http-sfv

What it is and what it does

http-sfv is a Python library for parsing and serializing HTTP Structured Field Values as defined by the IETF specification. It provides three top-level types—Dictionary, List, and Item—each capable of parsing byte-string header values and exposing their structure through Pythonic interfaces (list/dict methods, .value and .params properties). The library supports multiple value types including tokens, strings, display strings, dates, and inner lists, with parameters accessible as dictionaries on items.

The package is explicitly deprecated. The maintainer recommends using http-sf instead and has archived the repository. While security updates are promised, no active development occurs. The library was designed to validate the specification algorithms rather than optimize for production use, making it suitable mainly for specification compliance testing or legacy systems already depending on it.

Use it for:

• Validate HTTP header field values against the IETF Structured Fields specification in test suites or compliance checkers.
• Parse and inspect structured HTTP headers (e.g., Accept, Content-Type variants) that follow the specification format.
• Serialize programmatically-built HTTP header structures back into compliant byte-string format for transmission.
• Command-line inspection of header values using the -d, -l, -i flags to examine their data model in JSON format.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Parses and serializes HTTP Structured Field Values according to the IETF specification, supporting Dictionary, List, and Item types with parameters and multiple value types.

No. The package is abandoned and explicitly deprecated in favor of http-sf. Unless you are maintaining legacy code already using http-sfv, migrate to http-sf instead. No new projects should adopt this package.

Install

http-sfv on PyPI

pip install http-sfv

uv add http-sfv

poetry add http-sfv

Installing http-sfv

Before you install

Low friction to install; single pure-Python dependency (typing-extensions). However, the package is abandoned—the repository is archived, last commit was 2026-05-18, and the maintainer explicitly directs users to http-sf as a replacement. Security-only updates promised but no active development.

License in practice

Licensed under MIT (permissive), so no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in commercial or private projects.

Quickstart

from http_sfv import List, Token
my_list = List()
my_list.parse(b"foo; a=1, bar; b=2")
print(my_list[0].value)  # 'foo'
print(my_list[0].params['a'])  # 1

Requires Python 3.8 or later. Input to .parse() must be bytes-like; strings must be .encode()d first.

Verify before relying

• Whether http-sf is a true drop-in replacement or requires code changes for migration.
• Current security posture and timeline for potential yanking of this package.

Package facts

Evidence: http_sfv-0.9.9-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Python Modules packages