A command-line data visualization tool
Data Exploration
© Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash
VisiData lets you easily manage, process, and view tabular data from multiple sources, all from the command line.
If you are looking for a way to manage your data from multiple sources, VisiData [1] can do the job. VisiData is a command-line tool that analyzes, reformats, and merges datasets in many different formats. It supports plain text files that contain JSON, XML, or Comma/Tab Separated Value (CSV/TSV) data; Python pandas DataFrames [2]; HTML tables; SQL databases; geospatial sets; OpenDocument or Microsoft Office spreadsheets; and more.
If data can be structured as tables consisting of rows and columns [3], VisiData can be the most efficient way to process the data in many cases. Being a command-line tool, VisiData is very fast, even with very big tables. You also can use VisiData across SSH connections or inside scripts, and it is easy to extend with Python functions. Finally, VisiData can process and even join datasets with different formats in the same session.
It helps to know a a little bit of Python, but you don't need to actually code anything to do lots of useful and fun stuff with VisiData. In this article, I will cover the main VisiData commands and tools, and then I'll show you VisiData's power with some simple examples using my personal database.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.