mkdocs-htmlproofer-plugin
A MkDocs plugin that validates URL in rendered HTML files
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need external URL validation in MkDocs or want build-time link checking with fine-grained control. The plugin is actively maintained, has no vulnerabilities, and installs with low friction. However, if you only need anchor validation and are on MkDocs 1.6+, consider using MkDocs' native validation instead. Useful for documentation quality gates in CI/CD pipelines.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python >= 3.10 and MkDocs >= 1.4.0; note that MkDocs 1.6+ has native anchor validation, which may overlap with this plugin's functionality.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with four runtime dependencies (mkdocs, Markdown, requests, beautifulsoup4).
- Actively maintained as of 2026-02-23 with no known vulnerabilities.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license (permissive); you can use, modify, and distribute this plugin freely in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-02-23 (172 days) · last repo commit 2026-02-23 · 48 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 96,906 downloads/mo, #13,186 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install mkdocs-htmlproofer-plugin
# In mkdocs.yml:
plugins:
- search
- htmlproofer:
raise_error_after_finish: true- Performance impact when validating large documentation sites with many external URLs.
- How the plugin handles rate limiting or throttling on external URL checks.
- Specific behavior when encountering redirects (301, 302, etc.) during URL validation.
What it is and what it does
This plugin integrates into MkDocs to automatically check that all URLs and anchors in your rendered HTML documentation are valid. It can validate internal anchor links, external URLs, or both, and optionally fail your build if broken links are found. You configure it in mkdocs.yml with options to ignore specific URLs or pages, retry failed requests, and control concurrency via worker threads.
The plugin uses requests to fetch remote content and beautifulsoup4 to parse HTML and extract links. It supports wildcard patterns for excluding URLs and pages, environment variable configuration for toggling during local development, and detailed error reporting. Since MkDocs 1.6+ added native anchor validation, this plugin is most useful if you need external URL checking or more granular control over link validation behavior.
Use it for
- Validate all internal anchor links in a large documentation site before deployment.
- Check external URLs in documentation to catch link rot and broken references.
- Fail CI/CD builds when documentation contains broken links, enforcing link quality.
- Validate documentation templates and rendered output including headers and footers.
- Exclude known-problematic URLs (private services, rate-limited APIs) while checking the rest.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need external URL validation in MkDocs or want build-time link checking with fine-grained control.
The plugin is actively maintained, has no vulnerabilities, and installs with low friction. However, if you only need anchor validation and are on MkDocs 1.6+, consider using MkDocs' native validation instead. Useful for documentation quality gates in CI/CD pipelines.
Install
mkdocs-htmlproofer-plugin on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with four runtime dependencies (mkdocs, Markdown, requests, beautifulsoup4). Actively maintained as of 2026-02-23 with no known vulnerabilities.
Requires Python >= 3.10 and MkDocs >= 1.4.0; note that MkDocs 1.6+ has native anchor validation, which may overlap with this plugin's functionality.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive); you can use, modify, and distribute this plugin freely in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install mkdocs-htmlproofer-plugin
# In mkdocs.yml:
plugins:
- search
- htmlproofer:
raise_error_after_finish: trueVerify before relying
- Performance impact when validating large documentation sites with many external URLs.
- How the plugin handles rate limiting or throttling on external URL checks.
- Specific behavior when encountering redirects (301, 302, etc.) during URL validation.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 4 packagesmkdocsMarkdownrequestsbeautifulsoup4 |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 172 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 96,906 / month, #13,186 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 :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: Information TechnologyLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12 |
Evidence: mkdocs_htmlproofer_plugin-1.5.0-py3-none-any.whl
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