inform
print & logging utilities for communicating with user
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Inform is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem—replacing ad-hoc print statements with a unified, configurable logging and output system. It's particularly useful for CLI applications and scripts where consistent error presentation and logging matter. The permissive MIT license removes any legal friction.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.6 or later.
- Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (arrow and six).
- The package is actively maintained with a recent release on 2026-06-28, and the repository shows ongoing activity.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Licensed under MIT (permissive), which allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-06-28 (47 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-04 · 10 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 84,937 downloads/mo, #13,965 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install inform
from inform import display, warn, error
display('Display is like print')
warn('warnings get a header that is printed in yellow.')
error('errors get a header that is printed in red.')- Whether the colored output (yellow warnings, red errors) works consistently across different terminal emulators and operating systems beyond POSIX Linux.
- Performance characteristics when logging high-volume messages or with large file outputs.
What it is and what it does
Inform is a print and logging utility that replaces basic print statements with specialized functions that produce formatted, consistent output for user communication. It provides informants—functions like display, warn, error, debug, and others—that work like Python's built-in print but add headers, colors, and logging integration. The package also includes an Inform class for configuration (setting log files, program names, verbosity levels) and an Error exception class that preserves all arguments for later inspection and reporting.
The package includes utility functions for text manipulation (dedent, indent, conjoin, did_you_mean, plural, title_case, format_range) and message assembly (fmt, render, join). It supports custom informants via InformantFactory, allowing you to create conditional output based on verbosity or other criteria. The design keeps error handling and user communication consistent across an application, with the ability to track error counts and control output behavior through a single configuration point.
Use it for
- Build CLI tools that display warnings and errors with consistent formatting and color coding without manual ANSI escape sequences.
- Centralize application logging and error reporting so all messages go through a single configurable output system.
- Create custom informants for verbosity-controlled debug output that can be toggled on or off at runtime.
- Catch and report exceptions with preserved arguments so error handlers can access the original data for recovery or detailed logging.
- Format and present complex data structures (lists, dicts, sets) to users in readable, Python-interpretable form.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Inform is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem—replacing ad-hoc print statements with a unified, configurable logging and output system. It's particularly useful for CLI applications and scripts where consistent error presentation and logging matter. The permissive MIT license removes any legal friction.
Install
inform on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (arrow and six). The package is actively maintained with a recent release on 2026-06-28, and the repository shows ongoing activity.
Requires Python 3.6 or later.
License in practice
Licensed under MIT (permissive), which allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install inform
from inform import display, warn, error
display('Display is like print')
warn('warnings get a header that is printed in yellow.')
error('errors get a header that is printed in red.')Verify before relying
- Whether the colored output (yellow warnings, red errors) works consistently across different terminal emulators and operating systems beyond POSIX Linux.
- Performance characteristics when logging high-volume messages or with large file outputs.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.6 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagesarrowsix |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 47 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 84,937 / month, #13,965 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 :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Utilities |
Evidence: inform-1.37-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 › “print logging utilities”
- informInform provides specialized print functions for displaying formatted…
- python-printrProvides enhanced print functions that format and beautify terminal…
- traceback-with-variablesAutomatically captures and displays local variables in Python…
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 simple-colors · pastel · colorlog · termcolor · crayons · colorclass · ascii-colors · click-help-colors · tracerite · colored