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76 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
# Tablib: Tabular Datasets for Humans
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Tablib is a format-agnostic tabular dataset library for Python. Create a dataset once, export it to CSV, JSON, Excel, YAML, or a pandas DataFrame. The data stays the same. The format is up to you.
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$ uv pip install tablib
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## What It Looks Like
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```python
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import tablib
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# Create a dataset.
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data = tablib.Dataset(headers=["Name", "Age", "City"])
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data.append(["Alice", 28, "Portland"])
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data.append(["Bob", 34, "Seattle"])
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data.append(["Charlie", 22, "Austin"])
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# Export to CSV.
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print(data.export("csv"))
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# Name,Age,City
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# Alice,28,Portland
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# Bob,34,Seattle
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# Charlie,22,Austin
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# Export to JSON.
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print(data.export("json"))
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# [{"Name": "Alice", "Age": 28, "City": "Portland"}, ...]
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# Export to Excel.
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with open("people.xlsx", "wb") as f:
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f.write(data.export("xlsx"))
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# Import from CSV.
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data = tablib.Dataset().load(open("people.csv").read())
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# Filter and sort.
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data.sort("Age")
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```
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One dataset, any format. Import from one, export to another. The data doesn't care about file formats, and neither should you.
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## The Story
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Tablib was one of my first open source projects, built in 2010 before the data science ecosystem in Python really took off. It came from a simple frustration: I kept writing the same import/export boilerplate for every project that dealt with tabular data.
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The idea was format agnosticism. Your data is your data. Whether it ends up as a spreadsheet, a JSON file, or a DataFrame shouldn't change how you work with it. That principle, that software should adapt to your workflow rather than the other way around, became central to everything I built after.
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Tablib powers the export functionality in [Records](/software/records), and its approach to clean API design directly influenced [Requests](/software/requests).
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## Install
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```bash
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$ uv pip install tablib
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```
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For specific format support:
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```bash
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$ uv pip install tablib[xlsx] # Excel support
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$ uv pip install tablib[yaml] # YAML support
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$ uv pip install tablib[all] # Everything
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```
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## Resources
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- [Documentation](https://tablib.readthedocs.io/en/stable/)
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- [Source Code on GitHub](https://github.com/jazzband/tablib)
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- [Python Package Index](https://pypi.org/project/tablib/)
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## Related
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- [**Records**](/software/records) — SQL for Humans, powered by Tablib's export engine.
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- [**The Lego Bricks Era**](/essays/2026-03-18-values_i_outgrew_and_the_ones_that_stayed) — The era when these libraries came together.
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- [**From HTTP to Consciousness**](/essays/2025-08-27-from_http_to_consciousness) — How designing for humans became a worldview.
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