lxml

====

.. meta::

:description: lxml - the most feature-rich and easy-to-use library for processing XML and HTML in the Python language

:keywords: Python XML, XML processing, HTML, lxml, simple XML, ElementTree, etree, lxml.etree, objectify, XML parsing, XML validation, XPath, XSLT

.. class:: pagequote

| `» lxml takes all the pain out of XML. « <https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/pipermail/lxml/20080131/019119.html>`_

| Stephan Richter

.. class:: eyecatcher

lxml is the most feature-rich

and easy-to-use library

for processing XML and HTML

in the Python language.

..

1 Introduction

2 Documentation

3 Download

4 Mailing list

5 Bug tracker

6 License

7 Old Versions

Introduction

------------

The lxml XML toolkit is a Pythonic binding for the C libraries

libxml2_ and libxslt_. It is unique in that it combines the speed and

XML feature completeness of these libraries with the simplicity of a

native Python API, mostly compatible but superior to the well-known

ElementTree_ API. The latest release works with all CPython versions

from 3.6 to 3.12. See the introduction_ for more information about

background and goals of the lxml project. Some common questions are

answered in the FAQ_.

.. _libxml2: http://xmlsoft.org/

.. _libxslt: http://xmlsoft.org/XSLT/

.. _introduction: intro.html

.. _FAQ: FAQ.html

Documentation

-------------

.. The complete lxml documentation is available for download as `PDF documentation`_.

The HTML documentation from this web site is part of

the normal `source download <#download>`_.

* Tutorials:

* the `lxml.etree tutorial for XML processing`_

* John Shipman's tutorial on `Python XML processing with lxml`_

* Fredrik Lundh's `tutorial for ElementTree`_

* ElementTree:

* `ElementTree API`_

* compatibility_ and differences of lxml.etree

* `ElementTree performance`_ characteristics and comparison

* lxml.etree:

* `lxml.etree specific API`_ documentation

* the `generated API documentation`_ as a reference

* parsing_ and validating_ XML

* `XPath and XSLT`_ support

* Python `XPath extension functions`_ for XPath and XSLT

* `custom XML element classes`_ for custom XML APIs (see `EuroPython 2008 talk`_)

* a `SAX compliant API`_ for interfacing with other XML tools

* a `C-level API`_ for interfacing with external C/Cython modules

* lxml.objectify:

* `lxml.objectify`_ API documentation

* a brief comparison of `objectify and etree`_

lxml.etree follows the ElementTree_ API as much as possible, building

it on top of the native libxml2 tree. If you are new to ElementTree,

start with the `lxml.etree tutorial for XML processing`_. See also the

ElementTree compatibility_ overview and the `ElementTree performance`_

page comparing lxml to the original ElementTree_ and cElementTree_

implementations.

Right after the `lxml.etree tutorial for XML processing`_ and the

ElementTree_ documentation, the next place to look is the `lxml.etree

specific API`_ documentation. It describes how lxml extends the

ElementTree API to expose libxml2 and libxslt specific XML

functionality, such as XPath_, `Relax NG`_, `XML Schema`_, XSLT_, and

`c14n`_ (including `c14n 2.0`_).

Python code can be called from XPath expressions and XSLT

stylesheets through the use of `XPath extension functions`_. lxml

also offers a `SAX compliant API`_ that works with the SAX support in

the standard library.

There is a separate module `lxml.objectify`_ that implements a data-binding

API on top of lxml.etree. See the `objectify and etree`_ FAQ entry for a

comparison.

In addition to the ElementTree API, lxml also features a sophisticated

API for `custom XML element classes`_. This is a simple way to write

arbitrary XML driven APIs on top of lxml. lxml.etree also has a

`C-level API`_ that can be used to efficiently extend lxml.etree in

external C modules, including fast custom element class support.

.. _ElementTree: http://effbot.org/zone/element-index.htm

.. _`ElementTree API`: http://effbot.org/zone/element-index.htm#documentation

.. _cElementTree: http://effbot.org/zone/celementtree.htm

.. _`tutorial for ElementTree`: https://web.archive.org/web/20200720191942/http://effbot.org:80/zone/element.htm

.. _`lxml.etree tutorial for XML processing`: tutorial.html

.. _`Python XML processing with lxml`: https://web.archive.org/web/20110108100213/https://infohost.nmt.edu/tcc/help/pubs/pylxml/

.. _`generated API documentation`: api/index.html

.. _`ElementTree performance`: performance.html

.. _`compatibility`: compatibility.html

.. _`lxml.etree specific API`: api.html

.. _`parsing`: parsing.html

.. _`validating`: validation.html

.. _`XPath and XSLT`: xpathxslt.html

.. _`XPath extension functions`: extensions.html

.. _`custom XML element classes`: element_classes.html

.. _`SAX compliant API`: sax.html

.. _`C-level API`: capi.html

.. _`lxml.objectify`: objectify.html

.. _`objectify and etree`: FAQ.html#what-is-the-difference-between-lxml-etree-and-lxml-objectify

.. _`EuroPython 2008 talk`: s5/lxml-ep2008.html

.. _XPath: https://www.w3.org/TR/xpath/

.. _`Relax NG`: https://relaxng.org/

.. _`XML Schema`: https://www.w3.org/XML/Schema

.. _`XSLT`: https://www.w3.org/TR/xslt

.. _`c14n`: https://www.w3.org/TR/xml-c14n

.. _`c14n 2.0`: https://www.w3.org/TR/xml-c14n2

Download

--------

The best way to download lxml is to visit `lxml at the Python Package

Index <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/lxml/>`_ (PyPI). It has the source

that compiles on various platforms. The source distribution is signed

with `this key <pubkey.asc>`_.

The latest version is `lxml 7.0.0b1`_, released 2026-08-22

(`changes for 7.0.0b1`_). `Older versions <#old-versions>`_

are listed below.

Please take a look at the

`installation instructions <installation.html>`_ !

This complete website (including the generated API documentation) is

part of the source distribution, so if you want to download the

documentation for offline use, take the source archive and copy the

``doc/html`` directory out of the source tree.

.. , or use the `PDF documentation`_.

The latest `installable developer sources <https://github.com/lxml/lxml/archive/master.zip>`_

are available from Github. It's also possible to check out

the latest development version of lxml from Github directly, using a command

like this::

git clone https://github.com/lxml/lxml.git lxml

You can browse the `source repository`_ and its history through

the web. Please read `how to build lxml from source <build.html>`_

first. The `latest CHANGES`_ of the developer version are also

accessible. You can check there if a bug you found has been fixed

or a feature you want has been implemented in the latest trunk version.

.. _`source repository`: https://github.com/lxml/lxml/

.. _`latest CHANGES`: https://github.com/lxml/lxml/blob/master/CHANGES.txt

Mailing list

------------

Questions? Suggestions? Code to contribute? We have a `mailing list`_.

You can also `search the archive`_ for past questions and discussions.

.. _`search the archive`: https://mail.python.org/archives/list/lxml@python.org/

.. _`mailing list`: https://lxml.de/mailinglist/

Bug tracker

-----------

lxml uses the `launchpad bug tracker`_. If you are sure you found a

bug in lxml, please file a bug report there. If you are not sure

whether some unexpected behaviour of lxml is a bug or not, please

check the documentation and ask on the `mailing list`_ first. Do not

forget to `search the archive`_!

.. _`launchpad bug tracker`: https://launchpad.net/lxml/

License

-------

The lxml library is shipped under a `BSD license`_. libxml2 and libxslt2

itself are shipped under the `MIT license`_. There should therefore be no

obstacle to using lxml in your codebase.

.. _`BSD license`: https://github.com/lxml/lxml/blob/master/doc/licenses/BSD.txt

.. _`MIT license`: https://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html

Old Versions

------------

See the websites of lxml

`6.1 <https://lxml.de/6.1/>`_,

`6.0 <https://lxml.de/6.0/>`_,

`5.4 <https://lxml.de/5.4/>`_,

`5.3 <https://lxml.de/5.3/>`_,

`5.2 <https://lxml.de/5.2/>`_,

`5.1 <https://lxml.de/5.1/>`_,

`5.0 <https://lxml.de/5.0/>`_,

`4.9 <https://lxml.de/4.9/>`_,

`4.8 <https://lxml.de/4.8/>`_,

`4.7 <https://lxml.de/4.7/>`_,

`4.6 <https://lxml.de/4.6/>`_,

`4.5 <https://lxml.de/4.5/>`_,

`4.4 <https://lxml.de/4.4/>`_,

`4.3 <https://lxml.de/4.3/>`_,

`4.2 <https://lxml.de/4.2/>`_,

`4.1 <https://lxml.de/4.1/>`_,

`4.0 <https://lxml.de/4.0/>`_,

`3.8 <https://lxml.de/3.8/>`_,

`3.7 <https://lxml.de/3.7/>`_,

`3.6 <https://lxml.de/3.6/>`_,

`3.5 <https://lxml.de/3.5/>`_,

`3.4 <https://lxml.de/3.4/>`_,

`3.3 <https://lxml.de/3.3/>`_,

`3.2 <https://lxml.de/3.2/>`_,

`3.1 <https://lxml.de/3.1/>`_,

`3.0 <https://lxml.de/3.0/>`_,

`2.3 <https://lxml.de/2.3/>`_,

`2.2 <https://lxml.de/2.2/>`_,

`2.1 <https://lxml.de/2.1/>`_,

`2.0 <https://lxml.de/2.0/>`_,

`1.3 <https://lxml.de/1.3/>`_

..

and the `latest in-development version <https://lxml.de/dev/>`_.

.. _`PDF documentation`: lxmldoc-7.0.0a3.pdf

* `lxml 7.0.0b1`_, released 2026-08-22 (`changes for 7.0.0b1`_)

* `lxml 7.0.0a3`_, released 2026-06-16 (`changes for 7.0.0a3`_)

* `lxml 7.0.0a2`_, released 2026-06-09 (`changes for 7.0.0a2`_)

* `lxml 7.0.0a1`_, released 2026-05-29 (`changes for 7.0.0a1`_)

* `lxml 6.1.3`_, released 2026-09-02 (`changes for 6.1.3`_)

* `lxml 6.1.2`_, released 2026-08-18 (`changes for 6.1.2`_)

* `lxml 6.1.1`_, released 2026-05-18 (`changes for 6.1.1`_)

* `lxml 6.1.0`_, released 2026-04-17 (`changes for 6.1.0`_)

* `older releases <https://lxml.de/6.1/#old-versions>`_

.. _`lxml 7.0.0b1`: /files/lxml-7.0.0b1.tgz

.. _`lxml 7.0.0a3`: /files/lxml-7.0.0a3.tgz

.. _`lxml 7.0.0a2`: /files/lxml-7.0.0a2.tgz

.. _`lxml 7.0.0a1`: /files/lxml-7.0.0a1.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.1.3`: /files/lxml-6.1.3.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.1.2`: /files/lxml-6.1.2.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.1.1`: /files/lxml-6.1.1.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.1.0`: /files/lxml-6.1.0.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.0.4`: /files/lxml-6.0.4.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.0.3`: /files/lxml-6.0.3.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.0.2`: /files/lxml-6.0.2.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.0.1`: /files/lxml-6.0.1.tgz

.. _`lxml 6.0.0`: /files/lxml-6.0.0.tgz

.. _`changes for 7.0.0b1`: /changes-7.0.0b1.html

.. _`changes for 7.0.0a3`: /changes-7.0.0a3.html

.. _`changes for 7.0.0a2`: /changes-7.0.0a2.html

.. _`changes for 7.0.0a1`: /changes-7.0.0a1.html

.. _`changes for 6.1.3`: /changes-6.1.3.html

.. _`changes for 6.1.2`: /changes-6.1.2.html

.. _`changes for 6.1.1`: /changes-6.1.1.html

.. _`changes for 6.1.0`: /changes-6.1.0.html

.. _`changes for 6.0.4`: /changes-6.0.4.html

.. _`changes for 6.0.3`: /changes-6.0.3.html

.. _`changes for 6.0.2`: /changes-6.0.2.html

.. _`changes for 6.0.1`: /changes-6.0.1.html

.. _`changes for 6.0.0`: /changes-6.0.0.html