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Comparison · Infra & APIs
admtools vs squat
A side-by-side editorial comparison of admtools and squat — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
admtools vs squat: at a glance
What is admtools?
The age-depth engine under a small stratigraphy stack, growing one adapter at a time
admtools estimates and manipulates age-depth models, with the generics time_to_strat() and strat_to_time() as the transformation layer a small stratigraphy stack is built on. Since 0.1.0 it has accumulated the S3 vocabulary that work needs — sac for sediment accumulation curves, timelist and stratlist for time- and height-associated data — and then adapters outward: pre_paleoTS for StratPal and paleoTS in 0.4.0, FossilSim taxonomy and fossils objects in 0.5.0, and age-to-time transformation for FossilSim in 0.6.0. Version 0.5.0 also added what it calls basic functionality for depth-depth models alongside the age-depth ones.
What is squat?
Quaternion time series got their own statistics package, and it is still filling in the toolbox.
squat treats a sequence of rotations as a statistical object: quaternion time series with means, medians, distances, principal components and clustering defined on them rather than on the raw coordinates. Version 0.5.0 adds derived representations, turning a QTS into a smooth b-spline curve or into angular velocity and acceleration. The release cadence is roughly annual.
admtools vs squat: editorial side-by-side
admtools
0.0INFRA · APIS
The age-depth engine under a small stratigraphy stack, growing one adapter at a time
◆ Current state
admtools estimates and manipulates age-depth models, with the generics time_to_strat() and strat_to_time() as the transformation layer a small stratigraphy stack is built on. Since 0.1.0 it has accumulated the S3 vocabulary that work needs — sac for sediment accumulation curves, timelist and stratlist for time- and height-associated data — and then adapters outward: pre_paleoTS for StratPal and paleoTS in 0.4.0, FossilSim taxonomy and fossils objects in 0.5.0, and age-to-time transformation for FossilSim in 0.6.0. Version 0.5.0 also added what it calls basic functionality for depth-depth models alongside the age-depth ones.
◆ Where it's heading
This package moves in step with StratPal, from the same group: admtools 0.4.0 shipped its pre_paleoTS transformations fifty-seven minutes before StratPal released the class itself, and both took on FossilSim within a month of each other in spring 2025. The pattern is consistent — establish generics, define classes, then connect to whatever package the field already uses. The depth-depth work is the one thread pointing inward rather than outward, and it is still described as basic.
◆ Prediction
Depth-depth models are the obvious thing to finish, since they mirror age-depth machinery the package already has; expect any release here to be shadowed by a matching change in StratPal within weeks either side.
squat
0.0INFRA · APIS
Quaternion time series got their own statistics package, and it is still filling in the toolbox.
◆ Current state
squat treats a sequence of rotations as a statistical object: quaternion time series with means, medians, distances, principal components and clustering defined on them rather than on the raw coordinates. Version 0.5.0 adds derived representations, turning a QTS into a smooth b-spline curve or into angular velocity and acceleration. The release cadence is roughly annual.
◆ Where it's heading
Each release has added either a representation or a way to compare series. First the class and the core statistical methods, then clustering algorithms and distance matrices, then quaternion algebra and axis-angle conversion, then rotation-invariant elastic distance and roll-pitch-yaw. The package is broadening the input side, so that data arriving in any of the usual rotation encodings can enter the same analysis. Dependency reduction runs alongside, with purrr and furrr swapped out for base and future.apply.
◆ Prediction
Given the pattern, the next additions are most likely further transformations and distances rather than new inference machinery. The tight coupling to fdacluster, which the notes repeatedly adapt to, means that package's API is the main external constraint on timing.
Alternatives to admtools and squat
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either admtools or squat.
Okta
Okta's developer blog is a Cross App Access campaign, now diluted by advocacy-team storytelling.
tealeaves
A leaf-temperature model that finished its job in 2020 and has stayed finished
Infisical
A credential platform assembled two or three pull requests at a time, never a headline
SigNoz
Search without knowing the field — SigNoz keeps lowering the cost of not knowing your schema
nmfspalette
A NOAA Fisheries colour palette that ships when the branding guide changes
See all admtools alternatives → · See all squat alternatives →
Recent activity from admtools and squat
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 7mo agosquatSmoothing, angular velocity and acceleration transforms added
- 1y agoadmtoolsAge-to-time transformation for FossilSim integration
- 1y agosquatRotation-invariant elastic distance and roll-pitch-yaw support
- 1y agoadmtoolsDepth-depth models and FossilSim object transformations
- 1y agoadmtoolspre_paleoTS transformations and age-depth model anchoring
- 1y agoadmtoolsMore sedimentation-rate generator options and sac utilities
- 2y agoadmtoolstimelist and stratlist classes; unified transformation syntax
- 2y agoadmtoolsMultiple tie points, sedimentation-rate estimation and the sac class
- 2y agosquatQuaternion algebra and axis-angle conversion added
- 3y agosquatFence robustification option and correct tangent spaces
- 3y agosquatHierarchical and DBSCAN clustering join k-means
- 3y agosquatFirst API defines quaternion time series as a statistical object ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between admtools and squat?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. admtools and squat are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is admtools better than squat?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. admtools and squat are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to admtools?
Top admtools alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "admtools alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/admtools for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to squat?
Top squat alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "squat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/squat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.