Registry / serialization / validate-email

validate-email

library1.3pypypi✓ verified 24d ago

The `validate-email` library (version 1.3, last updated in 2015) provides basic functionality to verify if an email address is valid, properly formatted, and optionally checks for the existence of its domain's MX record and the email address itself via an SMTP check. Due to its age, it is largely unmaintained. More robust and actively developed alternatives are recommended for modern Python projects.

serialization

pip install validate_email

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · VALIDATE-EMAIL

validate-email

serializationpythonv1.3

Install

—

Import

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Disk

—

Pass rate

0/ 10

Env Coverage0 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v1.3 · 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

glibc

py 3.10

1/2 runs

py 3.11

1/2 runs

py 3.12

1/2 runs

py 3.13

1/2 runs

py 3.9

1/2 runs

Code

Verified usage

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

validate_email

✓ from validate_email import validate_email

✗ from validate_email.validate_email import validate_email

The function is directly exposed at the top level of the package.

Demonstrates basic email validation, including optional MX record and SMTP verification checks. Note that `check_mx` and `verify` require the `pyDNS` dependency to be installed.

from validate_email import validate_email # Basic syntax validation is_valid_syntax = validate_email('test@example.com') print(f"Syntax valid: {is_valid_syntax}") # With MX record check (requires pyDNS) is_valid_mx = validate_email('test@example.com', check_mx=True) print(f"MX valid (requires pyDNS): {is_valid_mx}") # With MX and SMTP verification (requires pyDNS) is_valid_smtp = validate_email('test@example.com', check_mx=True, verify=True) print(f"SMTP verified (requires pyDNS): {is_valid_smtp}") # Example of an invalid email is_invalid = validate_email('invalid-email') print(f"Invalid email: {is_invalid}")

Debug

Known issues

deprecatedThe `validate-email` library (version 1.3) was last updated in 2015 and is largely unmaintained. It may not fully comply with modern RFC standards or integrate well with newer Python versions and asynchronous patterns. Consider using more actively maintained alternatives like `py3-validate-email` or `email-validator` for better support and features.

fix

Migrate to a contemporary and maintained email validation library for improved reliability and future compatibility.

affects: <=1.3

gotchaPerforming real-time MX record lookups (`check_mx=True`) and SMTP server verification (`verify=True`) involves network requests, which are inherently slow and can introduce significant latency to your application. This is often the primary bottleneck when validating many emails.

fix

Minimize calls to network-dependent validation (check_mx, verify). Perform these checks asynchronously or in batch processes, if absolutely necessary, and prefer syntax-only validation for user input in real-time interfaces.

affects: <=1.3

breakingUsing `verify=True` for bulk email verification can lead to your server's IP address being blacklisted by email providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook). Frequent attempts to connect to SMTP servers for non-delivery purposes can be flagged as spamming activity.

fix

Avoid using `verify=True` for large lists or automated scripts. Reserve it for single, user-initiated validations (e.g., during registration) and ensure your usage adheres to responsible network behavior to prevent IP blacklisting.

affects: <=1.3

gotchaThe `pyDNS` dependency, crucial for MX/SMTP checks, can be problematic to install or use on certain Python 3 environments due to conflicts with other DNS libraries (`dnspython`) or general compatibility issues with older versions of Python 3.

fix

Ensure `pyDNS` is correctly installed. If encountering issues, try `pip uninstall py3dns dnspython` before `pip install pydns` or consider using a different validation library that relies on `dnspython` directly, which is more robust for modern Python.

affects: <=1.3

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'validate_email'

The 'validate-email' library has not been installed in the current Python environment.

fix

Install the library using pip: `pip install validate-email`

ImportError: cannot import name 'validate' from 'validate_email'

The user is attempting to import a function named `validate`, but the primary validation function in this library is named `validate_email`.

fix

Import the correct function: `from validate_email import validate_email`

socket.gaierror: [Errno -2] Name or service not known

The library failed to resolve DNS records (like MX records) for the email's domain during verification, often due to network issues, invalid domain names, or transient DNS problems.

fix

Ensure network connectivity and valid DNS resolution, or disable domain verification by setting `verify=False` and `check_smtp=False` in the function call.

socket.timeout

The SMTP verification step (`check_smtp=True`) timed out while attempting to connect to the mail server, indicating the server was unresponsive or network conditions prevented a timely connection.

fix

Increase the `timeout` parameter or disable the SMTP check entirely by setting `check_smtp=False` if only format validation is required.

Upgrade

Version history

1.3latest on PyPI · released Mar 23, 2015

Audit

Dependencies

pyDNSoptionalRequired for 'check_mx' and 'verify' functionalities (DNS MX record lookups and SMTP checks). Without it, only basic syntax validation is performed.

Agent activity

14 hits · last 30 days

node

OpenAI (training)

Resources

githubhttp://github.com/syrusakbary/validate_email ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/validate-email/ ↗