Open WHL files in your browser
A Python package, built and ready for pip to install. Open one right here to see what it needs, the commands it installs and whether its files are whole. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your app opens like a folder, its files listed on the left, with a page beside them on what it is, who signed it and what it asks for.
- Its signature • Checked inside your browser
- SHA-256 • Compare it or look it up on VirusTotal
- Heads-ups • What it asks for and what runs
- Its files • Manifests open as text
About WHL
A wheel is a ZIP whose name says the package, its version and the Pythons and systems it runs on. Its .dist-info folder holds METADATA, with the package's details and requirements, entry_points.txt, with the commands it installs, and RECORD, the SHA-256 of every file.
pip unpacks a wheel without running anything, though code runs later: its commands, and any .pth file, which Python runs at every start, whatever program starts it. Wheels carry no signature, so pip checks one against the hash PyPI lists for it.
Filepeek checks every file against RECORD and says whether any changed or is missing. It reads METADATA for the package's details and requirements, names the systems and Pythons it's for, lists the commands it installs and flags .pth files that run code.
Python wheel
.whl
Format
- MIME type
- application/zip
- Made by
- The Python Packaging Authority
- Released
- 2012
Inside the file
- Container
- ZIP
- Details
- .dist-info/METADATA
- Hashes
- .dist-info/RECORD
- Tags
- In its name: Python, ABI and system
Opens in every browser
No browser opens a WHL: they download it. Filepeek opens it as a folder in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Questions
How do I see what a Python wheel holds?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek a WHL. A page shows the package, the Pythons and systems it's for, what it requires and the commands it installs, and its files are listed like a folder.
Can I check a wheel is whole?
Yes. Filepeek checks every file against the SHA-256 in RECORD. RECORD isn't signed, so to know the wheel is the one its project published, compare its SHA-256 with the one PyPI lists.
How do I look up a WHL on VirusTotal?
Filepeek works out its SHA-256 inside your browser. Look up on VirusTotal opens VirusTotal's page for that hash, and only the hash goes, never the file. Compare checks it against a SHA-256, SHA-1 or MD5 you paste.
Does opening a WHL install it?
No. Filepeek only reads it: nothing in it runs, nothing is installed and it never leaves your device.
Can I get files out of a WHL?
Yes. Pick any file on the left to open it. Its METADATA and code open as text. In Chrome and Edge on a computer, Export extracts them all into a folder.