datamodel-code-generator is a free, open source api development & testing project written in Python and released under MIT. It has 4,019 GitHub stars, 460 forks and 23 open issues, and was last pushed 21 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #61 of 154 tracked projects in API Development & Testing, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available.

datamodel-code-generator

🚀 Generate Python data models from schema definitions in seconds.

📚 Documentation · 🧪 Playground · 💼 Lead maintainer available for work

[!NOTE] Playground privacy: Generation runs locally in your browser with Pyodide. Your schema and options are not sent to a backend. Shared repro URLs encode them in the URL fragment (#state=...), which browsers do not send to the server; the full URL can still be stored in your browser history or wherever you share it.

PyPI version Conda-forge Downloads PyPI - Python Version codecov license Pydantic v2

✨ What it does

Pick any one of the supported inputs and pick the Python model style you want as output. --input-model path/to/file.py:ClassName can even retarget an existing Pydantic, dataclass, or TypedDict class defined in another Python file to a different output type.

  • 📄 Converts OpenAPI 3, AsyncAPI, JSON Schema, Apache Avro, XML Schema, Protocol Buffers/gRPC, GraphQL, MCP tool schemas, and raw data (JSON/YAML/CSV) into Python models
  • 🐍 Generates from existing Python types (Pydantic, dataclass, TypedDict) via --input-model
  • 🎯 Generates Pydantic v2, Pydantic v2 dataclass, dataclasses, TypedDict, or msgspec output
  • 🔗 Handles complex schemas: $ref, allOf, oneOf, anyOf, enums, and nested types
  • ✅ Produces type-safe, validated code ready for your IDE and type checker

📦 Installation

Recommended for standalone CLI use:

uv tool install datamodel-code-generator

Conda users can install from conda-forge:

conda install -c conda-forge datamodel-code-generator

For projects that should pin the generator version, add it as a development dependency instead:

uv add --dev datamodel-code-generator

[!NOTE] Community-maintained distribution packages are also available from Debian, Ubuntu, nixpkgs, and openSUSE Tumbleweed. Availability and versions vary by distribution.

Other installation methods

pip:

pip install datamodel-code-generator

uv (run without adding to project):

uv run --with datamodel-code-generator datamodel-codegen --help

With stable HTTP support (for resolving remote $ref):

pip install 'datamodel-code-generator[http]'

The http extra is supported and is not deprecated. To require the experimental HTTPX2 backend instead, install datamodel-code-generator[httpx2] and pass --http-backend httpx2. The experimental extra is not included in datamodel-code-generator[all]. See HTTP backend selection for automatic and explicit selection behavior.

With GraphQL support:

pip install 'datamodel-code-generator[graphql]'

With Protocol Buffers support:

pip install 'datamodel-code-generator[protobuf]'

Docker:

docker pull koxudaxi/datamodel-code-generator

Published Docker images run as a non-root appuser. When writing generated files to a bind-mounted directory, make sure the directory is writable by the container user or pass an explicit Docker user, for example --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)".


🏃 Quick Start

Command

datamodel-codegen \
  --input schema.json \
  --input-file-type jsonschema \
  --output-model-type pydantic_v2.BaseModel \
  --preset standard-py312-20260909 \
  --output model.py

This quick start uses standard-py312-20260909 as the modern Python 3.12 baseline. Preset names include the target Python version: py312 means Python 3.12.

See CLI Reference for all options. See Presets, --preset, --input-file-type, and --output-model-type for this command.

For more schema-aware output that preserves schema-authored names, reuses models, and embeds generated documentation, use practical-py312-20260909.

Input (schema.json)
{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "title": "Pet",
  "type": "object",
  "required": ["name"],
  "properties": {
    "name": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The pet's name"
    },
    "species": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["dog", "cat", "bird", "fish"],
      "default": "dog"
    },
    "age": {
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Age in years"
    },
    "vaccinated": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "default": false
    }
  }
}

Output (model.py)

# generated by datamodel-codegen:
#   filename:  schema.json

from __future__ import annotations

from enum import StrEnum
from typing import Annotated

from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field


class Species(StrEnum):
    dog = 'dog'
    cat = 'cat'
    bird = 'bird'
    fish = 'fish'


class Pet(BaseModel):
    model_config = ConfigDict(
        populate_by_name=True,
    )
    name: Annotated[str, Field(description="The pet's name")]
    species: Species = Species.dog
    age: Annotated[int | None, Field(description='Age in years', ge=0)] = None
    vaccinated: bool = False

Choose a formatter

Choose a formatter to match your project and generation priorities:

  • Projects using Ruff: use --formatters ruff-check ruff-format to keep generated code consistent with the project's formatting and lint policy. Install it with pip install 'datamodel-code-generator[ruff]'.
  • No Ruff, Black, or isort, or generation speed is the priority: use --formatters builtin to avoid running external formatters on standard generated model modules.
  • Projects using Black/isort: keep --formatters black isort to preserve the project's formatting and existing generated output.

The current default remains Black/isort, which are still required dependencies. Omitting formatter options continues normal generation. The future builtin default is intended to reduce required installation dependencies and version constraints; Ruff will still be recommended for projects that use Ruff. Formatters are never selected automatically based on installed packages or Ruff configuration. The new [black] and [isort] extras prepare for later optional installation; their ranges and environment markers match the current required dependencies. Selecting only a formatter preserves your other generation settings; a preset also supplies model-generation options. Explicit formatter selection does not pin formatter v

readme truncated — read the full docs on github

Frequently asked questions

Is datamodel-code-generator free to use?

datamodel-code-generator is open source under the MIT licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does datamodel-code-generator do?

Generate Pydantic v2 models, dataclasses, TypedDict, and msgspec.Struct from OpenAPI, JSON Schema, GraphQL, Avro, Protobuf, and raw JSON/YAML/CSV.

What is datamodel-code-generator written in?

datamodel-code-generator is primarily written in Python. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/datamodel-code-generator/datamodel-code-generator, and it has 4,019 GitHub stars.