---
id: visualdl
version: "2.5.3"
license: Apache License
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# visualdl — Visualize Deep Learning

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 223.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

VisualDL is a web-based visualization dashboard for monitoring deep learning training. It accepts logged metrics, model structures, and tensor statistics from your training code via a Python SDK (LogWriter), writes them to local log files, and serves an interactive web interface to view trends, distributions, and model graphs in real time.

The package is designed primarily for PaddlePaddle users but claims support for ONNX, Caffe, Keras, and Core ML model formats. It provides scalar tracking, histogram visualization, PR and ROC curves, high-dimensional data projection, and model structure rendering. The tool runs as a local web server (default port 8040) and requires 13 runtime dependencies including Flask, NumPy, Pillow, Protobuf, and Pandas.

Use it for:

- Monitor training loss and accuracy metrics in real-time during model training without writing custom logging code.
- Visualize neural network architecture and data flow for debugging model structure and understanding layer connectivity.
- Compare multiple training runs by pointing the dashboard at different log directories to identify which hyperparameters or configurations perform best.
- Export and share training visualizations with team members via the VDL.service integration mentioned in the documentation.
- Inspect tensor distributions and histograms during training to detect gradient issues or data anomalies.

## Worth the install?

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

VisualDL is a visualization tool for deep learning training that logs metrics, model structures, and tensor distributions to files, then displays them in a web-based dashboard for real-time monitoring and analysis.

No. The package is abandoned (last release 2023-06-05, 1166 days ago) with no active maintenance, meaning no security updates, bug fixes, or compatibility patches. While it has low install friction and permissive licensing, the 13 runtime dependencies and lack of ongoing support create maintenance risk. For active projects, use a maintained alternative like TensorBoard or Weights & Biases instead.

## Install

pip install visualdl
uv add visualdl
poetry add visualdl

## Installing visualdl

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-wheel distribution. However, the package is abandoned as of 1166 days since its last release (2023-06-05), meaning no active maintenance or security updates are forthcoming.

License in practice: Licensed under Apache License with permissive treatment, allowing commercial and private use without restriction, though you assume responsibility for any future security or compatibility issues given the abandoned status.

Quickstart:

pip install visualdl

from visualdl import LogWriter

with LogWriter(logdir="./log/train") as writer:
    writer.add_scalar(tag="loss", step=1, value=0.5)
    writer.add_scalar(tag="loss", step=2, value=0.3)

Requires Python 3 (Python 2 no longer supported); no minimum version specified in metadata.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the 13 runtime dependencies (flask, numpy, protobuf, etc.) remain compatible with current Python and library versions given the package's abandoned status.
- Whether the web dashboard still functions with modern browsers beyond the stated support (Chrome ≥79, Firefox ≥67, Edge ≥79, Safari ≥11.1).
- Whether PaddlePaddle integration and model format support (ONNX, Caffe, Keras, Core ML) still work without active maintenance.

## Package facts

- License: Apache License (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 223.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

deep learning visualization, training metrics dashboard, model structure visualization, neural network monitoring, tensorboard alternative, training log viewer, real-time model analysis, abandoned, visualization, monitoring

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/visualdl) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/visualdl/)