---
id: delta
version: "0.4.2"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# delta — Human friendly context aware duration parsing library

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 603.5K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Delta is a duration-parsing library that converts natural-language time expressions into Python timedelta objects. It accepts strings like '1 year 2 months and 3 weeks' or shorthand like '1y 2m 3w 4d' and returns the equivalent timedelta. The library includes a context-aware mode: when you provide a datetime object as context, it correctly calculates months and years by accounting for the actual calendar, rather than using fixed day counts.

The package exports a single parse() function and supports units from milliseconds to years. It has no external runtime dependencies, making installation straightforward in principle. However, the package has been abandoned since 2016-08-06 with no updates for years, and Python version compatibility is unspecified, creating uncertainty about whether it will work reliably on modern Python versions.

Use it for:

- Parse user input like '3 days and 2 hours' into timedelta for scheduling or timeout calculations
- Calculate accurate date offsets by months or years using context-aware parsing with a reference date
- Convert shorthand duration notation from configuration files or CLI arguments into timedelta objects
- Build duration-based filters or queries that accept human-readable time expressions

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Parses human-readable duration strings like '1 hour' or '2 months and 3 weeks' into Python timedelta objects, with optional context-aware calculation for months and years.

No—install only if you have no alternative and can verify compatibility with your Python version. The package is abandoned (last update 2016-08-06), has high install friction, and Python compatibility is unspecified. Modern alternatives may be safer choices for production use.

## Install

pip install delta
uv add delta
poetry add delta

## Installing delta

Before you install: High install friction: the package is abandoned (last commit 2020-06-01, no releases since 2016-08-06) and has no runtime dependencies. Maintenance status poses a significant risk for bug fixes or compatibility updates.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive and poses no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in commercial or private projects.

Quickstart:

pip install delta

import delta
from datetime import datetime

tdelta = delta.parse('1 day')
tdelta_context = delta.parse('2 months', context=datetime(2016, 1, 1))

No Python version requirement specified in the package metadata; compatibility with modern Python versions is unknown.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works with Python 3.x versions (no version requirement specified)
- Whether context-aware parsing correctly handles all calendar variations
- Whether the package is maintained or has a maintained fork available

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: high
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 603.5K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

parse duration strings, human readable time parsing, timedelta from text, duration expression parser, context aware date math, date-time-parsing, abandoned

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/delta) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/delta/)