rosettasciio
Reading and writing scientific file formats
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you work with scientific data files—especially electron microscopy or spectroscopy formats. Low install friction, active maintenance, and no known vulnerabilities. The copyleft license is fine for research and open-source work but requires checking if you're building proprietary software. The API is still in Beta after recent separation, so expect some refinement, but the library is actively developed.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel, six runtime dependencies (dask, numpy, pint, python-dateutil, python-box, pyyaml) that are themselves well-established.
- Active maintenance with recent commits; still in Beta status but actively developed.
License · maintenance · safety
GPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft) — GPL-3.0-or-later copyleft license: any code that links this library must be distributed under a compatible open-source license. Acceptable for research and open-source projects; check compatibility if integrating into proprietary software.
last release 2026-05-27 (79 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-03 · 73 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 77,919 downloads/mo, #14,481 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install rosettasciio
from rosettasciio import msa
data = msa.file_reader("your_msa_file.msa")- Completeness and stability of the new API after recent split from HyperSpy—whether all planned readers/writers are implemented.
- Performance characteristics when handling large datasets or many file formats in sequence.
- Extent of format coverage beyond electron microscopy (e.g., how well general scientific formats are supported).
What it is and what it does
RosettaSciIO is a scientific data input/output library that translates between many file formats used in research, particularly in electron microscopy and spectroscopy. It was spun out from the HyperSpy project and provides a unified interface for reading and writing data: files are loaded as Python dictionaries containing datasets, axes, and metadata, making them easy to pass to other analysis tools in the scientific Python ecosystem.
The library supports a large range of formats (dm3, dm4, hdf5, mrc, msa, and many others), with particularly strong coverage of electron microscopy formats. It depends on standard scientific Python packages—numpy, dask, pint for units, and others—and runs on current Python versions (3.10 through 3.14). The API is still stabilizing after the recent split from HyperSpy.
Use it for
- Load electron microscopy data (dm3, dm4, mib files) into Python for analysis with other tools.
- Convert between incompatible scientific file formats (e.g., msa to hdf5) without manual parsing.
- Read spectroscopy or microscopy metadata and axes alongside raw data in a single dictionary structure.
- Build data pipelines that ingest multiple scientific formats and pass them to dask for distributed processing.
- Integrate file I/O into research workflows that need to handle formats from different instruments or labs.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you work with scientific data files—especially electron microscopy or spectroscopy formats.
Low install friction, active maintenance, and no known vulnerabilities. The copyleft license is fine for research and open-source work but requires checking if you're building proprietary software. The API is still in Beta after recent separation, so expect some refinement, but the library is actively developed.
Install
rosettasciio on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel, six runtime dependencies (dask, numpy, pint, python-dateutil, python-box, pyyaml) that are themselves well-established. Active maintenance with recent commits; still in Beta status but actively developed.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
GPL-3.0-or-later copyleft license: any code that links this library must be distributed under a compatible open-source license. Acceptable for research and open-source projects; check compatibility if integrating into proprietary software.
Quickstart
pip install rosettasciio
from rosettasciio import msa
data = msa.file_reader("your_msa_file.msa")Verify before relying
- Completeness and stability of the new API after recent split from HyperSpy—whether all planned readers/writers are implemented.
- Performance characteristics when handling large datasets or many file formats in sequence.
- Extent of format coverage beyond electron microscopy (e.g., how well general scientific formats are supported).
Package facts
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later copyleft |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 6 packagesdaskpython-dateutilnumpypintpython-boxpyyaml |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 79 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 77,919 / month, #14,481 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: Free Threading :: 1 - UnstableTopic :: Scientific/EngineeringTopic :: Scientific/Engineering :: PhysicsTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries |
Evidence: rosettasciio-0.14.0-py3-none-any.whl
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