Installation

Install headerkit

Install from PyPI:

pip install headerkit

System Dependency: libclang

headerkit requires the libclang shared library to be installed on your system. This is the C API for LLVM's Clang compiler, used by the built-in LibclangBackend to parse C and C++ headers.

Automated installation

For CI/CD, Docker, or quick setup, use the built-in installer:

headerkit install-libclang

This detects your platform and runs the appropriate install command. See the Installing libclang guide for details.

Vendored Python bindings

headerkit includes its own vendored copy of the Clang Python bindings that are automatically version-matched to your system's LLVM installation. You do not need to install libclang from PyPI.

macOSUbuntu / DebianFedora / RHELWindows

Install LLVM via Homebrew:

brew install llvm

headerkit automatically searches common Homebrew paths (/opt/homebrew/opt/llvm/lib/ on Apple Silicon, /usr/local/opt/llvm/lib/ on Intel). Xcode Command Line Tools also include libclang.

Install the libclang development package:

sudo apt install libclang-dev

For a specific LLVM version:

sudo apt install libclang-18-dev

sudo dnf install clang-devel

Install LLVM from the official releases or via winget:

winget install LLVM.LLVM

headerkit searches Program Files\LLVM\bin\ and common package manager locations (Scoop, MSYS2).

GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions Windows runners come with LLVM pre-installed, so no additional setup is needed in CI.

Development Install

To contribute to headerkit or run its test suite:

git clone https://github.com/axiomantic/headerkit.git
cd headerkit
pip install -e '.[dev]'

Verify Installation

Confirm everything is working:

python -c "from headerkit import get_backend; b = get_backend(); print(f'Backend: {b.name}')"

Expected output:

Backend: libclang

If you see a warning about missing backends, your libclang shared library was not found. Double-check the installation steps for your platform above.