CBR libraries for Python

Python has no pure-Python RAR decompressor; both options parse the archive in Python and call an external tool to decompress:

• rarfile has the same API as zipfile (namelist, read, open). It lists entries by itself and runs unrar (or unar, 7z, bsdtar) to extract data. ISC license.
• comicbox is a comic library built on rarfile: pages, covers and every comic metadata format, plus converting CBR to CBZ to write metadata. LGPL-3.0.

Install RARLAB’s unrar for full RAR5 and solid-archive support: apt install unrar (Debian non-free), brew install rar, or download it from RARLAB on Windows.

• comicbox Read CBR comic pages, covers and metadata in Python with comicbox: ComicInfo.xml and other metadata merged into one dict.
• rarfile Read CBR comic book archives in Python with rarfile: zipfile-like API, pages in natural order, cover extraction, ComicInfo.xml.