nestedtext

library3.8pypypi✓ verified 83d ago

Human readable and writable data interchange format, similar to YAML but simpler. Current version 3.8, requires Python >=3.6. Development is active with regular releases.

serialization data

pip install nestedtext

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗docs ↗changelog ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · NESTEDTEXT

nestedtext

serializationpythonv3.8

harness data pending

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

No compatibility data collected yet for this library.

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

dumps

✓ from nestedtext import dumps

✗ import nestedtext; nestedtext.dumps()

Direct import of functions is more common and idiomatic.

loads

✓ from nestedtext import loads

✗ import nestedtext; nestedtext.loads()

Direct import avoids repeated module prefix.

Basic serialization and deserialization example.

from nestedtext import dumps, loads data = {"name": "Alice", "age": 30, "pets": ["cat", "dog"]} nt_string = dumps(data) print(nt_string) # Output: # name: Alice # age: 30 # pets: # - cat # - dog loaded = loads(nt_string) print(loaded) # {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30, 'pets': ['cat', 'dog']}

Debug

Known issues

gotchaNestedText does not support all JSON types: numbers are parsed as strings and booleans are not natively supported. Dumping Python int/float will produce strings like '42' or '3.14'.

fix

Use explicit type conversion on load: int(value) to convert strings back to numbers. For booleans, use 'true'/'false' strings and map yourself.

affects: all

gotchaThe format is case-sensitive and strict about indentation. Mixing tabs and spaces or using inconsistent indentation will cause a parse error.

fix

Always use spaces (2 or 4) consistently. Avoid tabs.

affects: all

Errors

Common errors & fixes

nestedtext.errors.NestedTextError: line 1, column 1: expected mapping or indented block

The input starts with a value that is not a key-value mapping (e.g., a scalar or list at top-level). NestedText expects a mapping at top level.

fix

Wrap the top-level value in a dummy key, or ensure the file starts with a key-value pair.

nestedtext.errors.NestedTextError: line 1, column 1: invalid character: ':'

Input contains a bare colon not part of a key-value pair, or the key is missing.

fix

Ensure each line with a colon has the format 'key: value' with a space after colon.

Upgrade

Version history

3.8latest on PyPI · released Dec 26, 2025

Audit

Dependencies

No dependency data recorded yet.

Agent activity

4 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/KenKundert/nestedtext ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/nestedtext/ ↗

homepagehttps://nestedtext.org ↗

docshttps://nestedtext.org ↗

changeloghttps://github.com/KenKundert/nestedtext/blob/master/doc/releases.rst ↗