inference-sdk
With no prior knowledge of machine learning or device-specific deployment, you can deploy a computer vision model to a range of devices and environments using Roboflow Inference.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and no known vulnerabilities. It is the canonical Python client for Roboflow Inference and is suitable for production use if you are already running an Inference server. Install it if you need to programmatically interact with Inference from Python; if you only need the server itself, install inference-cli instead.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires a running Inference server (typically started via `inference server start --dev` after installing inference-cli and Docker).
- Low friction install with a pure Python wheel.
- Active maintenance with a recent release and 2416 repository stars.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-08-14 (0 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 2,416 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 446,477 downloads/mo, #6,612 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install inference-sdk
from inference_sdk import InferenceHTTPClient
client = InferenceHTTPClient(
api_url="http://localhost:9001",
api_key="your_api_key"
)
result = client.run_workflow(
workspace_name="your-workspace",
workflow_id="your-workflow",
images={"image": "path/to/image.jpg"}
)- Whether the SDK supports all model types available on the server or has limitations on certain architectures.
- Performance characteristics and latency expectations for typical inference workloads.
- Whether authentication and API key management are required for production deployments.
What it is and what it does
The inference-sdk is a Python client library for interacting with Roboflow's Inference server, a self-hosted computer vision platform. It abstracts the HTTP API layer, allowing developers to run pre-trained and fine-tuned models, execute multi-step Workflows, and process video streams without managing the underlying server communication directly. The package wraps requests, urllib3, and aiohttp to handle synchronous and asynchronous calls, and includes support for image processing via opencv-python and pillow.
Typical usage involves instantiating an InferenceHTTPClient pointed at a local or remote server, then calling methods to run Workflows on images or video streams, manage inference pipelines, and consume results. The SDK handles the serialization of images and parameters, making it straightforward to integrate computer vision into Python applications without deep knowledge of REST APIs or model deployment.
Use it for
- Run object detection or segmentation models on images via a local Inference server from a Python script or application.
- Process live RTSP video streams through Workflows that combine multiple models, tracking, and business logic.
- Execute multi-model consensus or chained inference pipelines where output from one model feeds into another.
- Integrate computer vision predictions into a larger application by querying a centralized Inference server.
- Monitor and consume results from long-running inference pipelines on video feeds in real-time.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and no known vulnerabilities. It is the canonical Python client for Roboflow Inference and is suitable for production use if you are already running an Inference server. Install it if you need to programmatically interact with Inference from Python; if you only need the server itself, install inference-cli instead.
Install
inference-sdk on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with a pure Python wheel. Active maintenance with a recent release and 2416 repository stars. Requires Python 3.10 or later but not 3.13+.
Requires a running Inference server (typically started via `inference server start --dev` after installing inference-cli and Docker).
License in practice
Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install inference-sdk
from inference_sdk import InferenceHTTPClient
client = InferenceHTTPClient(
api_url="http://localhost:9001",
api_key="your_api_key"
)
result = client.run_workflow(
workspace_name="your-workspace",
workflow_id="your-workflow",
images={"image": "path/to/image.jpg"}
)Verify before relying
- Whether the SDK supports all model types available on the server or has limitations on certain architectures.
- Performance characteristics and latency expectations for typical inference workloads.
- Whether authentication and API key management are required for production deployments.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Capped below the current Python release <3.13,>=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 11 packagesrequestsurllib3tldextractdataclasses-jsonopencv-pythonpillowsupervisionnumpyaiohttpbackoffpy-cpuinfo |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 0 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 446,477 / month, #6,612 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: EducationIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyTopic :: Scientific/EngineeringTopic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Artificial IntelligenceTopic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Image RecognitionTopic :: Software DevelopmentTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: inference_sdk-1.4.1-py3-none-any.whl
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See also inference-cli · runware · supervisely · roboflow · inference-models · sahi · cvat-sdk · yolov5 · supervision