mahmoud/boltons

★ 6,885PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((boltons))
    What it does
      Python utility belt
      230-plus small tools
      Fills stdlib gaps
    Categories
      File utilities
      Dict and queue types
      Iteration tools
      Traceback objects
    Key Features
      Atomic file save
      Chunked iteration
      Retry with backoff
      Structured tracebacks
    How to Use
      pip install boltons
      Copy single module
    Audience
      Python developers

mindmap root((boltons)) What it does Python utility belt 230-plus small tools Fills stdlib gaps Categories File utilities Dict and queue types Iteration tools Traceback objects Key Features Atomic file save Chunked iteration Retry with backoff Structured tracebacks How to Use pip install boltons Copy single module Audience Python developers

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Write files atomically so a crash never leaves a half-written file, the save either completes fully or the original stays intact.

USE CASE 2

Iterate a long list in fixed-size chunks or slide a moving window across it without writing the loop logic yourself.

USE CASE 3

Use an OrderedMultiDict to work with query strings or HTTP headers that can have multiple values for the same key while preserving order.

USE CASE 4

Copy a single boltons module file directly into your project instead of adding a library dependency, keeping your package lightweight.

Tech stack

Python

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Install with pip install boltons or copy a single module file directly into your project, no external dependencies required.

License terms are available in the repository, the project is pure Python with no external dependencies.

In plain English

Boltons is a collection of more than 230 small Python utilities that fill gaps in Python's built-in standard library. The idea behind the project is that these tools feel like they should belong in Python itself but were never included. Everything is written in pure Python with no external dependencies, so it works in any environment where Python runs. The library covers a wide range of everyday programming tasks. File utilities let you save files atomically, meaning the write either completes fully or the original file stays intact, so you never get a half-written file after a crash. Dictionary and queue types go beyond what Python ships with, including an OrderedMultiDict that can hold multiple values for the same key while preserving insertion order, and two priority queue implementations. The iteration tools add functions for breaking sequences into fixed-size chunks, sliding a window across a sequence, recursively walking and transforming nested data structures, and handling retries with exponential backoff including random jitter. Boltons also includes a detailed traceback type that lets programs represent and inspect Python error stack traces as structured data objects rather than plain text strings. Because each module is independent, you do not have to take the whole library as a dependency. You can install everything with pip, or you can copy a single module file directly into your project. This approach is practical for library authors who want one specific utility without bundling the rest. The package targets Python 3.7 through 3.13, including the PyPy interpreter. Full documentation is available on Read the Docs.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to use boltons fileutils.atomic_save to write a config file in Python so a crash during the write never corrupts the existing file.

Prompt 2

I need to process a large list in batches of 100 items. Show me how to use boltons iterutils.chunked and also how to apply a sliding window of size 3 over a sequence.

Prompt 3

My Python script retries a flaky API call. Use boltons iterutils.redundant to add exponential backoff with random jitter so retries do not all fire at the same time.

Prompt 4

Show me how to use boltons tbutils to capture a Python exception as a structured object I can serialize to JSON and log to a database instead of just printing the traceback.

Prompt 5

I want to use one utility from boltons without adding the whole package as a dependency. Show me how to copy just the cacheutils module into my project and use the LRU cache it provides.

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