netflix-spectator-py

What it is and what it does

netflix-spectator-py is a lightweight Python client for reporting application metrics to Netflix's Atlas timeseries database and SpectatorD monitoring system. It provides a simple API for instrumenting Python applications with counters, gauges, timers, and other metric types, then pushing those metrics to a central monitoring backend for aggregation and analysis.

The library has no external runtime dependencies, making it lightweight to integrate into existing applications. It is maintained by Netflix and remains in active use, though releases are infrequent (last update 316 days ago). It requires Python 3.10 or later and is permissively licensed under Apache 2.0.

Use it for:

• Instrument a Python web service to report request counts, latencies, and error rates to Atlas for dashboarding.
• Track application-level metrics (cache hits, database queries, job completions) in a centralized timeseries store.
• Monitor batch jobs or background workers by sending periodic metric snapshots to SpectatorD.
• Integrate metrics collection into a Netflix-managed infrastructure or on-premises Atlas deployment.

Worth the install?

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

A thin-client metrics library that sends application metrics to Netflix Atlas and SpectatorD for timeseries monitoring and analysis.

Yes, if you are running on Netflix infrastructure or have an Atlas/SpectatorD deployment. The library is lightweight, permissively licensed, and has no external dependencies. However, it is only useful if you have a compatible metrics backend; it is not a general-purpose metrics library for other backends (Prometheus, CloudWatch, etc.). Maintenance is aging but the repository remains active.

Install

netflix-spectator-py on PyPI

pip install netflix-spectator-py

uv add netflix-spectator-py

poetry add netflix-spectator-py

Installing netflix-spectator-py

Before you install

Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Maintenance status is aging—last release was 316 days ago—but the repository remains active and not archived, suggesting it is still in use despite infrequent updates.

License in practice

Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), allowing free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions; suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.

Quickstart

pip install netflix-spectator-py

from spectator import Registry

registry = Registry()
counter = registry.counter('my.metric')
counter.increment()

Requires Python 3.10 or later.

Verify before relying

• Whether the package works with Python versions newer than 3.10 or only exactly 3.10+
• What specific metrics types and aggregations the library supports
• Whether SpectatorD and Atlas are freely available or Netflix-internal services

Package facts

Evidence: netflix_spectator_py-1.1.2-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Monitoring packages