contourpy

Python library for calculating contours of 2D quadrilateral grids

contourpy Permissive license BSD 3-Clause License Copyright (c) 2021-2025, ContourPy Developers. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that… (full text in the JSON record) Active ★ 112 v1.3.3 released 2025-07-26

Install

contourpy on PyPI

pip

pip install contourpy

uv

uv add contourpy

poetry

poetry add contourpy

Package facts

License	BSD 3-Clause License Copyright (c) 2021-2025, ContourPy Developers. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that… (full text in the JSON record) (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.11)
Install friction	medium — platform-specific wheel
Runtime dependencies	1 — numpy
Maintenance	actively maintained — 383 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-08-07
First released	2021-09-20
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-13)

Evidence: contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_26_aarch64.manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_26_ppc64le.manylinux_2_28_ppc64le.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_26_s390x.manylinux_2_28_s390x.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_27_x86_64.manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-win32.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-win_amd64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp311-cp311-win_arm64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_26_aarch64.manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_26_ppc64le.manylinux_2_28_ppc64le.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_26_s390x.manylinux_2_28_s390x.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_27_x86_64.manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; contourpy-1.3.3-cp312-cp312-win32.whl

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseProgramming Language :: C++Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Information AnalysisTopic :: Scientific/Engineering :: MathematicsTopic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Visualization

About contourpy

from the package's own PyPI description — quoted content, verbatim

ContourPy is a Python library for calculating contours of 2D quadrilateral grids. It is written in C++11 and wrapped using pybind11.

It contains the 2005 and 2014 algorithms used in Matplotlib as well as a newer algorithm that includes more features and is available in both serial and multithreaded versions. It provides an easy way for Python libraries to use contouring algorithms without having to include Matplotlib as a dependency.

Documentation: https://contourpy.readthedocs.io
Source code: https://github.com/contourpy/contourpy


Latest release	PyPI version (image) conda-forge version (image)
Downloads	PyPi downloads (image)
Python version	...

Read as markdown · JSON record · Source repository · Homepage · Docs

AI interpretation — verify before relying

AI-generated interpretation of the package facts above; every digit, version, license, or vulnerability id it cites is grounded in the facts already shown on this page

ContourPy calculates contours of 2D quadrilateral grids using C++11-accelerated algorithms, offering serial and multithreaded variants as a lightweight alternative to embedding Matplotlib for contouring tasks.

Medium install friction due to C++ compilation; however, extensive pre-built wheels cover Python 3.11–3.14 across macOS, Linux (multiple architectures), and Windows, reducing friction for standard platforms. Active maintenance with recent releases.

BSD 3-Clause License permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; redistribution requires preserving copyright notice and disclaimer. No copyleft obligations.

Usage

import numpy as np
from contourpy import ContourGenerator

x = np.arange(0, 10, 0.1)
y = np.arange(0, 10, 0.1)
X, Y = np.meshgrid(x, y)
Z = np.sin(X) * np.cos(Y)

cg = ContourGenerator(X, Y, Z)
contours = cg.lines(5.0)

Requires numpy; C++ extension compilation may be needed on platforms without pre-built wheels.

Verdict: Production-ready, actively maintained library with no known vulnerabilities and permissive licensing. Medium install friction is offset by broad wheel coverage and a single, lightweight runtime dependency (numpy). Suitable for scientific and visualization workflows requiring efficient contour extraction.

Needs verification

Performance characteristics and multithreading scalability relative to Matplotlib's contouring.
Whether the newer algorithm mentioned in the description offers measurable advantages for typical use cases.

2d contour calculationquadrilateral grid contouringcontour lines from gridded datamatplotlib contour algorithmfast contour extractionscientific visualization contouringcontour tracing algorithm