planetary-computer
Planetary Computer SDK for Python
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, but with caution. The package is well-designed for its narrow purpose—signing Planetary Computer assets—and has low install friction. However, it is abandoned (last release July 2023, 1136 days ago), so there will be no bug fixes or compatibility updates. Install it only if you are committed to using Planetary Computer data and can accept the risk of eventual incompatibility with newer dependency versions. For new projects, verify that the signing mechanism and API endpoint remain stable.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires a Planetary Computer API subscription key (optional but recommended for better rate limits); set via PC_SDK_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY environment variable or planetarycomputer configure CLI.
- Low install friction with eight well-established dependencies.
- However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2023-07-05, over 1136 days ago.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — MIT License permits free use, modification, and redistribution with minimal restrictions, making it safe to adopt from a licensing perspective.
last release 2023-07-05 (1136 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 272,043 downloads/mo, #8,213 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install planetary-computer
import planetary_computer
from pystac_client import Client
api = Client.open(
'https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/api/stac/v1',
modifier=planetary_computer.sign_inplace,
)
# Results from api are now automatically signed- Whether the package remains compatible with current versions of pystac, pystac-client, and requests given its abandoned status.
- Whether Azure Blob Storage signing behavior has changed since the last release in July 2023.
- Whether the Planetary Computer API endpoint remains stable and unchanged.
What it is and what it does
The Planetary Computer SDK is a Python library for accessing Microsoft's Planetary Computer geospatial data service. It specializes in signing Azure Blob Storage URLs and STAC (SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog) objects to grant read access to satellite imagery and related datasets. The library works with pystac objects (Asset, Item, ItemCollection) and pystac-client's ItemSearch, allowing you to either manually sign individual items or automatically sign all results from a client query.
The package depends on click, pydantic, pystac, pystac-client, pytz, requests, packaging, and python-dotenv. It requires Python 3.7 or later. While installation is straightforward, the package has been abandoned since July 2023, meaning no active maintenance or updates are being applied—a significant consideration if you rely on it for production geospatial workflows.
Use it for
- Automatically sign STAC search results from Planetary Computer when using pystac-client to access satellite imagery.
- Manually sign individual STAC Items or Assets before downloading or processing Planetary Computer datasets.
- Sign raw Azure Blob Storage URLs to grant temporary read access to geospatial data without managing credentials directly.
- Integrate Planetary Computer data access into geospatial analysis pipelines that already use pystac and pystac-client.
- Access Planetary Computer's Blob Storage container directly via ContainerClient or adlfs filesystem abstractions.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, but with caution.
The package is well-designed for its narrow purpose—signing Planetary Computer assets—and has low install friction. However, it is abandoned (last release July 2023, 1136 days ago), so there will be no bug fixes or compatibility updates. Install it only if you are committed to using Planetary Computer data and can accept the risk of eventual incompatibility with newer dependency versions. For new projects, verify that the signing mechanism and API endpoint remain stable.
Install
planetary-computer on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with eight well-established dependencies. However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2023-07-05, over 1136 days ago. No active maintenance means bug fixes or compatibility updates with newer dependency versions are unlikely.
Requires a Planetary Computer API subscription key (optional but recommended for better rate limits); set via PC_SDK_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY environment variable or planetarycomputer configure CLI.
License in practice
MIT License permits free use, modification, and redistribution with minimal restrictions, making it safe to adopt from a licensing perspective.
Quickstart
pip install planetary-computer
import planetary_computer
from pystac_client import Client
api = Client.open(
'https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/api/stac/v1',
modifier=planetary_computer.sign_inplace,
)
# Results from api are now automatically signedVerify before relying
- Whether the package remains compatible with current versions of pystac, pystac-client, and requests given its abandoned status.
- Whether Azure Blob Storage signing behavior has changed since the last release in July 2023.
- Whether the Planetary Computer API endpoint remains stable and unchanged.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.7 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 8 packagesclickpydanticpystacpystac-clientpytzrequestspackagingpython-dotenv |
| Maintenance | Abandoned 1,136 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 272,043 / month, #8,213 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
Evidence: planetary_computer-1.0.0-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 › “azure blob storage url signing”
- planetary-computerSigns Azure Blob Storage URLs and STAC objects to grant read access…
- azure-storage-commonProvides shared client library code for Microsoft Azure Storage…
- azure-storage-blobClient library for uploading, downloading, and managing blobs and…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Information Analysis packages
A drop-in replacement for Python's standard `re` module that adds advanced regex features like nested sets, fuzzy matching, lookaround in conditionals, and full Unicode case-folding while maintaining backward compatibility.
pyarrow provides Python bindings to Apache Arrow's C++ libraries for efficient columnar data processing, serialization, and interoperability with pandas, NumPy, and other Python ecosystem tools.
NetworkX provides data structures and algorithms for creating, analyzing, and manipulating graphs and networks, supporting everything from simple undirected graphs to complex directed and weighted networks.
Connects Python applications to Snowflake data warehouses using the DB API 2.0 specification, enabling SQL queries, data transfers, and warehouse operations.
ContourPy calculates contours of 2D quadrilateral grids using C++11 algorithms wrapped in Python, offering serial and multithreaded implementations without requiring Matplotlib as a dependency.
Snowpark Python provides APIs to query and process data directly in Snowflake without moving data to your local system, with support for both native Snowpark and pandas-compatible interfaces.
Install it if you use Snowflake and want to process data without moving it to your application layer.
See also pystac-client · pystac-core · pystac · pystac-ext-storage · stac-fastapi-pgstac · pystac-ext-eo · pystac-ext-sat · pystac-ext-xarray-assets · azure-storage-blob · pystac-ext-view