mhammond/pywin32

pywin32 is a Python package that provides access to many of the Windows operating system APIs from Python code. This includes support for COM, the Windows component model that allows programs to talk to each other and to system features like Office applications, Windows shell objects, and Windows services. Without a package like this, Python programs running on Windows have limited access to the deeper parts of the operating system. The package is installed through pip, the standard Python package manager. After installation, a post-install script is available for users who want to set up COM objects or run Python code as a Windows service. The script needs elevated permissions when run at the system level rather than for a single user. Running a Python script as a Windows service is one of the more common use cases. For that to work, pywin32 needs to be installed system-wide so the service account can reach the required DLL files. Services running under the LocalSystem account in particular will not have access to user-specific directories, so the global install path matters. The package covers a broad set of Windows API categories. The documentation exists as a web version of an older help file, and parts of it are auto-generated from the current code while other sections have not been updated in many years. Type stubs for editor support are maintained separately in the Python typeshed project. Installation via standalone .exe installers was discontinued after build 306. The pip package is the current supported way to install and update the library.