PyPI JSON API client

0.5.0.post1 · active · verified Fri Apr 17

pypi-json is a Python client library for accessing the PyPI JSON API. It allows programmatic retrieval of package metadata, including versions, summaries, dependencies, and more. The current version is 0.5.0.post1, and it has an infrequent but active release cadence, with the latest update in February 2026.

Common errors

```
httpx.HTTPStatusError: Client error '404 Not Found' for url 'https://pypi.org/pypi/nonexistent-package/json'
```
cause The package name provided to `get_package` does not exist on PyPI, or it is misspelled.

fix Verify the package name for correctness. Implement `try...except httpx.HTTPStatusError` to handle non-existent packages gracefully.
```
AttributeError: 'Package' object has no attribute 'some_nonexistent_field'
```
cause You are attempting to access an attribute on the `Package` object that does not exist in the PyPI JSON API response or is misspelled.

fix Check the available attributes of the `Package` object (e.g., by printing `dir(package)`) or consult the PyPI JSON API documentation to find the correct attribute name.
```
httpx.ConnectError: [Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed
```
cause The client could not establish a network connection to PyPI. This can be due to a lack of internet connectivity, DNS resolution issues, a firewall blocking access, or PyPI being temporarily unavailable.

fix Check your internet connection and DNS settings. Ensure no firewall is blocking access to `pypi.org`. If the issue persists, PyPI might be experiencing downtime, so try again later.

Warnings

gotcha The `get_package` method raises an `httpx.HTTPStatusError` (specifically a 404 Not Found error) if the requested package does not exist on PyPI, rather than returning `None`. Users should implement error handling for this scenario.
Fix: Wrap calls to `pypi.get_package()` in a `try...except httpx.HTTPStatusError` block to gracefully handle non-existent packages.
gotcha The attributes of the returned `Package` object (and its nested objects like `Release`) directly mirror the structure of the raw PyPI JSON API response. If the PyPI API changes its schema, or if you attempt to access an attribute not present for a specific package/version, an `AttributeError` will be raised.
Fix: Refer to the official PyPI JSON API documentation or inspect the object's available attributes (e.g., `dir(package)`) to ensure correct field access. Be prepared for schema changes in future PyPI API versions.

Install

pip install pypi-json Install stable version

Imports

PyPIJSON
```
from pypi_json import PyPIJSON
```

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to instantiate the PyPIJSON client and retrieve metadata for a specific package, such as 'requests'. It shows how to access basic package attributes and specific release information, including error handling for network or package not found issues.

from pypi_json import PyPIJSON

pypi = PyPIJSON()

try:
    # Example: Get metadata for the 'requests' package
    package = pypi.get_package("requests")
    print(f"Package Name: {package.name}")
    print(f"Latest Version: {package.version}")
    print(f"Summary: {package.summary}")

    # Accessing specific release information
    if package.releases:
        latest_release_info = package.releases[package.version]
        print(f"Upload Time of latest version: {latest_release_info.upload_time_iso_8601}")

except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

view raw JSON →