MHTML to HTML (Python)

A Python wrapper for the excellent gonejack/mhtml-to-html Go tool, adding automatic encoding detection for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean content.

NOTE: This is 100% vibe coded, including all the effusive LLM slop below. It works and has tests, that's all I can say.

Features

• 🌍 Smart Encoding Detection: Automatically detects and converts Chinese (GBK, GB18030), Japanese (Shift_JIS), Korean (EUC-KR) and other encodings
• ⚡ Fast Performance: Uses optimized Go binary under the hood
• 🖥️ Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows (x64 & ARM64)
• 🐍 Simple Python API: Clean interface with optional CLI
• 📦 Zero Dependencies: Self-contained with embedded binaries
• 🙏 Built on Excellence: Wraps the proven mhtml-to-html Go tool

Installation

pip install mhtml-to-html-py

Quick Start

Python API

from mhtml_converter import convert_mhtml

# Convert MHTML to HTML string
html_content = convert_mhtml("document.mht")

# Save to file with verbose encoding detection
convert_mhtml("chinese_doc.mht", output_file="output.html", verbose=True)

# Convert with explicit encoding (if detection fails)
html_content = convert_mhtml("document.mht", encoding="gbk")

Command Line

# Convert single file
mhtml-to-html-py input.mht -o output.html

# Verbose mode to see encoding detection
mhtml-to-html-py input.mht -o output.html --verbose

# Convert multiple files
mhtml-to-html-py *.mht --output-dir converted/

Why This Package?

Many MHTML files, especially those saved from Chinese, Japanese, or Korean websites, use non-UTF-8 encodings that cause garbled text when converted naively. This package:

1. Detects encoding from HTML meta tags and content analysis
2. Converts properly to UTF-8 for universal compatibility
3. Preserves formatting and embedded resources
4. Works reliably across different platforms and languages

Use Cases

• Converting saved web pages from Asian websites
• Processing email archives in MHTML format
• Batch conversion of documentation
• Web scraping pipeline preprocessing
• Digital preservation workflows

Technical Details

This package wraps the high-performance mhtml-to-html Go binary that handles the actual conversion. The Python layer provides a clean API, handles platform detection automatically, and adds enhanced encoding detection capabilities.

Supported Platforms

Credits

This project is a Python wrapper around the excellent gonejack/mhtml-to-html Go tool. All the heavy lifting for MHTML parsing and conversion is done by that project. We've added:

• Python packaging and distribution
• Cross-platform binary embedding
• Enhanced encoding detection
• Simplified Python API

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome! This project wraps the excellent gonejack/mhtml-to-html Go tool with Python convenience layers.