PyScaffold
Template tool for putting up the scaffold of a Python project
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. PyScaffold is worth installing if you regularly create Python packages or lead teams that do. It eliminates repetitive setup work, enforces ecosystem best practices, and has proven stable over a decade of use by thousands of developers. No known vulnerabilities, permissive MIT license, and active maintenance make it a low-risk productivity gain.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Git to be installed and configured with at least name and email set.
- Low install friction with eight standard runtime dependencies.
- Active maintenance with last commit on 2026-08-10 and stable production status since initial release in 2014.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license (permissive) means you can use, modify, and distribute PyScaffold-generated projects with minimal restrictions, and the tool itself imposes no licensing constraints on your code.
last release 2024-09-23 (690 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-10 · 2,264 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 3,919,583 downloads/mo, #2,453 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pyscaffold
putup my_project
cd my_project
pip install -e .- Whether generated projects work with Python versions older than 3.7 or newer than current stable.
- Performance characteristics when generating very large or complex project structures.
- Compatibility of generated tox configurations with recent tox versions.
What it is and what it does
PyScaffold is a command-line tool that generates a complete, production-ready Python project structure with one command. It creates a Git repository with sensible defaults for packaging, testing, documentation, and deployment—including setup.cfg configuration, pytest integration, Sphinx documentation templates, tox automation, and optional CI/CD support via flags like --cirrus. The generated project uses setuptools-scm for automatic versioning from Git tags and includes a .gitignore tuned for Python development.
The tool is designed to enforce best practices across teams and reduce boilerplate setup time. It supports extensions for specialized project types (data science, Django, Markdown docs) and integrates with common Python tools like pytest, tox, and pre-commit. Once generated, a project can be immediately installed in editable mode and is ready for development, testing, and publication to PyPI.
Use it for
- Quickly bootstrap a new open-source Python library with standard packaging and documentation structure.
- Set up a team project with consistent configuration, testing, and CI/CD templates across multiple developers.
- Generate a data science project template with pre-configured tools via the --dsproject extension.
- Create a Django project with PyScaffold's automation and best practices baked in.
- Establish a project with pre-commit hooks and automated version management via Git tags.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
PyScaffold is worth installing if you regularly create Python packages or lead teams that do. It eliminates repetitive setup work, enforces ecosystem best practices, and has proven stable over a decade of use by thousands of developers. No known vulnerabilities, permissive MIT license, and active maintenance make it a low-risk productivity gain.
Install
pyscaffold on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with eight standard runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with last commit on 2026-08-10 and stable production status since initial release in 2014.
Requires Git to be installed and configured with at least name and email set.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive) means you can use, modify, and distribute PyScaffold-generated projects with minimal restrictions, and the tool itself imposes no licensing constraints on your code.
Quickstart
pip install pyscaffold
putup my_project
cd my_project
pip install -e .Verify before relying
- Whether generated projects work with Python versions older than 3.7 or newer than current stable.
- Performance characteristics when generating very large or complex project structures.
- Compatibility of generated tox configurations with recent tox versions.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.7 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 8 packagesplatformdirsconfigupdatersetuptoolssetuptools-scmtomlkitpackagingimportlib-metadatacolorama |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 690 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 3,919,583 / month, #2,453 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 :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxOperating System :: UnixProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyTopic :: Utilities |
Evidence: PyScaffold-4.6-py3-none-any.whl
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See also ansible-creator · make · sphinx-autodoc2 · pickley · sampleproject · setuptools-git · sphinx-panels · jupyter-packaging · clang-format