---
id: yarg
version: "0.1.10"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# yarg — A semi hard Cornish cheese, also queries PyPI (PyPI client)

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 1.2M/mo

## What it is and what it does

Yarg wraps PyPI's JSON API to let you programmatically fetch and inspect package metadata from Python. It abstracts HTTP requests and JSON parsing into a simple object model where you can query package names, authors, release history, and distribution formats (wheels, eggs, source distributions). The package depends only on requests, making it lightweight to integrate into tools that need to inspect PyPI without building HTTP calls from scratch.

The library is in Beta status and has been dormant for over two years, with minimal active maintenance. Its last update added Python 3.12 support, but the core functionality has remained stable since its initial release in 2014. It works with modern Python versions (3.8 through 3.12) and PyPy, though you should verify that PyPI's API hasn't changed in ways that would break yarg's parsing.

Use it for:

- Build a tool that monitors when specific packages receive new releases on PyPI
- Query package metadata programmatically to gather information for dependency analysis or auditing
- Fetch the latest package version and release history without making raw HTTP calls to PyPI
- Inspect package distribution formats (wheel, egg, source) to determine compatibility
- Discover newly published packages or recently updated packages via PyPI's RSS feeds

## Worth the install?

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

Yarg is a PyPI client library that queries package metadata from PyPI, returning structured information about packages including their releases, authors, and distribution formats.

Yes, if you need lightweight PyPI metadata queries and don't require active maintenance. The low install friction (one dependency) and permissive license make it a reasonable choice for simple use cases. However, verify that PyPI's API remains compatible with yarg's parsing logic, since the package is dormant and you may need to maintain a fork or switch to an actively maintained alternative if PyPI changes its response format.

## Install

pip install yarg
uv add yarg
poetry add yarg

## Installing yarg

Before you install: Low install friction with a single dependency on requests. The package is dormant (last release 735 days ago) but received a Python 3.12 support update in its most recent version, suggesting minimal ongoing maintenance.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive and imposes no significant restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in your own projects.

Quickstart:

pip install yarg

import yarg
package = yarg.get("requests")
print(package.name, package.author)

Verify before relying:

- Whether PyPI's JSON API remains stable and compatible with yarg's parsing logic after 735 days of dormancy
- Current state of the GitHub repository (archived status, open issues, or breaking API changes in PyPI itself)

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 1.2M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

pypi client library, query pypi package metadata, fetch package information, pypi api wrapper, package metadata lookup, pypi package details, inspect pypi releases, pypi-integration, metadata-inspection

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