# Hugging Face Hub review

> Hugging Face Hub is the official CLI and Python client for downloading, uploading and managing models, datasets and Spaces on the Hugging Face Hub.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/hf-hub/

## TL;DR

Hugging Face Hub (huggingface_hub) is the official Python library and hf CLI for the Hugging Face Hub. It is for developers who download or publish models, datasets and Spaces, run inference, or run jobs on Hugging Face infrastructure. Both interfaces ship in one package and are designed to work for humans and AI coding agents.

## Hugging Face Hub at a glance

- **Category:** [Model SDKs and gateways](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/model-sdks-and-gateways/)
- **Maintained by:** Hugging Face (organization, [@huggingface](https://github.com/huggingface) on GitHub)
- **License:** Apache 2.0
- **Language:** Python, Shell, PowerShell
- **Repository:** [github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub](https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub)
- **Website:** [huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub](https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub)
- **npm package:** [@huggingface/hub](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@huggingface/hub) 2.17.8
- **PyPI package:** [huggingface_hub](https://pypi.org/project/huggingface_hub/) 2.2.0
- **Latest release:** [@huggingface/hub 2.17.8](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@huggingface/hub) on npm, Oct 15, 2026
- **First published:** Dec 22, 2020

## What Hugging Face Hub does

- Hugging Face Hub downloads single files or entire repositories from the Hub into a local cache folder.
- Hugging Face Hub creates repositories and uploads files or whole folders to models, datasets or Spaces.
- Hugging Face Hub runs inference on deployed models and lists models served by Inference Providers.
- Hugging Face Hub runs jobs on Hugging Face infrastructure, including automatic retries, reruns and scheduled job rescheduling.
- Hugging Face Hub syncs local folders to storage buckets with the hf buckets sync command.
- Hugging Face Hub searches models, datasets and Spaces, shares model cards, and handles community PRs and comments.
- Hugging Face Hub deduplicates Xet files across repos in its cache, storing each file once and symlinking it.

### How it works

Hugging Face Hub ships one package with two interfaces: the hf CLI for the terminal and the huggingface_hub Python library. You authenticate with a Hub token, then download, upload, search or run jobs against the Hugging Face Hub. Large files use Xet, the Hub's chunk-deduplicated storage backend. The CLI adapts its output when run by a coding agent, and an optional MCP module is available.

## How to install Hugging Face Hub

**hf CLI on macOS and Linux**

```
curl -LsSf https://hf.co/cli/install.sh | bash
```

**hf CLI on Windows**

```
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://hf.co/cli/install.ps1 | iex"
```

**Python library with pip**

```
pip install huggingface_hub
```

### Requirements

- Python 3.10 or later for the huggingface_hub package.
- A Hugging Face Hub token to authenticate applications.
- The separate @huggingface/hub npm package requires Node.js 18 or later.

### First steps

1. Log in with hf auth login, or pass --token $HF_TOKEN in non-interactive environments.
2. Download a model with hf download Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B.
3. Upload files to your own repo with hf upload username/my-cool-model ./model.safetensors.
4. Run hf --help to discover the other commands.

## Who Hugging Face Hub is for

- Python developers who download pre-trained models and datasets from the Hugging Face Hub.
- ML practitioners publishing models, datasets or Spaces and documenting them with model cards.
- Developers using coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor with Hub workflows.
- ML library authors who want Hub hosting and versioning for their users' models.

### Limitations

- Hugging Face Hub v2.0 moved its HTTP stack to httpx2, so custom client factories and transport-error handlers must use httpx2 types.
- Hugging Face Hub keeps the default package minimal; features such as the MCP module need optional dependencies.
- Hugging Face Hub's Validating progress bar for large Xet uploads requires hf-xet>=1.6.0.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Board rank: #169 overall, #6 in Model SDKs and gateways, momentum score 49
- Downloads that week: 68.3M (+11% vs 4-week average)
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: 18; Aug 16: 24; Aug 23: 26; Aug 30: 18; Sep 6: 16; Sep 13: 22; Sep 20: 31; Sep 27: 13; Oct 4: 20; Oct 11: 18; Oct 18: 19; Oct 25: 24

## Hugging Face Hub alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [thinking-orbs](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/jakubantalik-thinking-orbs/) | 3.9k | 1.4M |
| #2 | [Headroom](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/headroomlabs-ai-headroom/) | 78.5k | 125.8k |
| #3 | [LiteLLM](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/litellm/) | 62.5k | 23.1M |
| #4 | [Honcho](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/plastic-labs-honcho/) | 7.9k | – |
| #5 | [Anthropic SDK](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/anthropic-sdk/) | 4k | 111M |
| #7 | [OpenAI SDK](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/openai-sdk/) | 32k | 141.3M |

## Hugging Face Hub FAQ

### Is Hugging Face Hub free and open source?

Yes. Hugging Face Hub's source code is on GitHub (huggingface/huggingface_hub) under the Apache 2.0 license, so you can use it for free. Its website also links to a pricing page (https://huggingface.co/pricing) for any paid plans.

### How do I install Hugging Face Hub?

Run `curl -LsSf https://hf.co/cli/install.sh | bash`. It needs Node.js >=18. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

### Is Hugging Face Hub still maintained?

Yes. The huggingface/huggingface_hub repository was last updated on Oct 21, 2026, and the latest release, @huggingface/hub 2.17.8 on npm, came out on Oct 15, 2026.

### How popular is Hugging Face Hub?

Hugging Face Hub has 4k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 24 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 21 a week. Its main package had about 68.3M downloads that week, +11% against its own 4-week average. That made it #6 among LLM SDKs and gateways on the Devtoolwatch Board.

### What are the best alternatives to Hugging Face Hub?

Other LLM SDKs and gateways on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: thinking-orbs (#1), Headroom (#2), LiteLLM (#3), Honcho (#4), Anthropic SDK (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

### What is Hugging Face Hub?

Hugging Face Hub (huggingface_hub) is the official CLI and Python client for the Hugging Face Hub, a platform for sharing machine learning models, datasets and demos. It ships the hf CLI and the Python library in one package.

### What is Hugging Face Hub used for?

Hugging Face Hub is used to download and upload files, manage repositories, run inference on deployed models, run jobs on Hugging Face infrastructure, search models, datasets and Spaces, share model cards, and engage with the community through PRs and comments.

### Does Hugging Face Hub work with AI coding agents?

Yes. The hf CLI adapts its output when run by an agent. The hf skills add command installs a CLI Skill for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Pi and any agent that loads skills from .agents/skills.

### Where does Hugging Face Hub store downloaded files?

Hugging Face Hub downloads files into a local cache folder. Since v1.32.0, Xet files are stored once in a shared blob store, and each repo that needs them gets a relative symlink.

### How do I authenticate with Hugging Face Hub?

Hugging Face Hub uses tokens to authenticate applications. Run hf auth login to log in, or use --token $HF_TOKEN in non-interactive environments.

## Sources

1. [huggingface/huggingface_hub on GitHub](https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub)
2. [Hugging Face Hub README](https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub/blob/main/README.md)
3. [@huggingface/hub on npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@huggingface/hub)
4. [huggingface_hub on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/huggingface_hub/)
5. [Hugging Face Hub website](https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub)
6. [Release v2.2.0 (Oct 8, 2026)](https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub/releases/tag/v2.2.0)
7. [Release v2.1.1 (Oct 1, 2026)](https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub/releases/tag/v2.1.1)
8. [Release v2.1.0 (Oct 1, 2026)](https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub/releases/tag/v2.1.0)
9. [Hacker News: Qwen 3.8 27B](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49299605)
10. [Hacker News: Kimi-K3 on HuggingFace](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49065752)
11. [Hacker News: DeepSeek-v3.2: Pushing the frontier of open large language models [pdf]](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46108780)
12. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)