alabaster

A light, configurable Sphinx theme

alabaster Permissive license DORMANT ★ 777 v1.0.0 released 2024-07-26

Install

alabaster on PyPI

pip

pip install alabaster

uv

uv add alabaster

poetry

poetry add alabaster

Package facts

License	not declared (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.10)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	none
Maintenance	dormant — 748 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2024-07-26
First released	2014-01-10
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-13)

Evidence: alabaster-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableFramework :: SphinxFramework :: Sphinx :: ThemeIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPyTopic :: DocumentationTopic :: Documentation :: SphinxTopic :: Software Development :: Documentation

About alabaster

from the package's own PyPI description — quoted content, verbatim

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/alabaster.svg :target: https://pypi.org/project/alabaster/ :alt: Package on PyPI

.. image:: https://github.com/sphinx-doc/alabaster/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg :target: https://github.com/sphinx-doc/alabaster/actions/workflows/test.yml :alt: CI Status

.. image:: https://readthedocs.org/projects/alabaster/badge/ :target: https://alabaster.readthedocs.io/ :alt: Documentation Status

.. image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/License-BSD%203--Clause-blue.svg :target: https://opensource.org/license/BSD-3-Clause :alt: BSD 3 Clause

What is Alabaster?

Alabaster is a visually (c)lean, responsive, configurable theme for the Sphinx <https://www.sphinx-doc.org>_ documentation system. It requires Python 3.10 or newer and Sphinx 6.2 or newer.

It began as a third-party theme, and is still maintained separately, but as of Sphinx 1.3, Alabaster is an install-time dependency of Sphinx and is selected as the default theme.

Live examples of this theme can be seen on this project's own website <https://alabaster.readthedocs.io/>, paramiko.org <https://www.paramiko.org>, `fabfile.org...

Read as markdown · JSON record · Source repository · Homepage · Docs

AI interpretation — verify before relying

AI-generated interpretation of the package facts above; every digit, version, license, or vulnerability id it cites is grounded in the facts already shown on this page

Alabaster is a clean, responsive Sphinx theme for documentation that provides a visually polished default appearance for projects using the Sphinx documentation system.

Installation is frictionless with no runtime dependencies. The package is dormant (748 days since last release) but remains actively maintained by the Sphinx project; the repository is not archived and received its most recent commit on 2024-07-26.

Licensed under a permissive BSD 3-Clause license, allowing free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.

Usage

pip install alabaster

# In conf.py for your Sphinx project:
html_theme = 'alabaster'

Requires Python 3.10 or newer and Sphinx 6.2 or newer.

Verdict: Alabaster is a stable, zero-dependency Sphinx theme suitable for production documentation. Its dormant maintenance status reflects its role as Sphinx's bundled default rather than active development, and it carries no known security vulnerabilities. The permissive license and broad Python version support (3.10–3.13) make it a low-risk choice for projects already using Sphinx.

Needs verification

Whether Alabaster's dormancy reflects intentional stability or insufficient maintenance for emerging Sphinx features.
How well the theme adapts to recent Sphinx versions beyond 6.2, given the 748-day release gap.

sphinx documentation themeresponsive sphinx themesphinx default themeclean documentation stylingsphinx theme configurablelight sphinx themesphinx html theme