csvpeek

A fast CSV viewer in your terminal - peek at your data instantly ⚡

Csvpeek is a snappy, memory-efficient CSV viewer built for speed. Powered by DuckDB for fast SQL-backed querying and Urwid for a lean terminal UI.

Features

• Fast - DuckDB streaming with LIMIT/OFFSET keeps startup instant, even with huge files
• Large File Support - Pagination handles millions of rows without breaking a sweat
• Cell Selection - Select and copy ranges with keyboard shortcuts
• Column Sorting - Sort by any column instantly
• Keyboard-First - Every action is a keystroke away

Quick Start

Installation

uv tool install csvpeek

Or install from source:

git clone https://github.com/giantatwork/csvpeek.git
cd csvpeek
pip install -e .

Windows

Install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable to ensure DuckDB works on Windows

Usage

csvpeek your_data.csv

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
/	Open filter dialog
r	Reset all filters
Ctrl+D	Next page
Ctrl+U	Previous page
s	Sort current column
c	Copy selection to clipboard
w	Save selection to file
Shift+Arrow	Select cells
Arrow Keys	Navigate (clears selection)
q	Quit

Usage Examples

Basic Viewing

Open any CSV file and start navigating immediately:

csvpeek data.csv

Filtering

1. Press / to open the filter dialog
2. Enter filter values for any columns
3. Press Enter to apply
4. Filter matches are highlighted in red

Filter modes:

• Literal mode: Case-insensitive substring search (e.g., scranton matches "Scranton")
• Regex mode: Start with / for regex patterns (e.g., /^J matches names starting with J)
  • /\d+ - Contains digits
  • /sales|eng - Contains "sales" OR "eng"
  • /^test$ - Exactly "test"
  • All regex patterns are case-insensitive

Sorting

1. Navigate to any column
2. Press s to sort by that column
3. Press s again to toggle ascending/descending

Selection & Copy

1. Position cursor on starting cell
2. Hold Shift and use arrow keys to select a range
3. Press c to copy selection as tab-separated values
4. Paste anywhere with Ctrl+V

Requirements

• Python 3.12+
• DuckDB >= 1.1.0
• Urwid >= 2.1.0
• Pyperclip >= 1.9.0

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

Built with amazing open-source tools:

• DuckDB - Embedded analytics database
• Urwid - Lightweight terminal UI toolkit

Contact

Found a bug? Have a feature request? Open an issue!