---
id: http-sfv
version: "0.9.9"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# http-sfv — Parse and serialise HTTP Structured Field Values

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 110.1K/mo

## 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 above — 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

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

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 110.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

HTTP structured field values parsing, RFC HTTP header parsing, structured headers serialization, HTTP dictionary list item parsing, IETF header field values, HTTP header structure parsing, typed HTTP header values, deprecated, http-headers, ietf-spec

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/http-sfv) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/http-sfv/)