# box/spout

Read and write spreadsheet files (CSV, XLSX and ODS), in a fast and scalable way

Repository: https://github.com/box/spout
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/spout
Homepage: http://opensource.box.com/spout/
Language: PHP
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: php, xlsx, ods, csv, spreadsheet, writer, reader, memory-efficient, fast, scalable
Archived: true
Last push: 2022-05-26T13:51:48+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4250, "days_push": 1560, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4230, forks 637 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:39.440610+00:00)

## What it is
Spout is a PHP library for reading and writing spreadsheet files (CSV, XLSX, ODS) using a streaming approach that keeps memory usage under 3MB regardless of file size. It provides a unified, developer-friendly API across all three formats.

## Use cases
- read large xlsx files in php without running out of memory
- generate xlsx spreadsheets with millions of rows
- export database data to csv or ods
- stream-process huge spreadsheet files
- read csv files with custom delimiters and encodings
- convert between csv, xlsx and ods formats

## When to choose
- you need to process very large spreadsheets with minimal memory in PHP
- you want a simple unified API for reading/writing CSV, XLSX and ODS
- you don't need charts or formula support

## When to avoid
- you need charts, formulas, or cell styling support
- you need an actively maintained library with bug fixes
- you're not working in PHP

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: abandoned
- function: parser, csv, file-system, data-science
- domain: spreadsheets, files, developer-tools
- platform: php, cli, cross-platform
- tags: xlsx, ods, spreadsheet-reader, spreadsheet-writer, streaming, memory-efficient, archived, data-engineering

## Member repositories
- box/spout (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:39.440610+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:22:20.867160+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/box/spout (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:39.440610+00:00, sha 5fdf2e448c2e)
  - homepage: http://opensource.box.com/spout/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:12:20.384718+00:00, sha acd9a24b0cec)
  - site_page: https://opensource.box.com/spout/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T09:12:20.387180+00:00, sha 1888e85dc5f1)
  - site_page: https://opensource.box.com/spout/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T09:12:20.389148+00:00, sha e6b1c1e7b553)
  - site_page: https://opensource.box.com/spout/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T09:12:20.391126+00:00, sha cedb5956e439)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.