httplib2

A comprehensive HTTP client library.

httplib2 Permissive license MIT Active ★ 510 v0.32.0 released 2026-06-26

Install

httplib2 on PyPI

pip

pip install httplib2

uv

uv add httplib2

poetry

poetry add httplib2

Package facts

License	MIT (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.8)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	1 — pyparsing
Maintenance	actively maintained — 48 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-06-26
First released	2012-03-02
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-13)

Evidence: httplib2-0.32.0-py3-none-any.whl

Development Status :: 4 - BetaEnvironment :: Web EnvironmentIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTPTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries

About httplib2

from the package's own PyPI description — quoted content, verbatim

A comprehensive HTTP client library, httplib2 supports many features left out of other HTTP libraries.

HTTP and HTTPS HTTPS support is only available if the socket module was compiled with SSL support.

Keep-Alive Supports HTTP 1.1 Keep-Alive, keeping the socket open and performing multiple requests over the same connection if possible.

Authentication The following three types of HTTP Authentication are supported. These can be used over both HTTP and HTTPS.

Digest
Basic
WSSE

Caching The module can optionally operate with a private cache that understands the Cache-Control: header and uses both the ETag and Last-Modified cache validators. Both file system and memcached based caches are supported.

All Methods The module can handle any HTTP request method, not just GET and POST.

Redirects Automatically follows 3XX redirects on GETs.

Compression Handles both 'deflate' and 'gzip' types of compression.

Lost update support Automatically adds back ETags into PUT requests to resources we have already cached. This implements Section 3.2 of Detecting the Lost Update Problem Using Unreserved Checkout

**Unit...

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AI interpretation — verify before relying

AI-generated interpretation of the package facts above; every digit, version, license, or vulnerability id it cites is grounded in the facts already shown on this page

httplib2 is a comprehensive HTTP client library for Python that handles HTTP/HTTPS requests with support for keep-alive connections, multiple authentication methods, response caching, compression, and automatic redirect following.

Low friction installation with a single runtime dependency (pyparsing). The package is actively maintained with a recent release 48 days ago and an active repository showing ongoing development.

MIT license is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions—you may use, modify, and distribute httplib2 freely provided you include the license notice.

Usage

import httplib2
http = httplib2.Http()
response, content = http.request('https://example.com')

HTTPS support requires the socket module to be compiled with SSL support; Python 3.8 or later is required.

Verdict: httplib2 is a stable, actively maintained HTTP client with no known vulnerabilities and permissive licensing. It offers feature-rich functionality including caching, authentication, and compression in a lightweight package with minimal dependencies. Suitable for projects needing comprehensive HTTP handling beyond basic requests.

Needs verification

Whether the package's Beta development status (classifier) reflects actual stability concerns or is simply outdated metadata.
Current adoption trends relative to other HTTP client libraries in the ecosystem.

http client library pythonhttps requests with cachinghttp keep-alive connection poolingdigest authentication httphttp compression deflate gzipetag cache validationhttp redirect handling