The library is maintained by Nael Shiab, computational journalist and senior data producer at CBC News.

You might also find the journalism library and Code Like a Journalist interesting.

To quickly get started with simple-data-analysis, create a folder and run:

# Deno >= 2.2.x
deno -A jsr:@nshiab/setup-sda

# Node.js >= 22.6.x
npx setup-sda

# Bun
bunx --bun setup-sda

Here are the different options:

• --claude or --gemini or --copilot: Adds a CLAUDE.md or GEMINI.md or .github/copilot-instructions.md file and extra documentation in ./docs to work efficiently with AI agents.
• --example: Adds example files.
• --scrape: Adds web scraping dependencies.
• --svelte: Adds a Svelte project.
• --pages: Adds a GitHub Pages Actions workflow (works only with --svelte).
• --git: Initializes a git repository and commits the initial files.
• --env: Creates a .env file for environment variables and loads them when running.
• --course: Installs specific versions of libraries (simple-data-analysis, journalism, and plot) for compatibility with the Code Like a Journalist course.

You can combine options. For example, this command will install web scraping dependencies, set up a Svelte project with example files, initialize a git repository and make the first commit, add a GitHub Pages Actions workflow, and create a .env file:

deno -A jsr:@nshiab/setup-sda --scrape --svelte --example --pages --git --env