shcl

Simple Hierarchical Config Language. Forgiving to write, predictable to read.

Values are stored as plain text and coerced only when your code asks for a type, so a config file can never silently decide that NO means false. A bad line is skipped or repaired with a diagnostic instead of taking down the whole file.

Pure standard library, no dependencies, one module. Held byte-for-byte against the Rust reference by a shared conformance corpus.

Install

pip install shcl

Use

from shcl import Document, Status

with open("server.shcl", encoding="utf-8") as f:
	doc = Document.parse(f.read())

# One call, a typed value, a visible fallback at the call site.
limit = doc.get_int("site[example.com].max-upload-mb", default=10)

# Or ask why a read failed: Good, Empty, NotFound, BadType, Multiple.
r = doc.read_int("site[example.com].max-upload-mb")
if r.status is not Status.Good:
	print(r.status, r.raw)

# Wildcards read across instances, with a status per slot.
roots = doc.read_string_array("site[*].root")

Document.parse never raises. When you want a hard error instead, use Document.parse_with(text, Strictness.Strict), which raises LoadError. A get_* call with no default= raises StatusError rather than inventing a value.

Also here: merge for layered config (defaults, site, user), validate against a schema that is itself a SHCL file, a full writer, and a canonical formatter that preserves comments.

Python 3.9 or newer.

Compatibility

Bindings are versioned in lockstep, so 1.x is the same behavior in every language. shcl~=1.0 picks up minor and patch releases on its own and never crosses a major version.

The CLI

This package is the library only. The shcl command ships as a prebuilt binary and as .deb/.rpm/Windows packages - see https://github.com/jim-collier/shcl.

Docs

Language spec, formal grammar, and the other bindings: https://github.com/jim-collier/shcl

License

MIT. SHCL™ is a trademark of Jim Collier - see the trademark policy.