gcld3

What it is and what it does

gcld3 is a Python wrapper around Google's Compact Language Detector v3, a neural network model trained to identify the language of text. It extracts character n-grams from input, hashes them to embedding vectors, and passes the averaged embeddings through a small neural network to predict language. The model outputs BCP-47 language codes and can distinguish between different scripts of the same language.

The package ships with precompiled inference code and a trained model, so no training or model download is required at runtime. It has no runtime dependencies. However, the package is abandoned—the repository was archived and the last release was 2020-08-19, meaning no bug fixes, security updates, or support for newer Python versions are expected.

Use it for:

• Automatically categorize user-generated content by language for multilingual applications or content moderation pipelines.
• Detect the language of incoming text in chatbots or support systems to route to appropriate handlers.
• Identify the script used in text for rendering or font selection in international user interfaces.
• Preprocess text corpora by filtering or grouping documents by detected language before NLP analysis.
• Validate or correct language metadata in multilingual datasets or document stores.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Identifies the language of input text using a neural network model, returning BCP-47-style language codes for many languages and scripts.

Yes, if you need lightweight language detection for a stable, well-defined use case and can accept that the package will not receive updates. The model is frozen and the package has no runtime dependencies, so it will continue to work predictably. No, if you require support for modern Python versions, active maintenance, or security patches—use an actively maintained alternative instead.

Install

gcld3 on PyPI

pip install gcld3

uv add gcld3

poetry add gcld3

Installing gcld3

Before you install

Medium install friction due to compiled wheels for specific Python versions and platforms (macOS, manylinux2010). Package is abandoned as of 2023-05-24 with no active maintenance.

License in practice

License status is unclear—no SPDX identifier or raw license text provided. Verify licensing terms before use in proprietary or redistributed projects.

Quickstart

pip install gcld3

import gcld3
detector = gcld3.NNetLanguageIdentifier(min_num_bytes=0, max_num_bytes=0)
result = detector.FindLanguage(text="Hello world")
print(result.language, result.probability)

Requires prebuilt wheels for specific Python versions on macOS or manylinux2010; building from source requires Chromium repository and build tools.

Verify before relying

• Whether the package works with Python versions beyond those with prebuilt wheels
• Current stability and accuracy of the trained model given no updates since 2020-08-19
• Whether the archived repository will accept security patches or bug fixes

Package facts

Evidence: gcld3-3.0.13-cp36-cp36m-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; gcld3-3.0.13-cp36-cp36m-manylinux2010_x86_64.whl; gcld3-3.0.13-cp38-cp38-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; gcld3-3.0.13-cp38-cp38-manylinux2010_x86_64.whl; gcld3-3.0.13-pp36-pypy36_pp73-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; gcld3-3.0.13-pp36-pypy36_pp73-manylinux2010_x86_64.whl

Tags

More Linguistic packages

Further reading