rand-engine
Synthetic data, very fast, from a declarative RandSpec — for batch and streaming, on any platform. The core is Python + NumPy; Spark is supported, never required, and Faker composes on top.
Install
pip install rand-engine
pip install "rand-engine[faker]" # optional: Faker pools
30-second example
A spec maps each column to a method and its kwargs; the seed makes it reproducible.
from rand_engine import DataGenerator
spec = {
"user_id": {"method": "int_zfilled", "kwargs": {"length": 8}},
"age": {"method": "integers", "kwargs": {"min": 18, "max": 80}},
"plan": {"method": "distincts_prop", "kwargs": {"distincts": {"free": 8, "pro": 2}}},
"signup": {"method": "dates", "kwargs": {"start": "2024-01-01", "end": "2024-12-31"}},
}
df = DataGenerator(spec, seed=42).size(1_000).get_df()
assert df.shape == (1_000, 4) and df["age"].between(18, 80).all()
When to use it
- Test data for pipelines, with nulls and anomalies on demand.
- Related tables whose
pk and fk keys stay consistent across batches, streams and files.
- Event streams and files for queues, lakes, databases or Spark, at NumPy speed.
Get-started starters
rand-engine list prints six starters. Five are runnable examples: rand-engine get-started <slug> writes <slug>-example.py (also python -m rand_engine get-started <slug>, with --out DIR to choose the folder).
test-data: a DataFrame for pipeline tests with null_rate and anomaly_rate.lake: pk/fk related tables written to a Parquet lake.kafka: an event stream for Kafka, JSON lines to stdout by default.databricks: a Spark/Databricks notebook on native SparkGenerator.faker: Faker pools sampled at NumPy speed through RandSpecs.faker_pool.
The optional agent starter writes AGENTS.md with package-use context for an existing project:
rand-engine get-started agent --out PROJECT
It begins in 0.8.0 and does not overwrite an existing PROJECT/AGENTS.md; review and merge it with the project's own instructions.
Documentation and support
Full guides and the method reference live on the docs site. Start with compatibility, migration and recovery when choosing Python or Spark, and use the rand-engine skill or the Agent context starter for an AI agent.
Contributions use CONTRIBUTING.md; questions and ordinary bugs belong in GitHub Issues. Potential vulnerabilities use the private route in SECURITY.md.
