---
id: dict-recursive-update
version: "1.0.1"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# dict-recursive-update — A Python module who does recursive update work on 2 dicts.

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 197.8K/mo

## What it is and what it does

dict-recursive-update is a lightweight utility that performs deep merging of two dictionaries, updating nested keys while leaving unmodified branches intact. When you call recursive_update(base_dict, update_dict), it traverses both dictionaries and applies values from the second into the first, recursing through nested dictionaries. Non-dict values like lists are replaced wholesale rather than merged.

The package was originally designed for environment-specific configuration management—loading a base configuration and overlaying environment-specific overrides without losing unmodified settings. It has no external dependencies and installs as a pure Python wheel, making it simple to add to any project. However, development stopped after 2018-01-23 and the repository is now archived, so it will not receive updates for newer Python versions or bug fixes.

Use it for:

- Merge base application configuration with environment-specific overrides without losing unspecified defaults.
- Combine default settings with user-provided configuration files.
- Layer multiple configuration sources into a single dictionary.
- Update nested configuration structures while preserving branches not mentioned in the update.

## Worth the install?

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

Recursively merges one dictionary into another, updating nested keys while preserving unmodified branches.

Yes, if you need simple recursive dict merging and are working on a project locked to Python 2.6–3.6. No, if you require ongoing maintenance or compatibility with modern Python versions. The package is stable for its narrow use case but abandoned, so evaluate whether you can accept no future support.

## Install

pip install dict-recursive-update
uv add dict-recursive-update
poetry add dict-recursive-update

## Installing dict-recursive-update

Before you install: No runtime dependencies and a pure-Python wheel distribution make installation straightforward. However, the package has been abandoned since its last release on 2018-01-23 with no maintenance activity, so it will not receive bug fixes or compatibility updates.

License in practice: MIT license permits free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects, commercial or otherwise.

Quickstart:

pip install dict-recursive-update

from dict_recursive_update import recursive_update

result = recursive_update({'a': {'b': 2}}, {'a': {'b': 3, 'd': 4}, 'e': 5})
print(result)  # {'a': {'b': 3, 'd': 4}, 'e': 5}

Package is abandoned and untested on Python versions beyond 3.6; verify compatibility with your target Python version before relying on it in production.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably on Python versions beyond 3.6, given the last release was in 2018.
- Whether there are edge cases or performance issues with deeply nested structures or very large dictionaries.
- How the package handles concurrent access or thread safety in multi-threaded environments.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 197.8K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

recursive dict merge, nested dictionary update, deep dict merge python, config merging, dictionary recursive update, config-management, dict-utilities

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