diskcache

Disk Cache -- Disk and file backed persistent cache.

diskcache Permissive license Apache 2.0 DORMANT ★ 2,903 v5.6.3 released 2023-08-31

Install

diskcache on PyPI

pip

pip install diskcache

uv

uv add diskcache

poetry

poetry add diskcache

Package facts

License	Apache 2.0 (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	none
Maintenance	dormant — 1,078 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2024-08-10
First released	2016-02-04
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	2 — GHSA-w8v5-vhqr-4h9v, PYSEC-2026-2447

Evidence: diskcache-5.6.3-py3-none-any.whl

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPython

About diskcache

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

DiskCache: Disk Backed Cache

DiskCache_ is an Apache2 licensed disk and file backed cache library, written in pure-Python, and compatible with Django.

The cloud-based computing of 2023 puts a premium on memory. Gigabytes of empty space is left on disks as processes vie for memory. Among these processes is Memcached (and sometimes Redis) which is used as a cache. Wouldn't it be nice to leverage empty disk space for caching?

Django is Python's most popular web framework and ships with several caching backends. Unfortunately the file-based cache in Django is essentially broken. The culling method is random and large caches repeatedly scan a cache directory which slows linearly with growth. Can you really allow it to take sixty milliseconds to store a key in a cache with a thousand items?

In Python, we can do better. And we can do it in pure-Python!

In [1]: import pylibmc In [2]: client = pylibmc.Client(['127.0.0.1'], binary=True) In [3]: client[b'key'] = b'value' In [4]: %timeit client[b'key']

10000 loops, best of 3: 25.4 µs per loop

In [5]: import diskcache as dc In [6]: cache = dc.Cache('tmp') In [7]:...

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

DiskCache provides a pure-Python disk-backed cache library that stores key-value pairs using SQLite and the filesystem, offering thread-safe and process-safe caching with support for multiple eviction policies and Django integration.

Installation is straightforward with no compiled dependencies; the package is pure-Python and carries low friction. However, the project is dormant—last release was 2023-08-31 and no commits since 2024-08-10—so expect no active maintenance or security updates.

Apache 2.0 is a permissive license that allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for most projects. You must include a copy of the license and note any modifications.

Usage

pip install diskcache

import diskcache
cache = diskcache.Cache('/tmp/mycache')
cache['key'] = 'value'
print(cache['key'])

Verdict: DiskCache is a stable, well-tested pure-Python caching solution with zero runtime dependencies and permissive licensing, suitable for applications needing disk-backed persistence. However, the project is dormant (no releases since August 2023), so it carries security risk if vulnerabilities are discovered; two known vulnerabilities (GHSA-w8v5-vhqr-4h9v, PYSEC-2026-2447) are already present.

Needs verification

Severity and exploitability of the two known vulnerabilities (GHSA-w8v5-vhqr-4h9v, PYSEC-2026-2447) and whether they affect version 5.6.3
Whether dormant status reflects stable maturity or abandoned maintenance risk for your use case
Compatibility with Python versions beyond 3.9 (classifiers list up to 3.9; current Python is 3.12+)

disk backed cachepersistent cache librarydjango cache backendkey-value store pythonfile based cachingprocess safe cachelru cache implementation