inscriptis

library2.7.4pypypi✓ verified 22d ago

Inscriptis is a Python-based HTML to text conversion library, command line client, and Web service (v2.7.1). It specializes in providing high-quality, layout-aware text representations of HTML content, including support for nested tables and a subset of CSS, and offers optional annotated output. The library is actively maintained with regular releases addressing new Python versions and feature enhancements.

data http-networking

pip install inscriptis

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗docs ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · INSCRIPTIS

inscriptis

datapythonv2.7.4

Install

4.3s avg

Import

102ms

Disk

47MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v2.7.4 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.910 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.104s · 48.9MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.910 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 4.3s · import 0.100s · 49MB

47MB installed

● package 47MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

get_text

✓ from inscriptis import get_text

Convert HTML from a URL to plain text, preserving layout and structure. The example fetches content from 'https://www.informationscience.ch' and prints its text representation.

import urllib.request from inscriptis import get_text url = "https://www.informationscience.ch" try: with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response: html_content = response.read().decode('utf-8') except Exception as e: html_content = f"<html><body><p>Error fetching URL: {e}</p></body></html>" text = get_text(html_content) print(text)

inscriptis --version

Debug

Known issues

breakingThe `XmlAnnotationProcessor` (introduced in 2.6.0) now requires a mandatory root element. The generated XML will contain a `<content>` root element by default. If you were using this processor directly, your XML output structure will change.

fix

If using `XmlAnnotationProcessor`, be aware of the new `<content>` root element. The name can be overwritten by providing the `root_element` parameter to the processor call.

affects: >=2.6.0

deprecatedSupport for Python 3.9 has been removed as of version 2.7.0. Python 3.8 support was deprecated in 2.5.1 and subsequently removed.

fix

Upgrade your Python environment to version 3.10 or newer (up to <3.15) to maintain compatibility with `inscriptis`.

affects: >=2.7.0 (for Python 3.9), >=2.5.1 (for Python 3.8)

gotchaWhen processing very complex HTML pages, `inscriptis` (which uses `lxml` internally) may exhibit increased memory consumption due to `lxml`'s tendency to reuse memory rather than releasing it back to the operating system.

fix

For long-running services processing many complex HTML documents, monitor memory usage and consider restarting processes periodically or optimizing the HTML input where possible. This is a characteristic of `lxml` rather than a direct `inscriptis` bug.

affects: All versions

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'inscriptis'

The 'inscriptis' library has not been installed in your Python environment or is not accessible within the current environment.

fix

Install the library using pip: `pip install inscriptis`

AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'decode'

You are attempting to call the `.decode()` method on a Python 3 string (`str`) object, which is already Unicode. The `.decode()` method is only applicable to `bytes` objects to convert them to `str`.

fix

Remove the `.decode()` call if the input is already a string, or ensure the input is a `bytes` object before calling `.decode()`. For example, if reading from a network or file, ensure you obtain `bytes` before decoding: `html_content_bytes.decode('utf-8')`.

TypeError: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'

A function or method within `inscriptis` or a related library (like `lxml` which `inscriptis` uses) expects a `bytes` object, but it received a standard Python 3 string (`str`).

fix

Convert the `str` object to a `bytes` object using the `.encode()` method with the appropriate encoding, typically UTF-8: `some_string_variable.encode('utf-8')`.

XmlAnnotationProcessor now requires a mandatory root element.

Inscriptis version 2.6.0 and later changed the `XmlAnnotationProcessor` to require a root element, which defaults to `<content>`. Older code using this processor directly might not provide this, leading to a change in the XML output structure.

fix

When using `XmlAnnotationProcessor`, be aware that the output will include a `<content>` root element by default. If you need a different root element, specify it using the `root_element` parameter: `XmlAnnotationProcessor(root_element='my_root')`.

Upgrade

Version history

2.7.4latest on PyPI · released Aug 10, 2026

Audit

Dependencies

requestsrequiredUsed for fetching web content.

lxmlrequiredHTML parsing backend.

fastapioptionalRequired for the optional web-service.

uvicornoptionalRequired for the optional web-service.

Agent activity

7 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/weblyzard/inscriptis ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/inscriptis/ ↗

homepagehttps://inscriptis.informatik.uni-mannheim.de ↗

docshttps://inscriptis.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ ↗