Does your Python package include sample datasets? Are you shipping
them with the code? Are they getting too big?

Pooch is here to help! It will manage a data registry by downloading
your data files from a server only when needed and storing them
locally in a data cache (a folder on your computer).

Here are Pooch's main features:

* Pure Python and minimal dependencies.
* Download a file only if necessary (it's not in the data cache
  or needs to be updated).
* Verify download integrity through SHA256 hashes (also used to
  check if a file needs to be updated).
* Designed to be extended: plug in custom download (FTP, scp,
  etc) and post-processing (unzip, decompress, rename) functions.
* Includes utilities to unzip/decompress the data upon download
  to save loading time.
* Can handle basic HTTP authentication (for servers that require
  a login) and printing download progress bars.
* Easily set up an environment variable to overwrite the data
  cache location.