---
id: oslo-serialization
version: "5.11.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# oslo.serialization — Oslo Serialization library

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 1.6M/mo

## What it is and what it does

oslo.serialization is a library from the OpenStack project that handles conversion of Python objects into formats suitable for transmission and storage. It abstracts away the details of working with Base64, JSON, and MessagePack, providing a consistent interface across these serialization backends.

The library is designed for cloud infrastructure and distributed systems where objects need to be reliably encoded, transmitted over networks, and decoded on the other end. It sits between application code and the underlying format libraries (msgpack and oslo.utils), handling the mechanics of serialization so callers don't need to manage format-specific details directly.

Use it for:

- Serialize application state to JSON for REST API responses in OpenStack services
- Encode Python objects to MessagePack for efficient binary transmission between services
- Convert objects to Base64 for embedding in configuration files or logs
- Provide a unified serialization layer across multiple OpenStack components
- Handle object-to-wire conversion in distributed system communication

## Worth the install?

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

oslo.serialization provides serialization and deserialization support for objects in formats including Base64, JSON, and MessagePack, designed for transmittable and storable representations.

Yes, if you are working within the OpenStack ecosystem or need a consistent serialization abstraction across multiple formats. The library is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and low install friction. If you only need standard JSON serialization, Python's built-in json module may be sufficient; this package adds value primarily when you need format flexibility or are integrating with OpenStack infrastructure.

## Install

pip install oslo-serialization
uv add oslo-serialization
poetry add oslo-serialization

## Installing oslo.serialization

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-wheel distribution. Active maintenance with a release 35 days ago. Depends on msgpack and oslo.utils, both lightweight runtime dependencies.

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for most deployment contexts.

Quickstart:

pip install oslo.serialization

from oslo_serialization import jsonutils

data = {'key': 'value'}
serialized = jsonutils.dumps(data)
deserialized = jsonutils.loads(serialized)

Requires Python 3.11 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package supports streaming or only in-memory serialization
- Performance characteristics compared to standard library json module
- Whether custom serializers for application-specific types are supported

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 1.6M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

json serialization library, messagepack serialization, base64 encoding decoding, object serialization formats, data serialization openstack, transmittable object formats, storable data representation, openstack, serialization-formats

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