licensecheck
TLDR
Check files for licenses
$ licensecheck [file]
Check directory recursively$ licensecheck -r [directory]
Output in machine-readable format$ licensecheck --copyright -m [file]
Check specific file types$ licensecheck -r --check '*.py' [directory]
Show only files with licenses$ licensecheck -r -l [directory]
SYNOPSIS
licensecheck [options] files...
DESCRIPTION
licensecheck scans files for license information and copyright statements. It examines source code headers to identify the license under which files are distributed.
The tool recognizes many common open-source licenses including GPL, MIT, BSD, Apache, and others.
PARAMETERS
-r, --recursive
Check directories recursively.-l, --lines n
Check first n lines (default 60).-c, --check regex
Check only matching filenames.-i, --ignore regex
Ignore matching filenames.-m, --machine
Machine-readable output.--copyright
Show copyright statements.-v, --verbose
Verbose output.
RECOGNIZED LICENSES
$ GPL, LGPL, AGPL (various versions)
MIT, BSD (2/3-clause)
Apache, MPL
Artistic, Perl
Public Domain
MIT, BSD (2/3-clause)
Apache, MPL
Artistic, Perl
Public Domain
CAVEATS
Heuristic-based detection may miss or misidentify licenses. Custom licenses need manual review. Only checks file headers.
HISTORY
licensecheck originated in Debian as a tool for checking license compliance in package source code, helping maintainers verify licensing.
