visidata

VisiData is a terminal-based data explorer that provides an interactive interface for viewing, filtering, and manipulating tabular data. It functions as a spreadsheet-like tool that runs entirely in the terminal, allowing users to load data from files or pipe input directly from other commands using vd <input> or <command> | vd.

The tool supports a wide range of data formats including TSV, CSV, SQLite, JSON, Excel (XLSX), HDF5, and many others. Users can perform operations like creating frequency tables, sorting, filtering, and data transformation through keyboard commands. The interface uses familiar spreadsheet concepts but operates through terminal navigation and shortcuts, with Ctrl+Q to quit and Ctrl+H for help.

VisiData targets data analysts, developers, and system administrators who need to quickly examine and manipulate structured data without leaving the command line. It requires Python 3.8+ and can be extended with additional Python packages for specific formats like openpyxl for Excel files or lxml for XML processing. The tool integrates into shell workflows and can process data streams, making it useful for data pipeline inspection and ad-hoc analysis tasks.

Installation

# via pip
pip3 install visidata

# via pipx
pipx install visidata

# via pipx (run without installing)
pipx run visidata