---
id: python-benedict
version: "0.38.0"
license: MIT License Copyright (c) 2019-present Fabio Caccamo Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),… (full text in the JSON record)
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# python-benedict — python-benedict is a dict subclass with keylist/keypath/keyattr support, normalized I/O operations (base64, csv, ini, json, pickle, plist, query-string, toml, xls, xml, yaml) and many utilities... for humans, obviously.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 1.5M/mo

## What it is and what it does

python-benedict is a drop-in dict subclass that extends Python dictionaries with three main conveniences: keypath access (using dot notation like `d["a.b.c"]`), attribute-style access (like `d.a.b.c`), and keylist access (using lists of keys). It also normalizes I/O operations across common data formats—JSON, YAML, CSV, XML, TOML, INI, HTML, pickle, plist, base64, and query-strings—allowing you to load and save data from files, URLs, or S3 with a single method call.

Because it's a true dict subclass, you can wrap existing dictionaries without breaking code that expects a dict. The package includes utility methods for common operations like flattening, merging, filtering, and searching nested structures. It's fully backward-compatible and well-tested, with optional Pydantic v2 schema validation available when needed.

Use it for:

- Load configuration from JSON, YAML, or TOML files and access nested values using dot notation instead of chained bracket access.
- Parse CSV or query-string data into a dict-like object and traverse results using keypath syntax with list-index support.
- Transform data between formats (e.g., read XML, manipulate as a dict, export as JSON) using unified I/O methods.
- Build dynamic nested structures using attribute assignment (with keyattr_dynamic=True) without pre-creating intermediate dicts.
- Flatten or unflatten nested dictionaries for database storage or API payloads using built-in utility methods.
- Integrate into Django views to parse request parameters with type coercion (e.g., get_int, get_decimal).

## Worth the install?

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

A dict subclass that adds dot-notation access, keypath queries, and normalized I/O for formats like JSON, YAML, CSV, XML, and others.

Yes. Low install friction, active maintenance, permissive MIT license, no known vulnerabilities, and a well-established codebase (since 2019) with solid adoption. Install it if you work frequently with nested dicts, multi-format data loading, or want cleaner syntax for accessing deeply nested values—the keypath and I/O features alone justify it for data-heavy applications.

## Install

pip install python-benedict
uv add python-benedict
poetry add python-benedict

## Installing python-benedict

Before you install: Low friction install with only two runtime dependencies (python-slugify and typing_extensions). Active maintenance with a recent release 38 days ago and 1609 repository stars.

License in practice: MIT License permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.

Quickstart:

from benedict import benedict

# Create from dict or data source
d = benedict({"profile": {"name": "Alice"}})

# Access via keypath (dot notation)
name = d["profile.name"]

# Or via attribute access
name = d.profile.name

Verify before relying:

- Whether optional I/O backends (S3, URL, filesystem) require additional system dependencies beyond the listed runtime deps
- Performance characteristics when working with deeply nested structures or large datasets
- Compatibility with non-string dictionary keys and edge cases in keypath parsing

## Package facts

- License: MIT License Copyright (c) 2019-present Fabio Caccamo Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),… (full text in the JSON record) (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 1.5M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

dict with dot notation access, keypath dictionary queries, multi-format data loading, nested dict traversal, json yaml csv xml dict, attribute-style dict access, dictionary utility library, data-transformation, config-management, dict-utilities

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