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Performance tips

In most cases Pydantic won't be your bottle neck, only follow this if you're sure it's necessary.

Use model_validate_json() not model_validate(json.loads(...))

On model_validate(json.loads(...)), the JSON is parsed in Python, then converted to a dict, then it's validated internally. On the other hand, model_validate_json() already performs the validation internally.

TypeAdapter instantiated once

The idea here is to avoid constructing validators and serializers more than necessary. Each time a TypeAdapter is instantiated, it will construct a new validator and serializer. If you're using a TypeAdapter in a function, it will be instantiated each time the function is called. Instead, instantiate it once, and reuse it.

from typing import List

from pydantic import TypeAdapter


def my_func():
    adapter = TypeAdapter(List[int])
    # do something with adapter
from typing import List

from pydantic import TypeAdapter

adapter = TypeAdapter(List[int])

def my_func():
    ...
    # do something with adapter

Sequence vs list or tuple - Mapping vs dict

When using Sequence, Pydantic calls isinstance(value, Sequence) to check if the value is a sequence. Also, Pydantic will try to validate against different types of sequences, like list and tuple. If you know the value is a list or tuple, use list or tuple instead of Sequence.

The same applies to Mapping and dict. If you know the value is a dict, use dict instead of Mapping.

Don't do validation when you don't have to - use Any to keep the value unchanged

If you don't need to validate a value, use Any to keep the value unchanged.

from typing import Any

from pydantic import BaseModel


class Model(BaseModel):
    a: Any


model = Model(a=1)

Avoid extra information via subclasses of primitives

class CompletedStr(str):
    def __init__(self, s: str):
        self.s = s
        self.done = False
from pydantic import BaseModel


class CompletedModel(BaseModel):
    s: str
    done: bool = False

Use tagged union, not union

Tagged union (or discriminated union) is a union with a field that indicates which type it is.

from typing import Any

from typing_extensions import Literal

from pydantic import BaseModel, Field


class DivModel(BaseModel):
    el_type: Literal['div'] = 'div'
    class_name: str | None = None
    children: list[Any] | None = None


class SpanModel(BaseModel):
    el_type: Literal['span'] = 'span'
    class_name: str | None = None
    contents: str | None = None


class ButtonModel(BaseModel):
    el_type: Literal['button'] = 'button'
    class_name: str | None = None
    contents: str | None = None


class InputModel(BaseModel):
    el_type: Literal['input'] = 'input'
    class_name: str | None = None
    value: str | None = None


class Html(BaseModel):
    contents: DivModel | SpanModel | ButtonModel | InputModel = Field(
        discriminator='el_type'
    )

See Discriminated Unions for more details.

Use Literal not Enum

Instead of using Enum, use Literal to define the structure of the data.

Performance comparison

With a simple benchmark, Literal is about ~3x faster than Enum:

import enum
from timeit import timeit

from typing_extensions import Literal

from pydantic import TypeAdapter

ta = TypeAdapter(Literal['a', 'b'])
result1 = timeit(lambda: ta.validate_python('a'), number=10000)


class AB(str, enum.Enum):
    a = 'a'
    b = 'b'


ta = TypeAdapter(AB)
result2 = timeit(lambda: ta.validate_python('a'), number=10000)
print(result2 / result1)

Use TypedDict over nested models

Instead of using nested models, use TypedDict to define the structure of the data.

Performance comparison

With a simple benchmark, TypedDict is about ~2.5x faster than nested models:

from timeit import timeit

from typing_extensions import TypedDict

from pydantic import BaseModel, TypeAdapter


class A(TypedDict):
    a: str
    b: int


class TypedModel(TypedDict):
    a: A


class B(BaseModel):
    a: str
    b: int


class Model(BaseModel):
    b: B


ta = TypeAdapter(TypedModel)
result1 = timeit(
    lambda: ta.validate_python({'a': {'a': 'a', 'b': 2}}), number=10000
)
result2 = timeit(
    lambda: Model.model_validate({'b': {'a': 'a', 'b': 2}}), number=10000
)
print(result2 / result1)

Avoid wrap validators if you really care about performance