endesive
Library for digital signing and verification of digital signatures in mail, PDF and XML documents.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need to sign or verify documents in PDF, S/MIME, XML, or plain-text formats. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and covers a broad range of signing standards. Verify the license metadata before use in proprietary contexts, and confirm HSM requirements if you plan to use hardware keys.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires a valid certificate and corresponding private key; pykcs11 support for hardware security modules needs additional system-level setup.
- Low friction install with a pure-Python wheel.
- Actively maintained as of 2026-07-28 with regular commits.
License · maintenance · safety
(unclear) — License treatment is unclear in the metadata, though the description states MIT licensing. Verify the actual LICENSE file in the repository before use in proprietary or restricted contexts.
last release 2026-01-12 (214 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-28 · 276 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 177,569 downloads/mo, #10,209 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install endesive
from endesive.cms import cms_sign
# Sign a document with a certificate and key
signed_data = cms_sign(document_bytes, cert, key)- Whether license_treatment 'unclear' reflects missing metadata or genuine ambiguity about MIT licensing stated in description.
- Whether pykcs11 is required for all use cases or only for hardware security module integration.
- Specific Python 3.x version support beyond the minimum 3.0 requirement.
- Whether AES-128/192/256 CBC/OFB modes are all supported or only a subset.
What it is and what it does
Endesive is a Python library for creating and validating digital signatures across multiple document formats: PDF (CAdES-B format), S/MIME email messages, XML (XADES BES/T), and plain text with detached CMS signatures. It wraps cryptographic operations from the cryptography library and ASN.1 handling from asn1crypto, providing a unified interface for signing workflows that need to comply with standards like CAdES and XADES.
The library can sign documents at creation time (for PDF via an embedded pyfpdf variant) or add signatures to externally generated files. It supports both software-based keys and hardware security modules via pykcs11. Encryption and decryption of S/MIME messages is also supported. The package is actively maintained and carries no known vulnerabilities.
Use it for
- Sign PDF documents with a digital certificate for compliance and authenticity verification.
- Create and verify signed S/MIME email messages for secure mail communication.
- Generate XADES-compliant XML signatures for legal or regulatory document workflows.
- Sign plain-text files with detached CMS signatures for non-binary document authentication.
- Integrate hardware security module keys into document signing via pykcs11.
- Encrypt and decrypt S/MIME messages in email processing pipelines.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need to sign or verify documents in PDF, S/MIME, XML, or plain-text formats.
The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and covers a broad range of signing standards. Verify the license metadata before use in proprietary contexts, and confirm HSM requirements if you plan to use hardware keys.
Install
endesive on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with a pure-Python wheel. Actively maintained as of 2026-07-28 with regular commits. Depends on seven runtime libraries including cryptography, lxml, and pykcs11; all are mature and widely available.
Requires a valid certificate and corresponding private key; pykcs11 support for hardware security modules needs additional system-level setup.
License in practice
License treatment is unclear in the metadata, though the description states MIT licensing. Verify the actual LICENSE file in the repository before use in proprietary or restricted contexts.
Quickstart
pip install endesive
from endesive.cms import cms_sign
# Sign a document with a certificate and key
signed_data = cms_sign(document_bytes, cert, key)Verify before relying
- Whether license_treatment 'unclear' reflects missing metadata or genuine ambiguity about MIT licensing stated in description.
- Whether pykcs11 is required for all use cases or only for hardware security module integration.
- Specific Python 3.x version support beyond the minimum 3.0 requirement.
- Whether AES-128/192/256 CBC/OFB modes are all supported or only a subset.
Package facts
| License | Not declared unclear |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 7 packagescryptographyasn1cryptolxmlpykcs11Pillowrequestsparamiko |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 214 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 177,569 / month, #10,209 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaDevelopment Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Communications :: EmailTopic :: Multimedia :: GraphicsTopic :: Office/BusinessTopic :: Security :: CryptographyTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: Text Processing |
Evidence: endesive-2.19.3-py3-none-any.whl
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