leptris (Python) — lxml-shaped bindings for libleptris

leptris wraps the libleptris C API (XML 1.0 parsing, XPath 1.0) using cffi in ABI mode, with a required C accelerator for Element allocation and the hot accessors (tag, text, attrib, get, indexing, sibling navigation and plain-path XPath evaluation). Wheels ship it compiled; sdist builds require a C compiler.

The pinned libleptris version lives in libleptris-version.txt (lockstep releases); CI builds it from the release tarball. The binding loads the shared library from LEPTRIS_LIB_PATH or the loader path.

Requirements

  • Python 3.9+
  • cffi (installed automatically)
  • libleptris 1.9.3+ as a shared library (1.9.1 has an options-struct ABI break — leptris/leptris#568)
  • libleptris as a shared library (libleptris.dylib / .so / .dll) on the loader path, or pointed to by LEPTRIS_LIB_PATH (which must name the library file — the loader dlopens it verbatim). For a development checkout:
cmake -B build -S /path/to/leptris -DLEPTRIS_BUILD_SHARED=ON
cmake --build build --target leptris_shared
export LEPTRIS_LIB_PATH=/path/to/leptris/build/src/libleptris.dylib

Quick start

from leptris import fromstring, tostring

root = fromstring("<library><book id='1' lang='en'>Ulysses</book></library>")

root.tag                                # "library"
root[0].get("id")                       # "1"
root[0].attrib                          # {"id": "1", "lang": "en"}
root[0].text                            # "Ulysses"

root.xpath("count(//book)")             # 1.0
[b.text for b in root.findall("book")]  # ["Ulysses"]

tostring(root[0], encoding="unicode")   # "<book id=\"1\" lang=\"en\">Ulysses</book>"

Documents own the tree; use the context manager or close():

from leptris import parse

with parse("catalog.xml") as doc:
    doc.xpath("//book[@lang='en']")

Namespaces, variables, canonical XML and streaming:

root.xpath("//x:item", namespaces={"x": "urn:ex"})
root.xpath("//book[@id=$id]", variables={"id": "2"})
c14n(root, exclusive=True)

from leptris import sax
sax.parse(xml, handler)                       # one-shot
with sax.StreamingParser(handler) as parser:  # push, constant memory
    parser.feed(chunk, final=last)

Migrating from lxml

lxml leptris Notes
etree.fromstring / etree.XML fromstring / XML
etree.parse parse paths and file-likes; no URLs
etree.tostring(elem, …) tostring(elem, …) bytes by default, encoding="unicode" for str
elem.tag / .text / .tail same tag uses {uri}local Clark notation; CDATA merges into text (lxml's default parser behavior)
elem.attrib / .get() / .keys() / .items() same attrib is a read-only Mapping
elem.getparent/getnext/getprevious same
elem[i], len(elem), iteration, slices same indexing is child indexing, never attribute lookup
elem.iter() / .iterdescendants() / .itertext() same elements only (ElementTree semantics); lxml's iter() also yields comments/PIs
elem.find/findall/findtext same accepts full XPath 1.0 — a superset of ElementPath — including {uri}local names
elem.xpath(expr, namespaces=…) same plus variables={…} (leptris extension)
etree.c14n / etree.XInclude c14n(…) / doc.process_xinclude()
etree.XMLSyntaxError ParseError XPath failures raise XPathError; both subclass LeptrisError
etree.Element, SubElement, append, set, remove not exposed libleptris has partial mutation upstream (node content setters, set_root, remove_children) — not surfaced here; build trees elsewhere
document-level comments / PIs doc.toplevel_comments() / doc.toplevel_pis() prolog then epilog; requires libleptris 1.9.3+
etree.iterparse leptris.iterparse(source, full_document=False) bounded by the largest subtree; yields ("end", element); elements borrowed until the next yield; tags resolve namespaces (Clark notation, libleptris 1.9.4+). Truncated or malformed input raises ParseError (libleptris 1.9.4 error channel). full_document=True yields every element in completion order — error detection is unreliable in that mode pending leptris/leptris#592. Still ~2× slower than lxml's iterparse (leptris/leptris#563)
smart strings plain str XPath string/attribute results
elem.nsmap absent use elem.namespace / elem.prefix and xpath(namespaces=…)
etree.XPath compiled objects leptris.XPath(expression) compile once, evaluate many; contexts, namespaces, and variables supported
parser options (resolve_entities, …) absent libleptris 1.2.0 has no per-parse options
elem.sourceline same requires libleptris 1.3.0+
undeclared XPath prefix raises in lxml evaluates to an empty nodeset here
ATTLIST default attributes applied by lxml's default parser excluded by default (ElementTree-like; XML 1.0 §5 permits either) — Document.parse(xml, attribute_defaults=True) opts in
parser options (remove_blank_text, …) etree.XMLParser(remove_blank_text=True) Document.parse(xml, remove_blank_text=True) — ~35% faster on pretty-printed input; also attribute_defaults=True, recover=True

Layout

  • leptris/_ffi.py — cdef mirror of the public headers + loader (the only place libleptris is declared)
  • leptris/_leptrisaccel.c — the C accelerator (abi3): allocates Elements and runs the hot accessors, subtree iteration, the parse and serialization seams, and the per-document element registry; bound to libleptris by the positional protocol in element.py
  • leptris/element.py, document.py, node.py, xpath.py — the Python surface: queries, walks, documents; node.py exposes the full DOM (comments, CDATA, PIs) beneath the ElementTree shape
  • leptris/api.py — fromstring/parse/tostring/c14n/ iterparse
  • leptris/sax.py — SAX one-shot and streaming
  • tests/ — pytest suite (pytest with LEPTRIS_LIB_PATH set)
  • benchmarks/ — matrix vs lxml/ElementTree/minidom (pip install .[bench], then python -m benchmarks.matrix)

Memory model

The Document owns the whole tree and its pool. Accessor strings are copied into Python str at the boundary, so nothing depends on document lifetime after a call returns. Elements keep a reference to their Document, so the pool cannot be freed while any wrapper is alive. Prefer explicit close() / the context manager; __del__ is a refcounting safety net, not a contract. Using an element after its document is closed raises LeptrisError.

Versioning

libleptris-version.txt pins the library release the binding is built and tested against. From 1.3.0 the package follows its own semver: 1.2.0 shipped an interim bespoke API to no adopters, and 1.3.0 replaces it with the lxml-shaped API (breaking, but pre-adoption). pyproject.toml and leptris/__init__.py must agree at release time.

Publishing

Releases publish to PyPI via .github/workflows/release.yml, using PyPI trusted publishing (no stored credentials). The workflow runs on manual dispatch (ships the version in pyproject.toml) and is called by the libleptris release flow (publish: true), so every libleptris release ships the wheel.

Local development

python3 -m venv .venv
./.venv/bin/pip install --upgrade build pytest cffi
./.venv/bin/pip install -e .[test,bench]
LEPTRIS_LIB_PATH=/path/to/libleptris.dylib ./.venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/ -q

Project links

Data verified by PyPI on Aug 28, 2026
Data provided by the project maintainers, verified at the time the release was uploaded to PyPI.

Key dates

PyPI data
Data sourced directly from PyPI's database.
  • Released:
Newer release available (1.27.1)

1 maintainer

PyPI data
Data sourced directly from PyPI's database.
Avatar for leptris from gravatar.com leptris

Credits

Author: Ribose

GitHub Statistics

Data verified by PyPI on Aug 28, 2026
The GitHub source repository was provided by the project maintainers and verified by PyPI at the time of upload. Stars, forks, and open issues/PRs are derived from that repository and have not been independently verified.

License expression

MIT
View SPDX License List

Requires

Python >=3.9

Provides Extra

test bench

Tags

xml xpath parser lxml ffi cffi

Classifiers

Report project as malware

Download files

Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.

Source Distribution

leptris-1.21.0.tar.gz (49.5 kB view details)

Uploaded Source

Built Distributions

If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.

leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-win_amd64.whl (43.6 kB view details)

Uploaded CPython 3.9+Windows x86-64

leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl (99.2 kB view details)

Uploaded CPython 3.9+manylinux: glibc 2.17+ ARM64

leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_5_x86_64.manylinux1_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl (95.3 kB view details)

Uploaded CPython 3.9+manylinux: glibc 2.17+ x86-64manylinux: glibc 2.5+ x86-64

leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl (42.0 kB view details)

Uploaded CPython 3.9+macOS 11.0+ ARM64

leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl (41.4 kB view details)

Uploaded CPython 3.9+macOS 10.9+ x86-64

File details

Details for the file leptris-1.21.0.tar.gz.

File metadata

  • Download URL: leptris-1.21.0.tar.gz
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 49.5 kB
  • Tags: Source
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? Yes
  • Uploaded via: twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14

File hashes

Hashes for leptris-1.21.0.tar.gz
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 3693062b599391b16a17275d0f4d99ffb71ed000f0a96b7f9391e408f248d55f
MD5 7b2dd3d4cc810ebc46b0c37f22a0065d
BLAKE2b-256 258230f879780c15812b97b92e7d45bb55fbe473fb50aeb7d7f4e07bd8b5e166

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for leptris-1.21.0.tar.gz:

Publisher: release.yml on leptris/leptris-py

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

File details

Details for the file leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-win_amd64.whl.

File metadata

  • Download URL: leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-win_amd64.whl
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 43.6 kB
  • Tags: CPython 3.9+, Windows x86-64
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? Yes
  • Uploaded via: twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14

File hashes

Hashes for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-win_amd64.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 79897069f941b41e80f19de15fba451e485f59368ee96dd5dae1ec4b156c0069
MD5 257d5ed208f86121c886eb07d2790360
BLAKE2b-256 ed21ee725c6f36b19fd2cd6105d35f80bf08798071efb1fd9eb0a858439325d9

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-win_amd64.whl:

Publisher: release.yml on leptris/leptris-py

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

File details

Details for the file leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl.

File metadata

File hashes

Hashes for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 eab8688afda500eae51923e554a43e50899a1558f87a0e07e1075333783a4b97
MD5 439c6a30489f3bbaa9bc9c8cee88d95f
BLAKE2b-256 c4e2f0bf5e9002575e46684e69135c7aef2cd57b125957caa8d11b60c26d4e35

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl:

Publisher: release.yml on leptris/leptris-py

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

File details

Details for the file leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_5_x86_64.manylinux1_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl.

File metadata

File hashes

Hashes for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_5_x86_64.manylinux1_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 6f4ab89a37ef8eeccf360f75da10821721d951a19984d31a2f83ddf2edbdd64a
MD5 64a13f51e96c5cbbe31ee6ca8514963a
BLAKE2b-256 2dcdbc0f60dbd4b74974a7aac9a9e7ddaaa1094bb1eb5188a0ba5bb666c17635

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-manylinux_2_5_x86_64.manylinux1_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl:

Publisher: release.yml on leptris/leptris-py

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

File details

Details for the file leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl.

File metadata

File hashes

Hashes for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 af2d8587171badb1983ed1cf1cca047dee6539d3d61ddc0210b1a18bfac1cd21
MD5 6a5b9349720068843a7c432e408fe91c
BLAKE2b-256 3c2bf011f6cabedf93e0fb73708473eb1448b30f85b4ee8979c0472f541357c8

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl:

Publisher: release.yml on leptris/leptris-py

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

File details

Details for the file leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl.

File metadata

File hashes

Hashes for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 d526eadec9fd2037f56f3d7f5741ed907fdbeeb18abfe3d0a4cd7500c7575a60
MD5 e41aaaaad2844c34c62fb8110a96be10
BLAKE2b-256 40ab0fe0525137cc964b9b81350c2111a01b425f352361a88cb6c87b2301fe2b

See more details on using hashes here.

Provenance

The following attestation bundles were made for leptris-1.21.0-cp39-abi3-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl:

Publisher: release.yml on leptris/leptris-py

Attestations: Values shown here reflect the state when the release was signed and may no longer be current.

Release history Release notifications | RSS feed

1.27.1

6 files

1.27.0

6 files

1.26.1

6 files

1.26.0

6 files

1.25.4

6 files

1.25.3

6 files

1.25.2

6 files

1.25.1

6 files

1.25.0

6 files

1.24.3

6 files

1.24.2

6 files

1.24.1

6 files

1.24.0

6 files

1.23.3

6 files

1.23.2

6 files

1.23.1

6 files

1.23.0

6 files

1.22.2

6 files

1.22.1

6 files

1.22.0

6 files

This release

1.21.0 This release

6 files

1.20.0

6 files

1.19.0

6 files

1.18.0

6 files

1.17.1

6 files

1.17.0

6 files

1.16.1

6 files

1.16.0

6 files

1.15.1

6 files

1.15.0

6 files

1.14.3

6 files

1.14.2

6 files

1.14.1

6 files

1.14.0

6 files

1.13.3

6 files

1.13.2

6 files

1.13.1

6 files

1.13.0

6 files

1.12.0

6 files

1.11.1

6 files

1.11.0

6 files

1.10.0

6 files

1.9.93.2

6 files

1.9.93.0

6 files

1.9.90.0

6 files

1.9.87.0

6 files

1.9.86.0

6 files

1.9.84.0

6 files

1.9.83.0

6 files

1.9.80.0

6 files

1.9.79.0

6 files

1.9.76.0

6 files

1.9.0

6 files

1.8.0

6 files

1.7.0

6 files

1.6.1

6 files

1.6.0

5 files

1.5.0

2 files

1.4.1

2 files

1.4.0

2 files

1.3.1

2 files

1.3.0

2 files

1.2.0

2 files

Anthropic, PBC Visionary sponsor Bloomberg Visionary sponsor Hudson River Trading Visionary sponsor Meta Visionary sponsor NVIDIA Visionary sponsor Microsoft Sustainability sponsor Depot Continuous Integration AWS Cloud computing and Security Sponsor Datadog Monitoring Fastly CDN Google Download Analytics Sentry Error logging StatusPage Status page