sphinx-data-viewer

What it is and what it does

Sphinx-Data-Viewer is a Sphinx extension that embeds interactive data viewers directly into your documentation. It lets you display JSON data, JSON files, and Python objects in an explorable, collapsible list format rather than as static code blocks. The viewer is built on json-view, a JavaScript library for interactive JSON exploration.

You install it as a Sphinx extension and then use it to document structured data in a way that readers can navigate and inspect interactively. It's useful when your documentation needs to show example data structures, API responses, or configuration objects in a format that's easier to explore than plain text or code blocks.

Use it for:

• Document API response examples by embedding live JSON viewers in your API reference
• Show configuration file structures with interactive exploration for large or nested configs
• Display Python object structures and their properties in generated documentation
• Provide interactive examples of data schemas or data formats in technical guides

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Adds an interactive data viewer to Sphinx documentation that renders JSON data, JSON files, and Python objects in an explorable list view within your docs.

Yes, if you use Sphinx and need to document structured data interactively. The low install friction, permissive license, and lack of known vulnerabilities make it a safe choice. The aging maintenance status (last release 716 days ago) is a minor concern but not a blocker since the repository remains active and the extension has a narrow, stable scope.

Install

sphinx-data-viewer on PyPI

pip install sphinx-data-viewer

uv add sphinx-data-viewer

poetry add sphinx-data-viewer

Installing sphinx-data-viewer

Before you install

Low friction install with a single runtime dependency on sphinx. The package is aging (last release 716 days ago) but the repository remains active with a recent commit in December 2025, suggesting maintenance continues despite infrequent releases.

License in practice

Licensed under MIT (permissive), so you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart

# Install
pip install sphinx-data-viewer

# In conf.py, add to extensions:
extensions = ['sphinx_data_viewer']

# In your .rst file, use the directive:
.. data-viewer::
   :data: {"key": "value"}

Requires Python 3.8 or later and an existing Sphinx documentation project to extend.

Verify before relying

• Whether the interactive viewer works with all Sphinx themes or only specific ones
• Performance characteristics when rendering very large JSON objects or files
• Compatibility with recent Sphinx versions beyond what the 'supports_current' classifier indicates

Package facts

Evidence: sphinx_data_viewer-0.1.5-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Python Modules packages