Explore tabular data in your terminal.

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Install

Every method installs the same datui. Check it with datui --version.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/derekwisong/datui/main/scripts/install/install.sh | sh

winget install derekwisong.datui

brew tap derekwisong/datui && brew trust derekwisong/datui && brew install datui

pip install datui

cargo install datui --locked

yay -S datui-bin   # or: paru -S datui-bin

curl -fsSL https://derekwisong.github.io/datui-apt/public.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/datui-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/datui-archive-keyring.gpg] https://derekwisong.github.io/datui-apt/ ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/datui.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install datui

More ways to install, and how to uninstall: Installation guide · Latest release

How it stays fast

• Rust on Polars. Every table is a LazyFrame until it is drawn.
• Only the rows on screen and a lookahead buffer are collected. Sort, filter and query build on the lazy plan.
• A Parquet file in S3, GCS or Azure is read in place: footers for the schema and row count, then only the row groups the screen needs.
• The row count runs in the background; the table is usable before it is done.

First rows in milliseconds on local files, under a second from S3. Performance has the numbers.

What it does

Formats, and yours

From Parquet, CSV, Arrow and JSON to SQLite, GGUF, audio and flight logs. A TOML format spec describes your own binary or delimited format; any file opens in the hex view.

Formats → · Format specs →

Cloud or home

Local files, directories, globs, S3, GCS, Azure and HTTP(S). Hive-partitioned folders read as one table. The home screen lists your catalogs, the cloud accounts it finds logins for, and Example datasets that need no login.

Home screen → · Cloud storage →

Query and find

: runs SQL or q; / finds text, a regex or letters in order. [ ] sort by the cursor's column, + - keep or drop its value, and v saves the steps as a view for the next file.

Query data →

Chart

c charts the column under the cursor: line, scatter, bar, histogram, box, KDE or heatmap, of the rows the query and filters leave. e exports it to PNG, SVG or PDF.

Charts →

Reshape and retype

Pivot or melt (p) with a live preview. Change a column's type from the Info panel's Schema tab or a right click on a cell.

Reshaping → · Column types →

Pipes and Python

Pipe a command's output in, follow a file as it grows, or call datui.view() on a Polars frame.

Pipes → · Python →

Also: catalogs of your own datasets with a Documentation view (Ctrl+E), themes (datui theme list), the mouse, and copy over SSH through OSC 52. Every key

Formats

Each one reads from disk, HTTP(S) or a bucket. The formats table says which read lazily and which read compressed.

Columnar and JSON

Parquet · JSON · NDJSON · Arrow IPC · Avro · ORC · Excel

Delimited text

CSV · TSV · PSV · plain text

Model files

SafeTensors · GGUF

Signals and logs

NMEA · GPX · WAV/AIFF audio · MIDI · VCD · FIX · SDF · ELF · ULog · DataFlash · candump · systemd journal

Databases and arrays

SQLite · NumPy

Format specs

Your own binary formats, described in TOML

Try it

datui     # home screen: your files, and Example datasets to open with no login
datui https://vincentarelbundock.github.io/Rdatasets/csv/palmerpenguins/penguins.csv

printf 'id,amount\n1,9.50\n2,3.25\n' | datui

import datui
import polars as pl

url = "https://vincentarelbundock.github.io/Rdatasets/csv/palmerpenguins/penguins.csv"
datui.view(pl.scan_csv(url))

What it is not

• An editor: cells cannot be changed, and datui does not write to the files it opens unless you export over one. Results leave as an export or a copy.
• A service: no telemetry, no update check. datui connects only to the data and the cloud accounts you open or browse.

Documentation

Read the latest release's docs · Keys · Query syntax · Command line

• devDevelopment2026-02-02 00:41 UTC
• v0.4.0Latest release2026-10-06 11:37 UTC
• v0.3.22026-09-11 19:08 UTC
• v0.3.12026-09-09 11:58 UTC
• v0.3.02026-09-09 04:49 UTC
• v0.2.562026-08-11 11:42 UTC