marko
A markdown parser with high extensibility.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if CommonMark compliance and extensibility matter for your use case. Marko is actively maintained, has no external dependencies, and supports current Python versions. Install it if you need reliable spec-compliant markdown parsing; skip it if you prioritize raw parsing speed over standards compliance.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or higher.
- Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies.
- The package is actively maintained, with a recent release and consistent commit activity.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — Released under the MIT License, a permissive open-source license that allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-08-12 (2 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-12 · 463 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 6,438,890 downloads/mo, #1,910 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install marko
import marko
print(marko.convert("# Hello\n\nThis is markdown."))- Whether the performance trade-off versus non-compliant parsers is acceptable for your use case (described as three times slower than Python-Markdown).
- Availability and maturity of community-contributed extensions beyond the four shipped extensions.
What it is and what it does
Marko is a markdown-to-HTML parser written in pure Python that prioritizes strict compliance with the CommonMark specification v0.31.2 over raw speed. It solves the problem of parsing markdown reliably when spec compliance matters more than performance—useful when you need predictable, standards-compliant rendering across different markdown sources.
The package is designed for extensibility: you can load built-in extensions (footnote, toc, pangu, codehilite) or write your own to add custom markdown features. It works both as a library (via `marko.convert()` or the `Markdown` class) and as a command-line tool for rendering markdown files to HTML. The trade-off is explicit: it runs slower than some alternatives because it implements the full CommonMark spec rather than a subset.
Use it for
- Build a static site generator or documentation tool that needs reliable, spec-compliant markdown rendering.
- Parse user-submitted markdown content in a web application where consistent output across different inputs is critical.
- Extend markdown syntax for domain-specific needs (e.g., adding custom footnotes or table-of-contents generation).
- Convert markdown files to HTML from the command line with optional extensions like syntax highlighting.
- Integrate markdown processing into a Python application where CommonMark compliance is a requirement.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if CommonMark compliance and extensibility matter for your use case.
Marko is actively maintained, has no external dependencies, and supports current Python versions. Install it if you need reliable spec-compliant markdown parsing; skip it if you prioritize raw parsing speed over standards compliance.
Install
marko on PyPI
Before you install
Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies. The package is actively maintained, with a recent release and consistent commit activity. It supports Python 3.9 through 3.14.
Requires Python 3.9 or higher.
License in practice
Released under the MIT License, a permissive open-source license that allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install marko
import marko
print(marko.convert("# Hello\n\nThis is markdown."))Verify before relying
- Whether the performance trade-off versus non-compliant parsers is acceptable for your use case (described as three times slower than Python-Markdown).
- Availability and maturity of community-contributed extensions beyond the four shipped extensions.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 2 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 6,438,890 / month, #1,910 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9 |
Evidence: marko-2.2.4-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 › “commonmark compliant parser”
- markoMarko is a pure Python markdown parser that converts markdown text to…
- mistletoemistletoe is a pure-Python Markdown parser that converts Markdown…
- mdformatMdformat is a CommonMark-compliant command-line Markdown formatter…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Markup packages
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.
A Python markdown parser that converts markdown to HTML following the CommonMark specification, with support for plugins and custom syntax rules.
Install it if you need reliable markdown-to-HTML conversion.
Beautiful Soup parses HTML and XML documents into a navigable tree, providing Pythonic methods to search, iterate, and modify the parsed content.
Install it if you need to parse or extract data from markup documents.
et_xmlfile writes large XML files with minimal memory overhead by serializing elements to disk as they are created, rather than holding the entire tree in memory.
Install it if incremental XML writing fits your use case; skip it if your XML documents are small or you already use lxml.
Parses and edits TOML files while preserving formatting, comments, and structure, then serializes them back with layout intact.
Install it if you're building tools that touch TOML files and user readability of the source matters.
Parses Python docstrings in ReST, Google, Numpydoc, and Epydoc formats, extracting structured information like descriptions, parameters, return types, and exceptions.
Install it if you need to programmatically read and extract structured data from Python docstrings.
See also commonmark · multimark · mistune · Markdown · pyromark · myst-parser · cmarkgfm · markdown-it-pyrs · mdurl