Python Bindings

The datui-pyo3 crate and the datui Python package let you open the datui TUI from Python with a Polars LazyFrame or DataFrame (e.g. datui.view(lf) or datui.view(df)). Data is passed via binary (from LazyFrame.serialize()). Use a Polars Python version built with the same Rust Polars as this extension (e.g. polars 1.35.x uses Rust 0.51). The crate lives at crates/datui-pyo3 and is excluded from the Cargo workspace; it is built with maturin from the python/ directory.

Summary

Use a virtual environment so the extension and package are installed into that env.

Virtual environment

Use a venv so the datui package and its dependencies (e.g. polars) are isolated.

The Setup Script (scripts/setup-dev.py) creates .venv and installs scripts/requirements.txt which contain all the requirements here.

Create and activate (from repo root):

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Install build and test dependencies in the venv:

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install maturin "polars>=0.20" "pytest>=7.0"

Building locally

Build and install the full datui package (Python wrapper + Rust extension) into the current environment. From the python/ directory:

# Activate venv first (see above)
cd python
maturin develop

• Debug (default): faster to compile, larger binary. Omit --release.

• Release: add --release for a smaller, faster binary:

  maturin develop --release
  

You need Rust and Python development headers (e.g. python3-dev on Debian/Ubuntu). Maturin will use the Python that runs maturin (or the one in your activated venv). From the repo root you can run cd python && maturin develop.

Testing

With the package installed in your venv (after cd python && maturin develop), run the Python tests from the repo root:

pytest python/tests/ -v

Tests check that the module imports, that view, view_from_json, and run_cli exist, and that invalid inputs raise (they do not run the TUI).

Running

In Python (view a LazyFrame):

import polars as pl
import datui

lf = pl.scan_csv("data.csv")
datui.view(lf)   # Opens TUI; press q to exit

CLI from the same env:
If you built the datui binary (cargo build (from repo root)) and it’s on your PATH, the datui console script (from pip / maturin) will use it. Otherwise install the CLI separately (e.g. from GitHub releases or your system package manager).

More

• User-facing install and usage: python/README.md in the repo.
• PyPI package: pip install datui