wiza - The File Wizard ✨

What is zat? Now you know. A Rust-powered alternative to the file command, with JSON support, custom rules, and a sprinkle of magic.

Features

• Fast file type detection using magic numbers and file signatures
• Polyglot file detection - identify files that contain multiple valid formats
• JSON output for programmatic use
• Recursive directory scanning with -R flag
• File extension based acceleration for faster matching
• Embedded database with common file type rules
• Rule compilation with the compile subcommand

Installation

cargo install wiza

Usage

Basic file identification

$ wiza /bin/file
/bin/file source:elf strength:431 mime:application/x-pie-executable magic:ELF 64-bit LSB pie executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV)

Polyglot file detection

wiza can detect polyglot files - files that are valid in multiple formats.

To detect polyglot files, use the --all flag to show all matching rules:

$ wiza --all private/polyglot-database/files/resume_iso.pdf
resume_iso.pdf source:filesystems strength:495 mime:application/x-iso9660-image magic:ISO 9660 CD-ROM filesystem data (DOS/MBR boot sector) 'ISOIMAGE' (bootable)
resume_iso.pdf source:filesystems strength:155 mime:application/octet-stream magic:DOS/MBR boot sector
resume_iso.pdf source:pdf strength:141 mime:application/pdf magic:PDF document, version ë.ë
resume_iso.pdf source:filesystems strength:137 mime:application/octet-stream magic:DOS/MBR boot sector
resume_iso.pdf source:hardcoded strength:0 mime:application/octet-stream magic:data

JSON output

$ wiza -j /bin/file | jq '.'
{
   "path": "/bin/file",
   "source": "elf",
   "magic": "ELF 64-bit LSB pie executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV)",
   "mime-type": "application/x-pie-executable",
   "creator-code": null,
   "strength": 431,
   "extensions": [
       "so"
   ]
}

Compile custom rules

$ wiza compile --rules custom_rules/ --output my_rules.db
$ wiza --db my_rules.db custom_file

Backward compatibility with file / libmagic rule format

Create magic rule files following the standard magic format. Example:

# my_rules/xyz
0       string          MYTYPE      My custom file type
>4      byte            1           version 1
>4      byte            2           version 2

Then compile with:

wiza compile --rules my_rules/ --output my_rules.db

Why the name "wiza"?

wiza is a playful combination of:

• "Wizard": Ties to the "magic" of file type detection (using magic numbers)
• "What is zat?": A conversational way to ask "What is that?" (for French speakers)

License

This project is licensed under the GPL-3.0 License.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the Unix file command but with modern improvements