mirror of https://github.com/eznix86/python-license.git synced 2026-07-25 13:19:10 +00:00

Automatically adds or updates SPDX license and copyright headers in source files.

Python 99.8%
Makefile 0.2%

Find a file

Bruno Bernard b66a4e21c1 docs: update license command syntax in README		2025-10-28 12:05:22 +04:00
.github	chore(deps): update codecov/codecov-action action to v5 (#7 )	2025-10-26 22:36:42 +04:00
python_license	fix: keep space in template	2025-10-28 11:32:54 +04:00
tests	fix: keep space in template	2025-10-28 11:32:54 +04:00
.gitignore	ci: update ci	2025-10-26 19:18:20 +04:00
.licenseignore	refactor: refactor code to be smaller	2025-10-26 18:00:15 +04:00
.pre-commit-config.yaml	docs: update docs version	2025-10-28 11:57:25 +04:00
.pre-commit-hooks.yaml	chore: add precommit hooks	2025-10-26 20:01:10 +04:00
.python-version	feat: v0	2025-10-26 17:26:03 +04:00
LICENSE	feat: v0	2025-10-26 17:26:03 +04:00
Makefile	ci: update ci	2025-10-26 19:18:20 +04:00
NOTICE	docs: project name in NOTICE file	2025-10-26 22:33:59 +04:00
pyproject.toml	chore: bump version	2025-10-28 11:44:22 +04:00
README.md	docs: update license command syntax in README	2025-10-28 12:05:22 +04:00
renovate.json	chore: add renovate	2025-10-26 19:20:00 +04:00
uv.lock	chore: bump version	2025-10-28 11:44:22 +04:00

README.md

Python License

One command to add SPDX license headers to all your source files. Works best with pre-commit hooks.

What It Does

Automatically adds SPDX-compliant license headers to your source files.

For Python files:

# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
# Copyright (C) 2025  Your Name

def your_code():
    pass

For JavaScript/TypeScript/Go/Rust:

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
// Copyright (C) 2025  Your Company

function yourCode() {}

For CSS:

/*
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 * Copyright (C) 2025  Your Name
*/

body { margin: 0; }

For HTML/Vue:

<!--
SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
Copyright (C) 2025  Your Name
-->

<!DOCTYPE html>

Key Features

Supports 50+ file types including Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java, C/C++, Swift, Kotlin, Ruby, Shell, SQL, Vue, and more
Custom notice templates for extended license information (e.g., AGPL, GPL notices)
Automatically updates copyright year ranges (e.g., 2023 becomes 2023-2025 when modified)
Check mode for CI/CD integration to ensure all files have headers
Respects .licenseignore and .gitignore files automatically
Preserves shebang lines in executable scripts
Handles multiple comment styles (hash, slash, dash, block comments)

Supported Languages

Hash comments (#): Python, Shell (bash/zsh/fish), Ruby, Perl, R, YAML, TOML, CMake

Slash comments (//): JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java, C/C++, Swift, Kotlin, C#, PHP, Scala, Objective-C, Gradle, Groovy, SCSS, Sass, Less

Dash comments (--): SQL, Lua, Haskell, Elm

Block comments: CSS (/* */), HTML/XML/SVG/Vue ()

Special files: Dockerfile, Makefile, Jenkinsfile, Vagrantfile, Rakefile, Gemfile, Podfile, Fastfile, CMakeLists.txt, and more

Installation

pipx install python-license

Or with pip:

pip install python-license

Usage

Command Line

Basic syntax:

license [options] <license-id> "<author>"

Examples:

# Check files without modifying (dry-run)
license --check Apache-2.0 "John Doe"

# Add/update headers in specific directory
license --fix MIT "Jane Smith" --dir src/

# Use custom ignore file
license --ignore-file .licenseignore --fix GPL-3.0 "ACME Corp"

# Process specific files only
license --fix Apache-2.0 "Your Name" file1.py file2.js

# Set custom copyright year
license --fix --year 2024 MIT "Your Company"

# Add extended notice (e.g., for AGPL, GPL licenses)
license --fix --notice-template NOTICE.template AGPL-3.0-or-later "Your Name"

Pre-commit Hook (Recommended)

Add to your .pre-commit-config.yaml:

repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/eznix86/python-license
    rev: v1.0.1
    hooks:
      - id: license-headers
        args: ['--check', 'Apache-2.0', 'Your Name']

For automatic fixing on commit:

repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/eznix86/python-license
    rev: v1.0.1
    hooks:
      - id: license-headers
        args: ['--fix', 'Apache-2.0', 'Your Name']

See .pre-commit-config.yaml for a complete example.

Options

Option	Description
`--check`	Check files without modifying (default mode)
`--fix`	Add or update headers in files
`--dir DIR`	Root directory to process (default: current directory)
`--year YEAR`	Copyright year (default: current year)
`--no-recursive`	Don't process subdirectories
`--verbose`, `-v`	Show all processed files
`--ignore-file FILE`	Path to ignore file (default: .licenseignore or .gitignore)
`--notice-template FILE`	Path to notice template file to append after copyright
`files`	Specific files to process (overrides --dir)

Notice Templates

For licenses that require extended notices (like AGPL, GPL), create a template file:

NOTICE.template:

This file is part of Your Project.

Your Project is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

See the LICENSE file for more details.

Then use it with:

license --fix --notice-template NOTICE.template AGPL-3.0-or-later "Your Name"

Result:

// SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
// Copyright (C) 2025  Your Name
//
// This file is part of Your Project.
//
// Your Project is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
// it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
// (at your option) any later version.
//
// See the LICENSE file for more details.

Ignore Files

Create a .licenseignore file to exclude specific files or directories:

# Ignore patterns (similar to .gitignore)
*.min.js
*.min.css
generated/*
vendor/
third_party/
build/
dist/

# Negate patterns (don't ignore these)
!important.min.js

If no .licenseignore exists, the tool automatically uses .gitignore patterns.

See .licenseignore for an example.

FAQ

Does it overwrite existing headers?

No, it intelligently updates them. If a file already has an SPDX header, it will:

Update the license identifier if changed
Preserve the existing header structure

How does it handle copyright years?

The tool automatically manages copyright year ranges:

If already current: no change

Can I use it in CI/CD?

Yes! Use --check mode to fail the build if any files are missing headers:

# GitHub Actions example
- name: Check license headers
  run: license --check Apache-2.0 "Your Name"

This returns exit code 1 if any files need updating.

What files are excluded by default?

The tool automatically excludes common build artifacts and dependencies:

Version control: .git/, .svn/, .hg/
Dependencies: node_modules/, vendor/, third_party/
Build outputs: build/, dist/, target/, __pycache__/
Minified files: *.min.js, *.min.css
Lock files: *.lock, *.sum, go.mod
Config files: *.json, *.toml, *.yaml

Can I use custom SPDX license identifiers?

Yes! Use any valid SPDX license identifier. Common examples:

MIT
Apache-2.0
GPL-3.0-or-later
BSD-3-Clause
ISC

See SPDX License List for all valid identifiers.

Does it work with monorepos?

Yes! You can:

Run it on the entire repo
Use --dir to target specific packages
Use different .licenseignore files in different directories
Process specific files only

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Please make sure to update tests as appropriate.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

See the NOTICE file for additional information.