HuggingFace Releases CDN Speedtest CLI Extension
Hugging Face CTO Julien Chaumond released a CLI extension for measuring download speeds from the HF CDN. The tool installs via 'hf extensions install julien-c/hf-speedtest' and executes with 'hf speedtest'. This follows the existing HuggingFace CLI extension pattern, allowing developers to benchmark CDN performance for model/dataset downloads. The repo julien-c/hf-speedtest contains the implementation.
HuggingFace Releases CDN Speedtest CLI Extension
HuggingFace CTO Julien Chaumond released a lightweight CLI tool (hf-speedtest) that benchmarks your download performance from the HuggingFace CDN. Install via hf extensions install julien-c/hf-speedtest and run with hf speedtest to diagnose slow model/dataset downloads.
Integration Strategy
When to Use This?
Practical use cases:
- Diagnosing intermittent slow downloads in CI/CD pipelines
- Verifying CDN routing after network infrastructure changes
- Comparing download speeds across different geographic locations
- Troubleshooting "why does this model download take forever?" moments
- Validating corporate proxy or VPN CDN bypass settings
How to Integrate?
- Prerequisites: Python 3.8+,
huggingface_hubinstalled - Installation: Single command extension install
- Usage: Run before large model downloads to establish baseline expectations
- Automation: Can be scripted into CI workflows for monitoring
Migration path: None needed—this is an additive diagnostic tool, not a replacement for existing download methods.
Compatibility
| Component | Status |
|---|---|
| huggingface_hub | ≥0.20.0 (inferred) |
| Python | 3.8+ (standard HF CLI) |
| OS | Cross-platform (Linux/macOS/Windows) |
| Auth required | No (anonymous CDN access) |
Source: @huggingface Reference: julien-c/hf-speedtest (inferred) Published: November 2024 DevRadar Analysis Date: 2026-05-10