# Software

Tools for humans. That phrase started as a tagline for [Requests](/software/requests) and became a design philosophy that shaped everything I've built since.

If the developer feels stupid, the API is wrong.

## Major Projects

- [**Requests**](/software/requests) — HTTP for Humans. The most downloaded Python package on Earth. 30+ million installs a day.
- [**Certifi**](/software/certifi) — Python's SSL trust store. Mozilla's CA bundle, packaged. Even more downloads than Requests.
- [**Pipenv**](/software/pipenv) — Python Dev Workflow for Humans. Pip and virtualenv, unified. Spiritual predecessor to [uv](https://github.com/astral-sh/uv).
- [**Tablib**](/software/tablib) — Tabular Datasets for Humans. Format-agnostic data. Your dataset knows how to become CSV, JSON, Excel, YAML.

## Libraries

- [**SimpleMind**](/software/simplemind) — AI for Humans. One interface to every major AI provider.
- [**Records**](/software/records) — SQL for Humans. Just write the query. Get results. Export to anything via Tablib.
- [**Maya**](/software/maya) — Datetimes for Humans. Parse "tomorrow" and get a timezone-aware result.
- [**Legit**](/software/legit) — Git for Humans. Simple commands for common Git workflows.
- [**Delegator**](/software/delegator) — Subprocesses for Humans. Shell commands without subprocess pain.
- [**dj-database-url**](/software/dj-database-url) — Database URLs for Django. Born at Heroku, used everywhere.
- [**Background**](/software/background) — Background tasks. One decorator, no infrastructure.

## Creative

- [**PyTheory**](/software/pytheory) — Music Theory for Humans. Scales, chords, and temperaments as Python objects.
- [**Responder**](/software/responder) — An experimental HTTP framework. Requests semantics, server side. Ahead of its time.

## Other Projects

- [**kjvstudy.org**](https://kjvstudy.org) — A free digital study Bible built with AI. [Read about how it was made](/essays/2026-03-20-building_a_digital_study_bible_with_ai).
- [**httpbin.org**](https://httpbin.org) — HTTP request and response testing service.
- [**kennethreitz.org**](https://github.com/kennethreitz/kennethreitz.org) — This website. Custom Flask CMS called TufteCMS. [Open source](https://github.com/kennethreitz/kennethreitz.org).

## The Philosophy

Every library starts from the same conviction: find the pain point, study how people actually think about the problem, then design an interface that matches their mental model. The *Zen of Python* captures it:

- Beautiful is better than ugly.
- Explicit is better than implicit.
- Simple is better than complex.
- Complex is better than complicated.

These aren't just code rules. They're design rules. The same thinking that produces a clean API produces a [clear essay](/essays/2025-08-26-programming_as_spiritual_practice) and a [well-designed day](/essays/2026-03-18-designing_for_the_worst_day).

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More on [GitHub](https://github.com/kennethreitz). Building since 2008.