magical_rs 🪄
Detect file types by magic bytes — zero dependencies, pure Rust.
magical_rs is a lightweight, dependency-free Rust crate that detects file types by matching magic bytes (signatures) at specific offsets — including tricky formats like .iso with signatures 32KB into the file.
No external tools. No bloated dependencies. Just fast, reliable file type detection.
Features
- Zero dependencies — pure Rust,
no_std-friendly (with minor tweaks). - Accurate detection — supports common formats (PNG, JPG, ZIP) and deep-offset types like ISO, RPM, TAR.
- Smart header reading — reads just enough bytes to detect all known types.
- Python-compatible — exposes clean PyO3 bindings for Python interop.
- Fast & safe — uses compile-time constants and safe slicing.
- Extensible — easy to add new signatures.
Supported File Types
| Format | Notes |
|---|---|
| PNG | ‰PNG at offset 0 |
| Bitmap (BMP) | BM at offset 0 |
| GZIP | 1F 8B at offset 0 |
| BZIP2 | BZh (e.g., BZh9) at offset 0 |
| ZIP / PkgZip (JAR, APK, etc.) | PK at offset 0 |
| TAR | ustar at offset 257 |
| MS-DOS Executable (COM/EXE) | MZ at offset 0 (DOS header) |
| JPG / JPEG | Start with ÿØÿ (FF D8 FF) |
| Java Class File | CAFEBABE at offset 0 |
| MP3 (MPEG Audio) | Often starts with ID3 tag or FF FB (MPEG-1 Layer 3) |
| ISO 9660 | CD001 at offset 32769, 34817, or 36865 |
| RPM | Binary header after lead; signature in first few hundred bytes |
| SQLite | SQLite format 3\0 at offset 0 |
| XML | Text-based: starts with <?xml or <!DOCTYPE |
| ICO (Icon) | 00 00 01 00 (icon) or 00 00 02 00 (cursor) at offset 0 |
| WebAssembly (WASM) | \0asm (00 61 73 6D) at offset 0 |
| DEB (Debian package) | !<arch> at offset 0 (ar archive) |
| RAR | Rar! (52 61 72 21 1A 07 00) at offset 0 |
| Script / Executable | Shebang: #! at offset 0 (e.g., #!/bin/sh) |
| ELF (Executable and Linkable) | \x7fELF (7F 45 4C 46) at offset 0 |
| OGG (Ogg Vorbis, Opus, etc.) | OggS (4F 67 67 53) at offset 0 |
| Photoshop (8BPS) | 8BPS (38 42 50 53) at offset 0 |
| Blender (.blend) | BLENDER followed by version (e.g., BLENDER-v293) at offset 0 |
| TrueType Font (TTF) | 00 01 00 00 or ttcf at offset 4 |
| OpenType Font (OTF) | OTTO (4F 54 54 4F) at offset 4 |
| Module (Environment Modules) | MODULE\0\0\0 or similar (custom binary format) |
| Windows Imaging Format (WIM) | MSCF (4D 53 43 46) at offset 0 |
| SLOB (StarDict Binary Dictionary) | SLOB magic at start |
| Serialized Java Data | AC ED (STREAM_MAGIC) at offset 0 |
| Creative Voice File (VOC) | Creative Voice File\0 at offset 0 |
| AU Audio File Format | .snd header: 2E 73 6E 64 at offset 0 |
| OpenGL Iris Performer (IV) | Rare; may use InfiniteReality or IRIX-based header |
| Noodlesoft Hazel | HZLR or HZL magic; used in Hazel file manager archives |
| VBScript Encoded (VBE) | Starts with #@~^ (23 40 7E 5E); obfuscated VBScript |
| WebP | RIFFxxxxWEBP container; file_size field must be >= 4 |
| AppleIconImage | icns at offset 0 |
| GIF | GIF87a or GIF89a at offset 0 |
| JPEG2000 | \0\0\0\x0C\0\njP\x20\x20\r\n\x87\n or \xFF\x4F\xFF\x51 at offset 0 |
%PDF at offset 0 |
|
| AppleDiskImage | koly at offset 1048576 (rare), or cafe/ed2k in header; often starts with zeros but magic at end |
| Cabinet | MSCF at offset 0 |
| MatroskaMediaContainer | \x1A\x45\xDF\xA3 at offset 0 |
| RichTextFormat | {\\rtf at offset 0 |
| PhotoCapTemplate | No standard public signature; often .pct or .tpl; may be proprietary |
| AceCompressed | ACE followed by version byte at offset 0 (e.g., ACE\x01) |
| FlashVideo | FLV\x01 at offset 0 |
| Unknown | Fallback when no signature matches |
Usage
Add to Cargo.toml:
[]
= "0.0.4"