docstring-parser-fork
Parse Python docstrings in reST, Google and Numpydoc format
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, installs cleanly, carries a permissive MIT license, and solves a concrete problem—parsing docstrings into structured data. The fork explicitly addresses upstream bugs. Install it if you need programmatic access to docstring metadata; verify against the CHANGELOG.md that the fork's fixes and additions matter for your use case.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low friction install with no runtime dependencies.
- Actively maintained as of 2026-07-03, with recent activity and a moderate user base.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for both open-source and proprietary projects.
last release 2026-07-03 (42 days) · last repo commit 2026-06-30 · 270 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,327,377 downloads/mo, #4,053 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install docstring_parser_fork
from docstring_parser import parse
docstring = parse("""
:param name: description
:raises ValueError: if invalid
""")
print(docstring.params[0].arg_name)
print(docstring.raises[0].type_name)- Whether bug fixes in this fork are material to your use case compared to the upstream library
- Whether the fork's additional functionalities beyond upstream are documented in CHANGELOG.md
What it is and what it does
docstring_parser_fork is a maintained fork of the docstring_parser library that extracts structured information from Python docstrings written in multiple formats. It parses ReST, Google, Numpydoc, and Epydoc-style docstrings and returns an object model with fields for short and long descriptions, parameters, return types, raises clauses, and other metadata. The fork claims to fix bugs the upstream library has not addressed and adds additional functionality; specific differences are documented in its CHANGELOG.md.
The package has no runtime dependencies and installs cleanly. It supports Python 3.8 through 3.14 and is actively maintained. It is useful in documentation generation pipelines, code analysis tools, and any workflow that needs to programmatically extract and process docstring content.
Use it for
- Automated documentation generation tools that need to parse and restructure docstrings from existing code
- Code quality and linting tools that validate docstring format and completeness
- IDE plugins or editor extensions that display parameter and return type hints extracted from docstrings
- API documentation generators that convert docstrings into structured documentation formats
- Static analysis tools that cross-reference docstring declarations with actual function signatures
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, installs cleanly, carries a permissive MIT license, and solves a concrete problem—parsing docstrings into structured data. The fork explicitly addresses upstream bugs. Install it if you need programmatic access to docstring metadata; verify against the CHANGELOG.md that the fork's fixes and additions matter for your use case.
Install
docstring-parser-fork on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained as of 2026-07-03, with recent activity and a moderate user base.
License in practice
MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for both open-source and proprietary projects.
Quickstart
pip install docstring_parser_fork
from docstring_parser import parse
docstring = parse("""
:param name: description
:raises ValueError: if invalid
""")
print(docstring.params[0].arg_name)
print(docstring.raises[0].type_name)Verify before relying
- Whether bug fixes in this fork are material to your use case compared to the upstream library
- Whether the fork's additional functionalities beyond upstream are documented in CHANGELOG.md
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.8 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 42 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,327,377 / month, #4,053 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaEnvironment :: Other EnvironmentIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Documentation :: SphinxTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: Text Processing :: Markup |
Evidence: docstring_parser_fork-0.0.16-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “parse python docstrings”
- docstring-parser-forkParses Python docstrings in ReST, Google, Numpydoc, and Epydoc…
- docstring-parserParses Python docstrings in ReST, Google, Numpydoc, and Epydoc…
- pytkdocsExtracts and serializes Python object documentation (modules,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Python Modules packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
PyYAML parses and emits YAML 1.1 data format, enabling serialization and deserialization of configuration files and Python objects to and from human-readable YAML text.
Pydantic validates Python data structures against type hints, coercing and checking input at runtime to ensure it matches a declared schema.
Provides reusable metadata objects for use with PEP-593 `typing.Annotated` to express common constraints like bounds, collection sizes, and predicates on types.
Install it if you use or build libraries that need to express type constraints in a standardized, inspectable way—or if you want to annotate your own types with…
Provides runtime tools to inspect and introspect Python type annotations, enabling programmatic examination of type hints at execution time.
See also docstring-parser · numpydoc · pydoctor · docstring-inheritance · docsig · docstring-to-markdown · sphinxcontrib-napoleon · mkdocstrings-python · mkdocstrings-python-legacy · flake8-docstrings