---
id: requests-gssapi
version: "1.4.0"
license: ISC
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# requests-gssapi — A GSSAPI authentication handler for python-requests

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 360.3K/mo

## What it is and what it does

requests-gssapi is a thin authentication handler that plugs into the requests HTTP library to perform GSSAPI-based authentication (commonly Kerberos/SPNEGO). It wraps the lower-level gssapi library and presents a requests-compatible auth handler, allowing you to make HTTP requests to servers that require Kerberos negotiation without managing the authentication handshake yourself.

The package assumes you already have a valid Kerberos credential cache (TGT) available on your system—it handles only the HTTP-level negotiation, not credential acquisition. It supports mutual authentication modes, opportunistic (preemptive) authentication for persistent connections, hostname override for load-balanced environments, and explicit principal or mechanism selection. It is a drop-in replacement for the older requests-kerberos library.

Use it for:

- Authenticate HTTP requests to Windows/Active Directory-protected services using Kerberos.
- Access internal APIs and web services that require SPNEGO/Negotiate authentication.
- Automate WinRM or other Windows management protocol calls over HTTP with Kerberos credentials.
- Build Python clients for enterprise systems using Kerberos as the authentication mechanism.
- Replace requests-kerberos in existing codebases without rewriting authentication logic.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Adds GSSAPI/Kerberos authentication support to the requests HTTP library, enabling secure negotiated authentication for HTTP clients.

Yes, if you need Kerberos authentication for HTTP requests and have a Kerberos infrastructure in place. The package is stable, permissively licensed, and has no known vulnerabilities. Install friction is low. However, it is aging (last release 302 days ago) and requires the gssapi system library to be installed separately; verify that dependency is available in your environment before committing.

## Install

pip install requests-gssapi
uv add requests-gssapi
poetry add requests-gssapi

## Installing requests-gssapi

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-wheel distribution. Maintenance status is aging—last release was 302 days ago, though the repository remains active and the package supports current Python versions (3.8 through 3.14).

License in practice: Licensed under ISC (permissive), allowing unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install requests-gssapi

import requests
from requests_gssapi import HTTPSPNEGOAuth

r = requests.get("http://example.org", auth=HTTPSPNEGOAuth())

A valid Kerberos Ticket-Granting Ticket (TGT) must already exist in the credential cache (verify with klist); the gssapi system library must be installed and available.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the gssapi system library dependency is available on all target platforms or requires separate installation.
- Current adoption and community activity level beyond download metrics.

## Package facts

- License: ISC (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 360.3K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

kerberos http authentication, gssapi requests library, spnego negotiate auth, kerberos client python, windows integrated authentication, gssapi http client, kerberos, authentication, enterprise

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