python-package-size-analyzer

Find and list installed Python packages sorted by size (largest first) so you can quickly identify heavy dependencies to uninstall or move to a virtual environment.

Why This Script?

• Single-file, zero dependencies – pure Python stdlib only.
• Fast insight – instant overview of what is bloating your global / root Python installation.
• Actionable output – largest packages first so you can prune immediately.
• Portable – works anywhere standard site module is available (Windows, macOS, Linux).

Unique Selling Point: You do not need to install anything (no pip install step). Just run it.

Features

• Recursively calculates total on-disk size for each package directory under all discovered site-packages locations
• Human‑readable MB output, aligned in a clean table
• Sorts automatically (largest → smallest)
• Ignores unreadable files gracefully (permission or transient I/O errors)

Quick Start

python size.py

Example output:

Package                                     Size (MB)
----------------------------------------------------
numpy                                          137.42
pandas                                          62.77
matplotlib                                      35.19
scipy                                           31.04
pip                                             12.11
setuptools                                      11.45
...                                             ...

(Your numbers will differ based on what is installed.)

When To Use This

• Before committing a base Docker image – trim unnecessary global packages
• Cleaning up a bloated system Python install on Windows
• Auditing a CI agent or build server
• Deciding which libraries to move into a virtual environment

How It Works

The script:

1. Uses site.getsitepackages() (or falls back to site.getusersitepackages())
2. Walks every directory directly inside each detected site-packages
3. Sums file sizes with os.walk
4. Outputs a sorted table (descending by size)

No heuristics, no partial sampling – full recursive byte size per package directory.

Uninstalling Large Packages (Manual Examples)

Once you identify large packages you don't need globally:

pip uninstall package_name

Or prefer isolating heavy libs:

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows
pip install big_package_only_when_needed

FAQ

Q: Does it follow symlinks?
A: It traverses directories as presented by os.walk; typical site-packages rarely use large symlinks. Symlinked entries count the file they point to if resolved by the OS.

Q: Will this break anything?
A: It is read-only; it only walks and sums file sizes.

Q: Can I export JSON?
A: Not in this minimal version (by design). You can pipe to a file and parse manually if needed.

Q: Why not use pip list --format=...?
A: pip does not provide recursive on-disk size summaries out-of-the-box.

Lightweight Extensibility Ideas (Optional)

If you fork it, you could add:

• --top N flag
• --min-mb filter
• CSV / JSON output
• Total cumulative size banner Keep changes minimal to preserve the zero-dependency ethos.

Contributing

This is intentionally small. Feel free to open:

• Clear bug reports (unexpected size anomalies, cross-platform edge cases)
• Tiny PRs improving readability of documentation

Please avoid feature bloat.

License

MIT – see LICENSE file.

Badge Zone

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SEO-Keywords

Python package size analyzer, list largest python packages, site-packages disk usage, python dependency bloat, remove large python packages, clean global python install, python script no dependencies, package size audit.

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