bs4
Dummy package for Beautiful Soup (beautifulsoup4)
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, but only if you intend to use beautifulsoup4. Install this package by name (bs4) as a convenience; it will pull the real library. Do not install this expecting it to do anything on its own—it is a redirect. If you already know you need beautifulsoup4, installing bs4 is a safe and idiomatic way to get it.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- You need an HTML parser backend installed (html.parser is built-in, but others can be installed separately for different parsing behavior).
- Low friction to install, but the package is dormant (last release 940 days ago) and serves only as a redirect.
- Installing it pulls beautifulsoup4 as a runtime dependency, which is the actual maintained library you want.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT License (permissive) — Licensed under MIT License (permissive), so there are no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution.
last release 2024-01-17 (940 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 22,265,397 downloads/mo, #979 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install bs4
import bs4
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
html = "<p>Hello</p>"
soup = BeautifulSoup(html, 'html.parser')- Whether beautifulsoup4 (the actual library this redirects to) is actively maintained and suitable for your use case.
- What parsing backends are available and whether additional dependencies are needed for specific use cases.
What it is and what it does
bs4 is a dummy package on PyPI that exists solely to prevent name squatting. When you install it, you automatically get beautifulsoup4, the actual HTML and XML parsing library. The package itself contains no code—it is purely a redirect mechanism to ensure that the common shorthand name 'bs4' points to the correct, maintained library.
If you search for 'bs4' on PyPI, you will find this package. The description explicitly instructs you to install beautifulsoup4 instead. The package has not been updated in over 940 days and is marked as dormant, which is expected for a placeholder. The real work happens in beautifulsoup4, which is pulled in as a dependency.
Use it for
- Installing via the shorthand name 'bs4' when you actually need beautifulsoup4 for HTML/XML parsing.
- Ensuring your dependency specifications resolve to the correct, maintained library rather than a stale or malicious package.
- Learning why PyPI requires placeholder packages to protect common abbreviations from squatting.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, but only if you intend to use beautifulsoup4.
Install this package by name (bs4) as a convenience; it will pull the real library. Do not install this expecting it to do anything on its own—it is a redirect. If you already know you need beautifulsoup4, installing bs4 is a safe and idiomatic way to get it.
Install
bs4 on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction to install, but the package is dormant (last release 940 days ago) and serves only as a redirect. Installing it pulls beautifulsoup4 as a runtime dependency, which is the actual maintained library you want.
You need an HTML parser backend installed (html.parser is built-in, but others can be installed separately for different parsing behavior).
License in practice
Licensed under MIT License (permissive), so there are no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution.
Quickstart
pip install bs4
import bs4
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
html = "<p>Hello</p>"
soup = BeautifulSoup(html, 'html.parser')Verify before relying
- Whether beautifulsoup4 (the actual library this redirects to) is actively maintained and suitable for your use case.
- What parsing backends are available and whether additional dependencies are needed for specific use cases.
Package facts
| License | MIT License permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packagebeautifulsoup4 |
| Maintenance | Dormant 940 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 22,265,397 / month, #979 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
Evidence: bs4-0.0.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl
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