CLI tools from the Python3 Standard Library

Python3 comes with a wide range of powerful and useful tools that can be accessed via the command-line. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most useful tools that come with the Python3 Standard Library.

TL;DR

python -m http.server                           # Create a webserver serving files relative to the current directory
python -m http.server 8080                      # Start the webserver on port 8080
python -m http.server -b 127.0.0.1              # Bind the webserver to 127.0.0.1
python -m http.server -d path/to/files          # Serve files relative to path/to/files

echo '{"key": "value"}' | python3 -m json.tool  # Pretty-print JSON objects

python -m gzip data.json                        # Compress data.json
python -m gzip -d data.json.gz                  # Decompress data.json.gz

python -m zipfile -c archive.zip data.txt       # Create zipfile named archive.zip from source file data.txt
python -m zipfile -e archive.zip .              # Extract zipfile into current directory

python -m tarfile -c archive.tar data.txt       # Create tarfile name archive.tar from source file data.txt
python -m tarfile -e archive.tar .              # Extract tarfile into current directory

Http Server

The http.server module provides a simple command-line interface to create a basic web server. The server will serve files from the current directory unless an alternative directory is specified.

Warning: It is not recommended to use http.server in a production environment. It only implements basic security checks.

Here’s an example:

python -m http.server

This command will start a webserver on port 8000, which serves files from the current directory. If you want to change the port use the first positional argument to specify an alternate port:

python -m http.server 8080

If you want to serve files from a different directory, you can specify it with the -d option:

python -m http.server -d /path/to/directory

Read more in the documentation.

JSON

The json.tool module provides a simple command-line interface to validate and pretty-print JSON objects. It can be used to format JSON data so it’s more human-readable and easier to understand.

python -m json.tool <INFILE> <OUTFILE>

Here’s an example:

python -m json.tool onld.json new.json

This command will pretty-print the JSON object so it’s easier to read.

If the optional infile and outfile arguments are not specified, sys.stdin and sys.stdout will be used respectively.

$ echo '{"key": "value"}' | python3 -m json.tool
{
    "key": "value"
}

$ echo '{key: "value"}' | python3 -m json.tool
Expecting property name: line 1 column 2 (char 1)

Other useful options include:

Read more in the documentation.

GZIP

The gzip module provides a simple command-line interface to compress or decompress files just like the GNU programs gzip and gunzip would.

python -m gzip <FILE>

Here’s an example:

python -m gzip data.json

This command will compress the data.json into a new file called data.json.gz. If you want to decompress a file, you can use the -d option:

python -m gzip -d data.json.gz

This command will decompress the data.json.gz file.

Other useful options include:

Read more in the documentation.

ZIP

The zipfile module provides a simple command-line interface to create, extract, and manipulate ZIP archives.

To create a new ZIP archive, use the -c option followed by the ZIP archive name and the filename(s) to include:

python -m zipfile -c <ZIP-FILE> <SOURCE-FILE-1> [... <SOURCE-FILE-N>]

Here’s an example of creating a new ZIP archive:

python -m zipfile -c archive.zip data.txt

This command creates a new ZIP archive named archive.zip that includes data.txt.

To extract a ZIP archive into the specified directory, use the -e option:

python -m zipfile -e <ZIP-FILE> <OUTPUT-DIR>

Here’s an example of extracting a ZIP archive:

python -m zipfile -e archive.zip .

This command extracts all files from archive.zip to the current directory.

To list the files in a ZIP archive, use the -l option:

python -m zipfile -l archive.zip

This command lists all files in the archive.zip ZIP archive.

Other useful options include:

Read more in the documentation.

TAR

The tarfile module provides a simple command-line interface to work with tar archives.

If you want to create a new TAR archive, specify its name after the -c option and then list the filename(s) that should be included:

python -m tarfile -c <TAR-FILE> <SOURCE-FILE-1> [... <SOURCE-FILE-N>]

Here’s an example of creating a new TAR archive:

python -m tarfile -c archive.tar data.txt

This command will create a new TAR archive named archive.tar that will include data.txt.

If you want to extract a TAR archive into the specified directory, use the -e option:

python -m tarfile -e <TAR-FILE> <OUTPUT-DIR>

Here’s an example of extracting a TAR archive:

python -m tarfile -e archive.tar .

This command will extract all files from archive.tar into the current directory.

To list the files in a TAR archive, use the -l option:

python -m tarfile -l archive.tar

This command will list all files in the archive.tar TAR archive.

Other useful options include:

Read more in the documentation.