Install & Compatibility
Where this runs
tested against v1.0.4 · 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
muslpy 3.10–3.95 runs
installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.134s · 17.8MB
glibcpy 3.10–3.95 runs
installs and imports cleanly · install 1.6s · import 0.118s · 18MB
16MB installed
● package 16MB
Code
Verified usage
Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.
xmltodict
✓ import xmltodict
Ensure to use the full module import.
Quickly parse XML to a Python dictionary.
import xmltodict
xml_str = '<foo><bar value="1">test</bar></foo>'
dict_obj = xmltodict.parse(xml_str)
print(dict_obj)
Errors
Common errors & fixes
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'xmltodict'
The xmltodict library is not installed in the Python environment where the script is being run.
xml.parsers.expat.ExpatError: syntax error: line X, column Y
The input XML string is not well-formed, contains syntax errors, or invalid characters, preventing xmltodict from parsing it correctly.
fixEnsure the XML string is syntactically correct and well-formed according to XML standards, or handle potential parsing errors with a try-except block.
KeyError: 'some_element_name'
An attempt was made to access an XML element or attribute using a dictionary key that does not exist in the parsed output, often due to incorrect case, wrong path, or the element being an attribute (which are prefixed with '@').
fixInspect the structure of the parsed dictionary output (e.g., by printing it) to identify the correct key, paying attention to case sensitivity and attribute prefixes like '@attribute_name'.
ValueError: Document must have exactly one root.
The dictionary provided to `xmltodict.unparse` does not represent a valid XML structure because it lacks a single top-level key that would serve as the XML root element, or it has multiple top-level keys.
fixEnsure the input dictionary for unparsing has exactly one top-level key that will act as the root element of the generated XML document.
xmltodict.expat.ExpatError: not well-formed (invalid token): line 1, column 0
The input provided to `xmltodict.parse()` is not valid XML or contains malformed characters, preventing proper parsing.
fixValidate the XML input for well-formedness and correct any syntax errors, mismatched tags, or invalid characters before passing it to `xmltodict.parse()`.
Upgrade
Version history
1.0.4latest on PyPI · released Feb 22, 2026
Audit
Dependencies
No dependency data recorded yet.