hf
CLI extracted from the huggingface_hub library to interact with the Hugging Face Hub
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need a lightweight CLI for Hub operations. Install via uvx for one-off commands or as a package if you run Hub CLI tasks frequently. Not suitable if you need programmatic Python access—use huggingface_hub directly for that. No known security issues and active maintenance make it safe to use.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python >=3.9.0.
- The package is designed for CLI use via uvx; direct Python script imports are not recommended.
- Active maintenance with a recent release (7 days old) and low install friction.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache (permissive) — Apache license is permissive, allowing use in most contexts without significant restrictions.
last release 2026-08-07 (7 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 3,801 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 220,556 downloads/mo, #9,297 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
# Install via uv (recommended)
uvx hf version
# Or install as a package
pip install hf
# Then use the CLI
hf auth whoami
hf download MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2- Whether the CLI covers all huggingface_hub functionality or only a subset of common operations.
- Performance characteristics when downloading large models or managing many files.
What it is and what it does
hf is a command-line tool extracted from the huggingface_hub library to provide direct access to Hugging Face Hub operations without writing Python code. It handles authentication, model downloads, and other hub interactions through a clean CLI interface.
The package is explicitly designed for command-line use (especially via uv's uvx tool) rather than as a Python library for scripts. If you need programmatic access to the Hub from within Python code, the documentation recommends using huggingface_hub directly instead. The CLI wraps that library's core functionality into shell commands.
Use it for
- Download pre-trained models directly from the Hub using a single command without writing Python.
- Authenticate with the Hub and check your account status from the command line.
- Manage model and dataset access in CI/CD pipelines or shell scripts.
- Quickly explore Hub resources and metadata without launching a Python interpreter.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need a lightweight CLI for Hub operations.
Install via uvx for one-off commands or as a package if you run Hub CLI tasks frequently. Not suitable if you need programmatic Python access—use huggingface_hub directly for that. No known security issues and active maintenance make it safe to use.
Install
hf on PyPI
Before you install
Active maintenance with a recent release (7 days old) and low install friction. The package is a thin CLI wrapper around huggingface_hub, so installation is straightforward and dependency overhead is minimal.
Requires Python >=3.9.0. The package is designed for CLI use via uvx; direct Python script imports are not recommended.
License in practice
Apache license is permissive, allowing use in most contexts without significant restrictions.
Quickstart
# Install via uv (recommended)
uvx hf version
# Or install as a package
pip install hf
# Then use the CLI
hf auth whoami
hf download MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2Verify before relying
- Whether the CLI covers all huggingface_hub functionality or only a subset of common operations.
- Performance characteristics when downloading large models or managing many files.
Package facts
| License | Apache permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packagehuggingface_hub |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 7 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 220,556 / month, #9,297 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
Evidence: hf-1.27.0-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “hugging face cli tool”
- hfA command-line interface for interacting with the Hugging Face…
- huggingface-hubClient library and CLI tool for downloading, uploading, and managing…
- hf-gradioA CLI tool for discovering endpoints and sending predictions to…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Utilities packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Detects and normalizes text encoding from unknown or ambiguous sources, supporting all IANA character sets that Python's core library provides codecs for, with the ability to register custom codecs.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
Pluggy provides a plugin system that lets you define hook specifications and register implementations to be called in sequence, enabling extensible Python applications without tight coupling.
Install it if you're building an extensible application or framework.
Pygments is a syntax highlighter that colorizes source code and text in over 500 languages and formats, outputting to HTML, LaTeX, RTF, SVG, images, or ANSI terminal sequences.
Install it if you need to display or transform source code.
Six provides utility functions to write Python code that runs on both Python 2.7 and Python 3.3+, smoothing over language differences between the two versions.
See also hf-doc-builder · huggingface-hub · hf-xet · spaces · hf-transfer · hf-gradio · huggingface · kernels · text-generation · modelscope-hub