# Install visidata with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman Terminal spreadsheet multitool for discovering and arranging data. Version 3.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-03. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:visidata ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install visidata ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add visidata ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: visidata from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install visidata ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: visidata from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install python3-visidata ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: python3-visidata from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#visidata ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/vi/visidata/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S visidata ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: visidata from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:visidata - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 3.4 - **Source summary:** Terminal spreadsheet multitool for discovering and arranging data - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-03T03:59:18Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - vd (cli) - vd2to3.vdx (cli) - visidata (cli) - vd (alias) - vd2to3.vdx (alias) - visidata (alias) ## Dependencies - python@3.14 ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 3.4 - Package-manager updated: 2026-07-03 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.visidata.org/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage VisiData is an interactive terminal multitool for tabular data. The project describes itself as combining the clarity of a spreadsheet, the efficiency of the terminal, and the power of Python, with support for CSV, TSV, JSON, Excel, SQLite, HDF5, packet captures, shapefiles, archives, and many other data-shaped inputs. ### Project history Saul Pwanson conceived VisiData in October 2016 and later published a five-year retrospective in October 2021. That retrospective says the first public release was v0.14 posted to r/Python in November 2016, followed by v0.37 in December 2016, when the project was still roughly a single 1000-line Python script with loaders for CSV, JSON, XLSX, HDF5, frequency tables, and joins. In 2017 the project grew quickly through its pre-1.0 period. Pwanson says the first major pre-1.0 release arrived in June 2017 and reached the top of Hacker News. Version 1.0 followed in January 2018, after which Anja joined the project and Jeremy Singer-Vine published an introductory tutorial that became an important onboarding resource. The January 2019 v1.5.2 release was treated as a reliable final release for the v1 era while work continued on the develop branch. Pwanson and Anja then cleaned up the API and released v2.0 in October 2020. By late 2021 the project had a v2 release line, a new menu system in v2.6, and VisiData Plus as a home for many add-ons. The official site shows the v3 series continuing, including v3.4 in June 2026. ### Adoption history By the project's fifth anniversary in October 2021, the author reported that VisiData had roughly 15,000 lines of Python, thousands of regular users, and frequent mentions wherever people discussed tabular-data tools or terminal workflows. Adoption has been driven by analysts, journalists, data engineers, and command-line users who want quick exploration without leaving the shell. VisiData's packaging footprint across Python and Unix distributions reflects that practical niche. It is not a replacement for notebooks or databases; it is commonly used as the first tool opened against an unfamiliar dataset, especially when a user wants to inspect, filter, summarize, join, reshape, or export data interactively. ### How it is used Typical usage starts with `vd` or `visidata` on a local file, database, archive, API output, or other tabular source. Users navigate sheets with keyboard commands, create frequency tables and derived columns, perform joins and aggregations, and save transformed outputs or replayable sessions. The project also supports batch-style workflows, Python extensibility, plugins, and saved sessions. That makes it a terminal bridge between one-off inspection and lightweight data pipelines. ### Why package nerds care VisiData is significant in package-manager culture because it gives the terminal a credible spreadsheet-like data workbench without pulling users into a GUI office suite or a heavyweight notebook stack. It is one of the standard answers to the question, 'What should I install for quickly understanding an unknown CSV?' Its deeper package-nerd appeal is that it treats many non-obvious things as data, including filesystem metadata, API results, and packet captures. That broad loader model makes it a Swiss-army-knife dependency in shell-heavy data workflows. ### Timeline - 2016: VisiData conceived in October; first public v0.14 post in November; v0.37 followed in December. - 2017: Major pre-1.0 release in June; the project gained wider attention among terminal and Python users. - 2018: v1.0 released in January; tutorial and community onboarding material expanded. - 2019: v1.5.2 released as a stable v1-era release while develop-branch work continued. - 2020: v2.0 released in October after API cleanup work. - 2021: v2.6 introduced a menu system; VisiData Plus gathered add-ons. - 2026: Official release list shows v3.4 in June 2026. ### Related projects - The official retrospective compares VisiData conceptually to VisiCalc for interactive tabulation and to Vim for interactive text editing. Related ecosystem pieces include VisiData Plus add-ons and Jeremy Singer-Vine's tutorial. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: ~/.visidatarc, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/visidata/config.py ## Credential files - Unix: ~/.visidatarc ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** visidata - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - visidata - 3.0.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: visidata from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | rapidly explore columnar data in the terminal | https://visidata.org - Nix - visidata: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/vi/visidata/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - visidata - 3.0.2-1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: visidata from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | rapidly explore columnar data in the terminal | https://visidata.org - apk - visidata - 3.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: visidata from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Terminal spreadsheet multitool | https://visidata.org - apk - visidata-doc - 3.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: visidata-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Terminal spreadsheet multitool (documentation) | https://visidata.org - apk - visidata-pyc - 3.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: visidata-pyc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Precompiled Python bytecode for visidata | https://visidata.org - apk - visidata-zsh-completion - 3.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: visidata-zsh-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Zsh completions for visidata | https://visidata.org - dnf - python3-visidata - 3.3-3.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: python3-visidata from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Terminal interface for exploring and arranging tabular data | https://visidata.org - dnf - visidata - 3.3-3.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: visidata from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Terminal interface for exploring and arranging tabular data | https://visidata.org - pacman - visidata - 3.3-2: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: visidata from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Terminal spreadsheet multitool for discovering and arranging data | https://www.visidata.org ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [csvkit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/csvkit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, python, tabular-data. - [iredis](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/iredis/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, python, terminal. - [sqlite-analyzer](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sqlite-analyzer/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: analysis, cli, data. - [bagit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bagit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, python. - [beanquery](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/beanquery/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, tabular-data. - [csvlens](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/csvlens/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, terminal. - [datamash](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/datamash/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, tabular-data. - [distribution](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/distribution/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, terminal. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/visidata.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/visidata.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph