reuse

Manage FSFE REUSE software licensing compliance

TLDR

Check compliance

$ reuse lint

Add license header

$ reuse annotate --license [MIT] --copyright "[Author]" [file]

Download license

$ reuse download [MIT]

Generate SPDX bill

$ reuse spdx

Initialize project

$ reuse init

Show file status

$ reuse status

reuse is a tool for managing software licensing according to the FSFE REUSE specification, which ensures every file in a project has clear, machine-readable copyright and license information. It helps developers add standardized SPDX license headers to source files and validates that the entire project meets compliance requirements.The lint command checks a project for REUSE compliance, verifying that all files have proper license and copyright annotations. The annotate command adds or updates SPDX headers in source files, automatically adapting the comment style to match the file type. License texts can be downloaded with reuse download using standard SPDX identifiers like MIT, Apache-2.0, or GPL-3.0-or-later.The tool also generates SPDX Software Bill of Materials files with the spdx command, providing a complete machine-readable inventory of all licenses and copyrights in the project. This output integrates well with CI/CD pipelines and compliance auditing workflows.

PARAMETERS

lint

Check compliance.

annotate

Add license headers.

download

Get license text.

spdx

Generate SPDX file.

init

Initialize project.

--license ID

SPDX license identifier.

--copyright TEXT

Copyright holder.

INSTALL

sudo dnf install reuse

sudo pacman -S reuse

sudo apk add reuse

sudo zypper install reuse

brew install reuse

nix profile install nixpkgs#reuse

CAVEATS

SPDX identifiers required. Some licenses complex. Learning curve for setup.

HISTORY

reuse implements the FSFE REUSE specification, providing tools to make software licensing clear and machine-readable.