Python wrapper for the pcap library.

PyPI record.

Documentation.

Borrowed from the original website:

This is a simplified object-oriented Python wrapper for libpcap - the current tcpdump.org version, and the WinPcap port for Windows.

Example use #1:

>>> import pcap
>>> sniffer = pcap.pcap(name=None, promisc=True, immediate=True, timeout_ms=50)
>>> addr = lambda pkt, offset: '.'.join(str(ord(pkt[i])) for i in range(offset, offset + 4))
>>> for ts, pkt in sniffer:
...     print('%d\tSRC %-16s\tDST %-16s' % (ts, addr(pkt, sniffer.dloff + 12), addr(pkt, sniffer.dloff + 16)))
...

Example use #2:

Listing Interfaces

>>> import pcap
>>> print ("Interfaces:\n" + '\n'.join(pcap.findalldevs()))

WinPcap has compatibility issues with Windows 10, therefore it's recommended to use Npcap (Nmap's packet sniffing library for Windows, based on the WinPcap/Libpcap libraries, but with improved speed, portability, security, and efficiency). Please enable WinPcap API-compatible mode during the library installation.

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.10 or higher
  • https://www.python.org/
  • with C libpcap 1.8.1 is a primary test environment.
  • ATTENTION: currently tested only for Windows.
• pip and setuptools
  • https://pypi.org/project/pip/
  • https://pypi.org/project/setuptools/

To install run:

python -m pip install --upgrade pcap-ct

Prerequisites:

• Development is strictly based on tox. To install it run:

  python -m pip install --upgrade tox
  

Visit Development page.

Installation from sources:

clone the sources:

git clone https://github.com/karpierz/pcap-ct.git pcap-ct

and run:

python -m pip install ./pcap-ct

or on development mode:

python -m pip install --editable ./pcap-ct

Copyright (c) 2016-2025 Adam Karpierz

Licensed under the BSD license

https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause

Please refer to the accompanying LICENSE file.

• Adam Karpierz <adam@karpierz.net>