R Mailing List Data

A collection of R mailing list archives in Parquet format, ready for analysis in R, Python, or any language with Parquet support.

Data is sourced from the R Mailing Lists archive project and updated automatically. You can also browse the archives at archives.rstats.dev.

Quick start

R

Requires jsonlite and nanoparquet. Source the helper script directly from GitHub:

source("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/r-mailing-lists/data/main/scripts/rml.R")

# See available lists
rml_available()

# Read only metadata columns (skips body text — much faster)
r_devel <- rml_read("r-devel",
  col_select = c("from_name", "date", "subject", "thread_id", "month"))

# Top 10 posters in the last year
recent <- r_devel[r_devel$date >= as.POSIXct(Sys.Date() - 365), ]
head(sort(table(recent$from_name), decreasing = TRUE), 10)

# Message counts per list (thread summaries — single small download)
threads <- rml_read_threads(col_select = c("list", "message_count"))
aggregate(message_count ~ list, data = threads, FUN = sum)

# Top contributors across all lists
contribs <- rml_read_contributors()
head(contribs[order(-contribs$message_count), ], 10)

Python

Requires polars. Download the helper script:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/r-mailing-lists/data/main/scripts/rml.py

from rml import rml_available, rml_read, rml_read_threads, rml_read_contributors
import polars as pl

# See available lists
rml_available()

# Read a single list (downloads and caches parquet files automatically)
r_devel = rml_read("r-devel")

# Top 10 posters in 2025
(r_devel
   .filter(pl.col("date").dt.year() == 2025)
   .group_by("from_name")
   .len()
   .sort("len", descending=True)
   .head(10))

# Message counts per list (thread summaries — single small download)
(rml_read_threads()
   .group_by("list")
   .agg(pl.col("message_count").sum())
   .sort("message_count", descending=True))

# Top contributors across all lists
(rml_read_contributors()
   .sort("message_count", descending=True)
   .head(20))

Working with local files

The Parquet files are published as assets of the parquet release, not committed to the repository. To keep local copies, download them with the GitHub CLI:

gh release download parquet --repo r-mailing-lists/data --dir data

and read them directly:

# R
library(nanoparquet)
r_devel <- read_parquet("data/r-devel.parquet")

# Python
import polars as pl
r_devel = pl.read_parquet("data/r-devel.parquet")

Any single file is also available at https://github.com/r-mailing-lists/data/releases/download/parquet/<file>.

For more in-depth analysis examples (message volume trends, top contributors), see the demo analysis.

Data overview

1,043,317 messages across 287 mailing lists

List	Messages	Authors	First Message	Last Message
r-help	398,806	36,565	Apr 1997	Nov 2026
r-devel	63,744	5,577	Apr 1997	Oct 2026
bioconductor	61,316	7,259	Nov 2001	Sep 2014
r-sig-geo	29,588	3,456	Jul 2003	Oct 2026
stan-users	26,736	1,416	Aug 2012	Jun 2017
s-news	23,817	4,035	Feb 1998	Dec 2010
lavaan	23,446	3,177	Sep 2012	Oct 2026
shiny-discuss	23,336	3,762	Nov 2012	Jan 2024
bioc-devel	21,557	1,700	Mar 2004	Oct 2026
ggplot2	21,320	3,063	Nov 2008	Jan 2025
r-sig-mixed-models	20,675	3,092	Jan 2007	Oct 2026
r-br	20,633	1,057	Mar 2011	Oct 2025
r-inla-discussion-group	16,090	1,682	Feb 2011	Oct 2026
r-help-es	15,408	899	Mar 2009	Sep 2026
r-sig-finance	15,317	2,132	Jun 2004	Oct 2026
r-sig-mac	15,123	1,721	Jan 1970	Oct 2026
stan-dev	14,007	73	Nov 2011	Dec 2016
r-package-devel	12,406	1,129	May 2015	Oct 2026
rcpp-devel	11,011	794	Nov 2009	May 2026
unmarked	7,731	1,059	Feb 2010	Oct 2026
r-sig-ecology	7,619	1,318	Apr 2008	Oct 2026
distance-sampling	6,855	1,278	Sep 1998	Oct 2026
r-sig-phylo	6,510	1,035	Feb 2008	Oct 2026
shinyapps-users	6,426	1,537	Nov 2013	Sep 2018
rkward-devel	6,143	418	Nov 2002	Sep 2025
nimble-users	5,839	588	Jul 2014	Oct 2026
r-sig-meta-analysis	5,655	551	Jun 2017	Oct 2026
mirt-package	5,602	667	Apr 2013	Apr 2026
aroma-affymetrix	4,763	548	Feb 2007	Feb 2021
rqtl-disc	4,744	626	Sep 2004	Oct 2026
rpy-list	3,768	499	Jan 2004	Jun 2021
r-sig-debian	3,678	501	Feb 2005	Sep 2026
davis-rug	3,651	365	Sep 2012	May 2026
geomorph-r-package	3,641	394	Jul 2016	Oct 2026
rpackageggir	3,417	525	Nov 2014	Jul 2025
datatable-help	3,415	439	Mar 2010	Apr 2018
israel-r-user-group	3,141	204	Aug 2009	Mar 2021
methylkit-discussion	3,131	532	May 2013	Jul 2026
statnet-help	3,102	592	Apr 2006	Jun 2026
ctmm-user	3,007	418	Feb 2017	Oct 2026
manipulatr	2,804	528	Mar 2009	Dec 2023
msstats	2,636	391	Jan 2014	Oct 2026
secrgroup	2,549	335	Nov 2013	Oct 2026
debian-r	2,474	129	Feb 2018	Oct 2026
dartr	2,425	272	Nov 2018	Sep 2026
bioc-sig-sequencing	2,295	227	Feb 2008	Sep 2011
rhadoop	2,167	385	Feb 2012	May 2016
r-sig-hpc	2,152	382	Oct 2008	Dec 2024
adegenet-forum	1,994	453	Feb 2008	Feb 2025
hmecology	1,965	342	Dec 2012	Oct 2026
knitr	1,964	339	Jan 2012	Oct 2023
stats-rosuda-devel	1,938	358	Sep 2006	Jul 2017
grass-stats	1,892	189	May 2001	Nov 2024
taiwanruser	1,774	417	Feb 2012	Sep 2026
biogeobears	1,636	256	Oct 2013	Oct 2026
camtrapr	1,626	304	Dec 2016	Oct 2026
bioc-ggtree	1,586	392	Mar 2016	Nov 2025
r-sig-db	1,559	391	Apr 2001	Nov 2020
deducer	1,538	295	Aug 2009	May 2022
blavaan	1,472	165	Feb 2016	Apr 2026
rhipe	1,461	176	Nov 2009	May 2016
rkward-users	1,446	158	Apr 2007	Oct 2025
simmer-devel	1,399	123	Apr 2016	Sep 2024
genabel-devel	1,350	64	Nov 2010	Dec 2018
r-packages	1,347	570	Sep 2003	Oct 2026
rattle-users	1,339	306	Aug 2006	Aug 2024
renjin-dev	1,327	222	Aug 2011	Mar 2023
tmb-users	1,323	178	Jun 2016	Oct 2026
genomic-sem-users	1,284	206	Sep 2018	Oct 2026
r-sig-gui	1,236	262	Oct 2002	Feb 2018
sparkr-dev	1,226	93	Aug 2014	Sep 2019
rapache	1,198	231	May 2009	Aug 2019
gsoc-r	1,181	261	Mar 2010	Jul 2026
rqtl2-disc	1,180	149	Sep 2017	Sep 2026
corpling-with-r	1,170	155	Nov 2006	Jul 2024
r-lang	1,161	201	Mar 2007	Nov 2019
nichemapr	1,160	134	Feb 2016	Oct 2026
zelig	1,085	259	Feb 2007	Apr 2015
seewave	1,071	258	Apr 2010	Aug 2025
brms-users	1,042	143	Jan 2017	Jun 2018
poppr	1,018	214	Mar 2014	Apr 2025
amelia	983	301	Apr 2002	Apr 2013
cardinalmsi	950	134	Feb 2015	Mar 2025
r-sig-fedora	931	129	May 2008	Apr 2026
braingraph-help	892	88	Dec 2015	May 2025
r-sig-teaching	886	222	Oct 2006	Sep 2026
rkoholiki	852	93	Nov 2009	Dec 2025
subread	839	136	Jul 2013	Apr 2021
wallaceecomod	839	179	Jan 2017	Sep 2026
ggplot2-dev	832	56	Dec 2011	Mar 2017
r-swat	786	154	Aug 2021	Oct 2026
rropen	775	217	Oct 2014	May 2016
rmetrics-core	741	220	Sep 2007	Nov 2017
fieldimager	725	102	Mar 2020	Mar 2026
phylobase-devl	724	28	Feb 2008	Apr 2014
r-announce	715	111	Apr 1997	Oct 2026
r-sig-dynamic-models	697	159	Oct 2009	Mar 2026
sequenza-user-group	694	156	Aug 2014	Oct 2026
r-sig-epi	677	166	Nov 2005	Oct 2026
ggvis	667	179	Aug 2013	Jun 2024
nat-user	639	103	Apr 2015	Jan 2026
tsdyn	634	83	Dec 2006	Feb 2024
matchit	614	158	Feb 2007	Jan 2020
irace-package	594	102	Jul 2016	Sep 2025
r-sig-genetics	592	61	May 2008	Oct 2026
hbayesdm-users	562	120	Dec 2016	Apr 2026
rdevtools	561	127	Mar 2012	Jan 2023
oscr-package	551	78	Feb 2016	Oct 2026
flr-list	539	47	Oct 2011	Apr 2019
ez4r	533	124	Feb 2011	Feb 2023
r-sig-robust	525	152	Nov 2005	Jul 2026
mplusautomation	514	165	Dec 2012	Aug 2026
r-soc	507	111	Mar 2009	Jan 2020
packrat-discuss	497	153	Nov 2013	Jun 2021
statforling-with-r	493	61	Aug 2008	Aug 2024
roxygen-devel	469	58	May 2008	Aug 2015
sevillarusers	457	51	Nov 2014	Jul 2019
qcawithr	449	67	Mar 2020	Aug 2026
r-sig-jobs	442	267	Feb 2007	Mar 2026
statet	399	87	Apr 2013	May 2019
r-sig-wiki	398	32	Jan 2006	Aug 2010
spocc-spabund-users	389	74	Jul 2024	Oct 2026
r-ecologia	385	71	Oct 2012	Jun 2017
traminer-users	383	94	May 2010	Jul 2023
fedora-r-devel	378	20	Apr 2006	Mar 2020
r-study-tokyo	364	65	Jan 2010	Oct 2026
rsiena-help	354	67	Feb 2010	May 2019
qtinterfaces-devel	349	22	Sep 2009	May 2014
rugbcn	340	52	Aug 2011	Jul 2020
codex2	318	68	Feb 2015	Jan 2025
vim-r-plugin	318	58	Dec 2013	Mar 2024
sorvi-admin	300	27	Nov 2011	Nov 2021
tidylpa	299	116	Apr 2018	Aug 2025
seqinr-forum	296	58	Jul 2008	Mar 2023
gsoc-porta	273	8	Jun 2013	Aug 2014
tikzdevice-bugs	268	47	Jul 2009	Nov 2013
rpostgresql-dev	255	85	Feb 2011	Aug 2026
rprotobuf-yada	237	13	Oct 2009	Oct 2016
spades-users	237	21	Mar 2016	Nov 2020
maaslin-users	222	99	Apr 2014	Jan 2020
acs-r	212	47	Apr 2013	Apr 2021
rbigdataprogramming	203	50	Oct 2012	Jun 2020
basta-users	199	48	Nov 2011	Nov 2025
rnomads-user	198	40	Sep 2014	Apr 2023
r-ug-ottawa	197	66	Jan 2009	Dec 2022
sqldf	193	66	Feb 2013	Feb 2021
bioconductor-teaching	189	23	Jul 2020	Oct 2026
r-sig-gr	177	79	Sep 2002	Sep 2026
breedr	175	41	Jul 2015	Nov 2024
titancna	167	31	Aug 2014	Nov 2023
rrook	166	43	Apr 2011	Aug 2015
canopy-phylogeny	164	43	Sep 2016	Sep 2023
isorix	163	30	Apr 2021	Apr 2026
rcytoscape	163	11	May 2011	Mar 2019
mediation-information	158	31	May 2011	Jan 2021
metacoder-discussions	154	41	Feb 2017	Apr 2026
cranvas	153	25	Jun 2011	Dec 2015
tinn-r	147	28	Feb 2014	Oct 2021
r-sig-windows	146	21	Aug 2015	Sep 2026
stitch-imputation	145	35	Mar 2017	Apr 2026
tessera-users	142	28	Jun 2014	Jun 2016
mosaics-user-group	141	38	Jun 2011	Jan 2024
segoptim-user-group	141	29	Jan 2019	Jan 2025
rworldmap	140	55	Jul 2013	Oct 2021
garnett-users	138	38	Feb 2019	Aug 2026
inlinedocs-support	137	59	Nov 2009	Jun 2014
maduser	136	57	Sep 2009	Apr 2014
rkward	134	17	Oct 2025	Oct 2026
rcppoctave-user	133	8	Oct 2013	Nov 2016
jiebar	126	68	Feb 2015	Aug 2026
gbm-dev	123	14	Mar 2015	Feb 2020
brumail	119	34	Feb 2011	Sep 2025
r-sig-insurance	117	39	Apr 2009	Dec 2022
nmof-news	115	1	Jun 2011	Oct 2025
r-pt	112	54	Jun 2014	Nov 2021
ib-usp-r-users	109	40	Feb 2016	Jun 2020
gur-ugr	108	28	Oct 2008	Apr 2020
r-package-xlsx	107	47	Jan 2012	Nov 2021
rspatial-devel	107	10	Apr 2011	Dec 2015
tlocoh-info	105	34	Sep 2013	May 2021
trophicposition-support	104	52	May 2017	Aug 2026
rqtl-announce	96	2	Sep 2004	Jul 2026
tropical-r	95	22	Aug 2012	May 2016
comparegroupsforum	93	30	Oct 2013	Dec 2021
epls-r-users	88	7	Mar 2019	Apr 2026
mxmaps	88	26	Mar 2019	Jan 2025
houston-r	83	20	Mar 2009	Feb 2012
relogit	81	46	May 2002	Feb 2013
rquantlib-devel	75	15	Feb 2010	Feb 2017
konfound-it	70	11	Jun 2018	Jul 2026
ipmpack-users	69	35	Aug 2012	May 2019
genoplotr-help	67	12	Jun 2010	Nov 2020
r-sig-dcm	67	17	Jul 2010	Sep 2024
r-and-cpp	65	15	Apr 2014	May 2024
nmf-user	61	16	Nov 2011	Jul 2020
stan-announce	60	8	Aug 2012	May 2017
nimble-announce	58	4	Oct 2014	Aug 2026
hkrug	55	13	Apr 2012	Mar 2015
statistics-and-r-community	54	19	Oct 2018	Feb 2025
reddyproc-users	51	14	Jul 2013	Nov 2019
linguagem-r-ufba	50	16	Nov 2017	Dec 2017
rcicr-users	48	12	Oct 2014	Mar 2019
ropengov-forum	47	10	Dec 2013	Mar 2019
rho-devel	46	15	Oct 2013	May 2016
rsnns	44	23	Dec 2016	Jun 2025
boostheaders-devel	37	7	Feb 2013	Jan 2015
dynr	37	14	Feb 2019	Nov 2025
r-forum	35	18	Dec 2008	Sep 2013
remoterengine-devel	35	2	Aug 2009	Oct 2009
monetr-users	34	6	Jul 2013	Nov 2015
pomp-announce	32	1	May 2010	Jul 2015
dublin-r	31	14	May 2011	Apr 2026
cellnet-r	27	17	Aug 2014	Nov 2018
listpackage-discuss	27	10	May 2011	Mar 2017
monterey-grumps	27	9	Nov 2014	Jun 2019
r-sig-networks	27	21	Jul 2008	May 2019
red-r	27	8	Sep 2009	Dec 2010
expm-developers	26	9	Feb 2009	Mar 2025
mapfastr	26	13	Jul 2012	Apr 2020
r-sig-mediawiki	26	10	Aug 2006	Feb 2015
hyperspec-help	21	8	Dec 2009	Jul 2017
lubridate	20	13	Feb 2013	Jan 2023
matr-forum	20	6	May 2014	Feb 2016
r-sig-qa	20	12	Oct 2001	Oct 2012
gsoc-dowd	19	3	Jun 2015	Sep 2015
genabel-announce	16	2	Aug 2013	Dec 2018
mixvir	16	5	Jun 2022	Jun 2025
netlogor	16	4	Oct 2022	Aug 2023
batman-users	15	7	Mar 2013	Jun 2015
forensim-help	15	8	Nov 2011	Jul 2015
r-marketing-bugs	14	6	Feb 2015	Oct 2020
picante-devel	13	4	May 2008	Nov 2008
methylkit	12	1	Jan 2012	Jan 2014
workflowr-announce	12	1	Apr 2018	Aug 2023
eventstudies-discussion	11	5	Nov 2013	Aug 2014
r-hiphop	10	6	Apr 2021	Oct 2023
viennar-meetup	10	1	Oct 2018	Apr 2020
repitools-help	8	6	Apr 2010	Apr 2016
uhcluster-members	8	1	Mar 2009	Jul 2009
whatif	8	7	Feb 2008	May 2021
immcantation-news	7	2	Apr 2024	Aug 2026
cipsr-users	6	1	Oct 2014	Mar 2015
riskassessment-news	6	4	Nov 2011	Apr 2021
biocbug	5	1	Nov 2003	Mar 2004
catlearn-package	5	2	Feb 2018	Oct 2019
r-forge-testing-testing	5	1	Aug 2019	Aug 2019
r-sig-rugs	5	2	Jul 2010	Feb 2013
sciviews-help	5	3	Jun 2009	Aug 2010
sprint-developer	5	1	May 2013	Aug 2013
travelr-announce	5	1	May 2010	Aug 2010
zipfr-users	5	5	Jan 2010	May 2018
dirichletreg-news	4	1	Apr 2012	Dec 2014
mvabund-updates	4	1	Nov 2012	Jun 2013
nlsy-links	4	3	Jun 2019	Mar 2022
pez-users	4	2	Jan 2018	Jan 2018
phylogram	4	3	Mar 2018	Sep 2022
simsalabim-communicate	4	2	Oct 2008	Nov 2008
spdep-devel	4	3	May 2010	Mar 2017
synbreed-news	4	3	Jul 2010	Jan 2012
bioc-sig-proteomics	3	2	May 2011	Sep 2011
metrology-devel	3	1	Apr 2011	Apr 2011
rgeos-devel	3	2	May 2010	Feb 2020
rphree-general	3	2	Jun 2014	Jun 2014
sciviews-news	3	1	Jun 2009	Jun 2009
siamcat-users	3	3	Jun 2015	Nov 2020
simplephenotypes	3	2	Jun 2021	Jun 2021
sprint-user	3	1	May 2013	May 2013
abernethy-reliability	2	1	Jan 2014	Jun 2014
fresh-tor4	2	2	Oct 2009	Oct 2009
mailman	2	2	Jul 2011	Sep 2011
orchestra-users	2	1	Aug 2009	Aug 2009
phenopix-developers	2	2	Nov 2014	Sep 2015
r-gregmisc-devel	2	1	May 2015	Jun 2015
right-user	2	2	Feb 2015	Feb 2015
chnosz-help	1	1	Aug 2011	Aug 2011
cran2deb-discuss	1	1	Jul 2011	Jul 2011
ctsem-mail	1	1	May 2020	May 2020
distr-distr	1	1	Mar 2012	Mar 2012
ftree-community	1	1	May 2017	May 2017
gwidgets-questions	1	1	Mar 2013	Mar 2013
mvabund-faqs	1	1	Jul 2013	Jul 2013
piecepackr	1	1	Aug 2024	Aug 2024
rangemapper-news	1	1	Sep 2010	Sep 2010
robustbase-authors	1	1	Nov 2013	Nov 2013
rserlang-develop	1	1	Oct 2010	Oct 2010
travelr-discussion	1	1	Aug 2010	Aug 2010
yuima-wishlist	1	1	Aug 2011	Aug 2011

Reply network on r-devel

The in_reply_to field links each message to its parent, making it straightforward to build a “who replies to whom” network.

Figure 1

Data dictionary

<list>.parquet

One Parquet file per mailing list. All files share the same schema.

Column	Type	Description
list	string	Mailing list name (e.g., r-devel)
id	string	Unique message ID (msg-<hash>)
message_id	string	Original RFC 2822 Message-ID header
from_name	string	Author display name (alias-resolved to canonical form). A sender the archive shows under an email address gets the name they gave on other messages, or else the address without its domain
from_email_hash	string	SHA-256 hash of author email (privacy-preserving)
date	timestamp	Message date (UTC)
subject	string	Subject line with Re:/Fwd: prefixes stripped
in_reply_to	string	ID of the parent message (null for thread starters)
body	string	Full message body text
body_snippet	string	First 200 characters of the body
thread_id	string	Thread grouping ID (thread-<hash>)
thread_depth	integer	Depth in thread tree (0 = root message)
month	string	YYYY-MM for temporal bucketing
source_url	string	Address of the message’s own page in the source archive (null when none is known, and for every list hosted on R-Forge)
restored_from	string	Addresses of the pages the message’s text was restored from, separated by one space (null when nothing was restored)
spam	boolean	True for a message a person confirmed as spam (see scripts/spam.tsv); the message stays in the file
spam_reason	string	Why a person flagged the message: advertising, adult content, harassment, phishing or scam (null when spam is false)

One list, r-sig-phylo, has an archive that is members-only at the source. In its data every address the parser can read is hidden, except the R lists’ own posting addresses, and message_id and in_reply_to are opaque codes that still tie a reply to its parent; from_email_hash, though, is still the unsalted SHA-256 of the real address, so an address someone already has can be checked against it.

threads.parquet

Thread-level summaries for all lists.

Column	Type	Description
list	string	Mailing list name
id	string	Thread ID (thread-<hash>)
subject	string	Thread subject
message_count	integer	Number of messages in thread
started	timestamp	Date of first message
last_reply	timestamp	Date of most recent reply
root_message_id	string	ID of the thread-starting message

contributors.parquet

Aggregated contributor statistics across all lists.

Column	Type	Description
name	string	Author display name
message_count	integer	Total messages across all lists
list_count	integer	Number of distinct lists posted to
lists	string	Comma-separated list slugs
list_counts	string	Per-list message counts (e.g. r-devel:150,r-help:42)
first_message	string	ISO 8601 date of earliest message
last_message	string	ISO 8601 date of most recent message

Privacy

Sender email addresses are not included in this dataset. Author identity is represented by display name and a SHA-256 hash of the email address, which allows grouping messages by author without exposing contact information. Message text is kept as the source archive shows it, so an address written in a message, or quoted from another, can still appear there. The original emails are publicly archived on the source mailing list servers, except those of r-sig-phylo, whose archive there is open to list members only.

License

The mailing list content is publicly archived by the R Project via ETH Zurich and R-Forge, except that of r-sig-phylo, whose archive is open to list members only and which is included here with addresses hidden. This dataset reformats that content for easier analysis. The tooling in this repository is licensed under the MIT License.