Data File Viewer
View and explore binary data files directly in VS Code (and compatible editors like Cursor).
Supported File Types
.pkl / .pickle - Python Pickle files.h5 / .hdf5 - HDF5 files.parquet - Apache Parquet files.feather - Apache Feather files.joblib - Scikit-learn Joblib files.npy / .npz - NumPy array files.msgpack - MessagePack files.arrow - Apache Arrow files.avro - Apache Avro files.nc / .nc4 - NetCDF files.mat - MATLAB files
Features
- 🔍 Explore structure - Navigate nested data hierarchies
- 📊 Preview data - View arrays, dataframes, and objects
- 🔒 Safe viewing - Read-only access to your data files
- 🎨 Syntax highlighting - Clear visualization of data types
- ⚡ Fast loading - Efficient handling of large files
- 🎯 Simplify view - Toggle between detailed and simplified JSON views
- 📋 Copy to clipboard - Easily copy JSON data
- 🔄 Collapse/Expand - Control JSON view depth
Usage
Simply click on any supported file in your workspace. The extension will automatically open it in a custom viewer.
Security Note
⚠️ Pickle files warning: Opening .pkl and .joblib files executes Python code during deserialization. Only open pickle files from trusted sources.
Requirements
Python 3.7 or higher must be installed on your system.
First-Time Setup
When you first open a data file, the extension will:
- Automatically create its own isolated Python environment
- Ask permission to install required packages (one-time setup)
- Install packages in its own environment (doesn't affect your global Python!)
That's it! The setup takes ~2-3 minutes the first time, then works forever.
Why This Approach?
- ✅ Isolated: Doesn't pollute your global Python packages
- ✅ Persistent: Packages installed once, work everywhere
- ✅ Clean: Uninstall the extension = removes everything
- ✅ No conflicts: Won't interfere with your projects
Extension Settings
Currently, this extension works out of the box with no configuration needed.
Known Issues
- Very large files (>1GB) may take time to load
- Some custom pickle objects may not serialize to JSON properly
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on GitHub.
License
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
Support
If you find this extension useful, please:
- Star the repository on GitHub
- Leave a review on the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX
- Report bugs or suggest features
- Contribute code or documentation
