---
title: "Profile and triage messy tabular files from the terminal with VisiData"
description: "Inspect CSV, TSV, JSON, and parquet drops interactively, spot suspicious columns fast, and decide the next cleanup step without opening a spreadsheet."
verification: "listed"
source: "https://github.com/saulpw/visidata"
author: "saulpw"
publisher_type: "individual"
category:
  - "Data Extraction & Transformation"
framework:
  - "Multi-Framework"
tool_ecosystem:
  github_repo: "saulpw/visidata"
  github_stars: 9025
---

# Profile and triage messy tabular files from the terminal with VisiData

Inspect CSV, TSV, JSON, and parquet drops interactively, spot suspicious columns fast, and decide the next cleanup step without opening a spreadsheet.

## Prerequisites

Python 3, VisiData, tabular data files

## Installation

Choose whichever fits your setup:

1. Copy this skill folder into your local skills directory.
2. Clone the repo and symlink or copy the skill into your agent workspace.
3. Add the repo as a git submodule if you manage shared skills centrally.
4. Install it through your internal provisioning or packaging workflow.
5. Download the folder directly from GitHub and place it in your skills collection.

Install command or upstream instructions:

```
Install with `pip install visidata` or your preferred package manager, then open files with `vd data.csv` or another supported format and use profiling, selection, and aggregation commands to drive cleanup decisions.
```

## Documentation

- https://www.visidata.org/

## Source

- [Agent Skill Exchange](https://agentskillexchange.com/skills/profile-and-triage-messy-tabular-files-from-the-terminal-with-visidata/)