pyink
Pyink is a python formatter, forked from Black with slightly different behavior.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need Black-compatible formatting with specific behavioral customizations (two-space indentation, majority quotes, pragma preservation) or are managing a gradual migration to Black in a large codebase. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and low install friction. Not necessary if you are already using Black or do not need its specific formatting variants.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution.
- Actively maintained as of August 2026 with recent commits and no known vulnerabilities.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal obligations.
last release 2026-01-02 (224 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-06 · 295 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 467,199 downloads/mo, #6,499 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pyink
pyink --help
pyink myfile.py
pyink --pyink-indentation 2 myfile.py- Whether Pyink's patches remain synchronized with Black's latest releases and how often rebasing occurs.
- Performance characteristics compared to Black on large codebases or monorepos.
- Community adoption rate and stability of the formatting rules across versions.
What it is and what it does
Pyink is a Python formatter maintained by Google as a medium-term adoption bridge for teams that cannot immediately migrate to Black. It forks Black's codebase and applies several localized patches that change how code is wrapped and indented, while remaining compatible with Black's command-line interface and configuration structure.
The main differences include support for two-space indentation, inferring quote style from file majority, preserving trailing pragma comments without wrapping, and keeping parentheses around multi-line strings in function arguments. Pyink is designed to be gradually phased out as its patches are upstreamed to Black or teams migrate fully. It depends on Black, click, mypy-extensions, packaging, pathspec, platformdirs, pytokens, tomli, and typing-extensions, and runs on Python 3.10 and later.
Use it for
- Gradually migrate a large monorepo from inconsistent formatting to Black-compatible style without disrupting all developers at once.
- Enforce two-space indentation in Python projects that prefer it over Black's default four-space standard.
- Maintain consistent quote style across a codebase by automatically inferring single or double quotes based on file majority.
- Format code while preserving trailing pragma comments (e.g., `# pylint: disable`) without line wrapping.
- Use as a drop-in Black replacement in CI/CD pipelines with minimal configuration changes.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need Black-compatible formatting with specific behavioral customizations (two-space indentation, majority quotes, pragma preservation) or are managing a gradual migration to Black in a large codebase.
The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and low install friction. Not necessary if you are already using Black or do not need its specific formatting variants.
Install
pyink on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained as of August 2026 with recent commits and no known vulnerabilities. Depends on Black and related tooling libraries, all of which are stable and widely used.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal obligations.
Quickstart
pip install pyink
pyink --help
pyink myfile.py
pyink --pyink-indentation 2 myfile.pyVerify before relying
- Whether Pyink's patches remain synchronized with Black's latest releases and how often rebasing occurs.
- Performance characteristics compared to Black on large codebases or monorepos.
- Community adoption rate and stability of the formatting rules across versions.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 9 packagesblackclickmypy-extensionspackagingpathspecplatformdirspytokenstomlityping-extensions |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 224 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 467,199 / month, #6,499 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/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: Software Development :: Quality Assurance |
Evidence: pyink-25.12.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also black · mdformat-black · config-formatter · paragraphs · darker · ruff · docstrfmt · autopep8 · wadler-lindig · dprint-py