---
id: fsspec-xrootd
version: "0.5.5"
license: BSD-3-Clause
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# fsspec-xrootd — xrootd implementation for fsspec

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 1.2M/mo

## What it is and what it does

fsspec-xrootd is a plugin that extends fsspec (a filesystem abstraction layer) to work with XRootD, a distributed file storage system commonly used in high-energy physics and scientific computing. Once installed, fsspec can transparently read and write files on XRootD servers using the 'root' protocol scheme, letting you treat remote XRootD storage like a local filesystem in your Python code.

The package wraps the XRootD client bindings and integrates them into fsspec's standard interface. It depends on both fsspec and xrootd (the compiled client library), and is actively maintained with support for Python 3.9 through 3.14. It is currently in early development status but has been in use since 2022.

Use it for:

- Access files stored on XRootD servers from Python without writing XRootD-specific client code.
- Integrate XRootD storage into data processing pipelines that already use fsspec for other storage backends.
- Read scientific datasets hosted on XRootD infrastructure in high-energy physics workflows.
- Build tools that need to work uniformly across multiple storage systems, including XRootD, via fsspec's protocol abstraction.

## Worth the install?

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

Adds XRootD storage support to fsspec, enabling file access to XRootD servers through fsspec's unified interface using the 'root' protocol.

Yes, if you need to access XRootD storage from Python and are comfortable with the early development status (Planning phase). Install friction is low, maintenance is active, and there are no known vulnerabilities. The main prerequisite is having the XRootD client bindings available on your Linux system. Not relevant if you don't use XRootD or need Windows/macOS support.

## Install

pip install fsspec-xrootd
uv add fsspec-xrootd
poetry add fsspec-xrootd

## Installing fsspec-xrootd

Before you install: Low friction install with a pure Python wheel. Actively maintained with recent releases. Depends on fsspec and the xrootd client bindings; the latter is a compiled dependency that must be available on your system.

License in practice: BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you can use this package freely in most contexts, including commercial software, with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install fsspec-xrootd

import fsspec
fs = fsspec.filesystem('root', host='xrootd.example.com')
files = fs.ls('/path/on/server')

Requires Python 3.9 or newer and the XRootD client bindings installed on your system; only tested on Linux.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the xrootd client bindings are available via standard package managers or must be compiled from source.
- Performance characteristics and scalability limits for large file transfers or many concurrent connections.
- Compatibility with non-Linux operating systems beyond the stated Linux-only testing.

## Package facts

- License: BSD-3-Clause (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 1.2M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

xrootd file access, fsspec xrootd protocol, distributed storage client, xrootd filesystem adapter, remote file system xrootd, fsspec storage backend, xrootd-storage, fsspec-plugin, scientific-computing

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