---
id: osc-lib
version: "4.7.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# osc-lib — OpenStackClient Library

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 868.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

osc-lib is a library extracted from OpenStackClient that provides reusable components for building OpenStack command-line tools and plugins. It bundles common modules for authentication, command handling, API interaction, logging, and CLI utilities that were previously embedded in the main OpenStackClient codebase.

Developers use osc-lib to write OSC plugins or standalone CLI tools that need to interact with OpenStack APIs. It abstracts away authentication (via keystoneauth1), session management, command framework scaffolding (via cliff), and common utilities, so plugin authors can focus on their specific command logic rather than reinventing OpenStack integration plumbing.

Use it for:

- Writing custom OpenStackClient plugins that extend the base OSC command set for domain-specific operations
- Building standalone command-line tools that need OpenStack API authentication and session handling without reimplementing it
- Migrating code from the main OpenStackClient repository to a shared plugin architecture using osc-lib's common modules
- Implementing CLI commands that leverage osc-lib's command framework and argument parsing utilities

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

osc-lib provides a shared library of common modules and utilities for building OpenStackClient (OSC) plugins and command-line tools that interact with OpenStack APIs.

Yes, if you are building OpenStackClient plugins or CLI tools for OpenStack. The library is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and low install friction. It is not a general-purpose package—install it only as a dependency for OSC plugin development or when explicitly required by OpenStack tooling.

## Install

pip install osc-lib
uv add osc-lib
poetry add osc-lib

## Installing osc-lib

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained with a release 35 days ago. Requires Python 3.11 or later and depends on established OpenStack libraries (keystoneauth1, openstacksdk) and common utilities (cliff, stevedore, oslo packages).

License in practice: Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), allowing use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions beyond attribution and license inclusion.

Quickstart:

pip install osc-lib

from osc_lib.command import command
from osc_lib.utils import columns

class MyCommand(command.Command):
    pass

Requires Python 3.11 or later; designed for building OSC plugins rather than standalone CLI use.

Verify before relying:

- Whether osc-lib is suitable for direct end-user CLI use or primarily intended as a plugin/framework dependency for OpenStackClient extensions

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 868.2K/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

openstack client library, osc plugin framework, openstack cli utilities, command-line openstack tools, openstack api client base, openstack, cli-framework, plugin-development

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