fastar
High-level bindings for the Rust tar crate
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you work with tar archives in Python and want better performance than the standard library. The package is actively maintained, supports current Python versions (3.8–3.14), has no runtime dependencies, carries a permissive MIT license, and has zero known vulnerabilities. Install friction is moderate due to compilation, but precompiled wheels cover most common platforms. Start with it if archive performance is a bottleneck; otherwise, the standard tarfile module may suffice.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.8 or later; precompiled wheels available for most platforms but may require compilation on uncommon architectures.
- Medium install friction due to compiled wheels, but broad platform coverage (x86_64, ARM, PowerPC, s390x, RISC-V) and active maintenance with recent releases reduce practical friction.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute fastar freely with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-04-13 (123 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-07 · 34 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 39,599,918 downloads/mo, #692 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install fastar
import fastar
from pathlib import Path
with fastar.open("archive.tar.gz", "w:gz") as archive:
archive.append(Path("file.txt"))
with fastar.open("archive.tar.gz", "r") as archive:
archive.unpack("output/")- Performance comparison with standard tarfile module or other tar libraries not provided in fact sheet.
- Memory efficiency characteristics for large archives not documented in excerpt.
What it is and what it does
Fastar is a Python wrapper around Rust tar, flate2, and zstd crates, designed to handle tar archive operations with better performance than pure-Python alternatives. It supports reading and writing uncompressed tar files as well as those compressed with gzip or Zstandard, with automatic compression detection on read. The library exposes a simple context-manager API for opening archives and performing common operations like appending files and unpacking entire archives to disk.
You would use fastar when you need to work with tar archives in Python and performance matters—either because you're processing large files, handling many archives, or running in performance-sensitive code paths. It requires Python 3.8 or later and has no runtime dependencies beyond the compiled extension itself.
Use it for
- Bulk archiving and compression of file collections with gzip or Zstandard compression for storage or transfer.
- Extracting tar archives programmatically as part of a build, deployment, or data pipeline.
- Processing compressed tar files where speed is critical, such as in batch data ingestion or CI/CD workflows.
- Creating reproducible archive formats with support for multiple compression algorithms from a single API.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you work with tar archives in Python and want better performance than the standard library.
The package is actively maintained, supports current Python versions (3.8–3.14), has no runtime dependencies, carries a permissive MIT license, and has zero known vulnerabilities. Install friction is moderate due to compilation, but precompiled wheels cover most common platforms. Start with it if archive performance is a bottleneck; otherwise, the standard tarfile module may suffice.
Install
fastar on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled wheels, but broad platform coverage (x86_64, ARM, PowerPC, s390x, RISC-V) and active maintenance with recent releases reduce practical friction.
Requires Python 3.8 or later; precompiled wheels available for most platforms but may require compilation on uncommon architectures.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute fastar freely with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install fastar
import fastar
from pathlib import Path
with fastar.open("archive.tar.gz", "w:gz") as archive:
archive.append(Path("file.txt"))
with fastar.open("archive.tar.gz", "r") as archive:
archive.unpack("output/")Verify before relying
- Performance comparison with standard tarfile module or other tar libraries not provided in fact sheet.
- Memory efficiency characteristics for large archives not documented in excerpt.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.8 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 123 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 39,599,918 / month, #692 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPyProgramming Language :: RustTopic :: Software Development :: LibrariesTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_12_x86_64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_12_i686.manylinux2010_i686.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_armv7l.manylinux2014_armv7l.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_ppc64le.manylinux2014_ppc64le.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_s390x.manylinux2014_s390x.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_31_riscv64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_armv7l.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_i686.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-win32.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_12_x86_64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp311-cp311-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_12_i686.manylinux2010_i686.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl; fastar-0.11.0-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_17_armv7l.manylinux2014_armv7l.whl
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See also tzst · rpmfile · dnaio · FastWARC · securetar · zstandard · mapfile_parser · pyvista-zstd · cramjam · patool