¶: The symbol name for the group containing all instances of this type.

data_module_id = 'trait_data'¶: The module name where instances of this type are defined.

property detection_func_id: str¶

ID of the detection function for this object.

The detection function is expected to be named is_<id>() and available at the root of the extra_platforms module.

doc_page = 'traits.md'¶: The documentation page filename.

generate_docstring()¶

Generate the docstring of this predefined object.

Combines the attribute docstring written under the object in its data module with the metadata lines of the object.

Return type:: str

icon: str = '❓'¶: Icon of the object.

property skip_decorator_id: str¶

ID of the Pytest skip decorator for this object.

The decorator is expected to be named @skip_<id> and available from the extra_platforms.pytest module.

property symbol_id: str¶

Symbolic identifier.

This is the variable name under which the instance can be accessed at the root of the extra_platforms module.

Mainly useful for documentation generation.

type_id = 'trait'¶: Machine-readable type identifier used to derive module and symbol names.

type_name = 'trait'¶: Human-readable type name for documentation, like "CI system".

unknown_symbol = 'UNKNOWN_TRAIT'¶: The symbol name for the unknown instance of this type.

property unless_decorator_id: str¶

ID of the Pytest unless decorator for this object.

The decorator is expected to be named @unless_<id> and available from the extra_platforms.pytest module.

id: str¶: Unique ID of the object.

name: str¶: User-friendly name of the object.

class extra_platforms.Platform(id, name, icon='❓', url='', aliases=())[source]¶

Bases: Trait

A platform identifies one or more operating systems.

Distributions or systems that share the same characteristics share a platform.

See the platform_data module for the granularity policy deciding when a distribution gets a dedicated platform, and when it is folded into an existing one.

Todo

Detect the init system (systemd, upstart, sysvinit, openrc, runit, …), another dimension of platform characterization. See python-distro/distro#142 for prior discussion on init system detection.

info()[source]¶

Returns all platform attributes we can gather.

Return type:: dict[str, str | bool | dict[str, str | None] | None]

all_group = 'ALL_PLATFORMS'¶: The symbol name for the group containing all instances of this type.

data_module_id = 'platform_data'¶: The module name where instances of this type are defined.

doc_page = 'platforms.md'¶: The documentation page filename.

type_id = 'platform'¶: Machine-readable type identifier used to derive module and symbol names.

type_name = 'platform'¶: Human-readable type name for documentation, like "CI system".

unknown_symbol = 'UNKNOWN_PLATFORM'¶: The symbol name for the unknown instance of this type.

class extra_platforms.Architecture(id, name, icon='❓', url='', aliases=())[source]¶

Bases: Trait

A CPU architecture identifies a processor instruction set.

Todo

Extend our architecture metadata beyond basic ISA detection with archspec, which provides a rich database of CPU microarchitectures (feature flags, compiler compatibility, family trees).

info()[source]¶

Returns all architecture attributes we can gather.

Return type:: dict[str, str | bool | None]

all_group = 'ALL_ARCHITECTURES'¶: The symbol name for the group containing all instances of this type.

data_module_id = 'architecture_data'¶: The module name where instances of this type are defined.

doc_page = 'architectures.md'¶: The documentation page filename.

type_id = 'architecture'¶: Machine-readable type identifier used to derive module and symbol names.

type_name = 'architecture'¶: Human-readable type name for documentation, like "CI system".

unknown_symbol = 'UNKNOWN_ARCHITECTURE'¶: The symbol name for the unknown instance of this type.

class extra_platforms.Shell(id, name, icon='❓', url='', aliases=(), version_env_var=None, interpreter=None, executables=())[source]¶

Bases: Trait

A shell identifies a command-line interpreter.