saxonche
Official Saxonica python package for the SaxonC-HE 13.0.0 processor: for XSLT 3.0, XQuery 3.1, XPath 3.1 and XML Schema processing.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need W3C-compliant XSLT 3.0, XQuery 3.1, or XPath 3.1 processing and want to avoid Java dependencies. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and supports modern Python versions. License treatment is unclear in metadata—verify Saxonica's terms before deployment. Medium install friction is acceptable for a compiled extension.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or later.
- License configuration via SAXONC_HOME environment variable or licenseFileLocation property may be needed for commercial editions.
- Medium install friction due to compiled wheels for multiple Python versions and platforms.
License · maintenance · safety
(unclear) — License treatment is unclear in the metadata. The package itself is open-source (Home Edition), but commercial editions (PE, EE) require paid licenses. Review Saxonica's terms and conditions before use.
last release 2026-05-29 (77 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,320,441 downloads/mo, #4,063 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install saxonche
from saxonche import PySaxonProcessor
proc = PySaxonProcessor(license=False)
print(proc.version)- Whether the package works reliably on all listed platform/Python combinations in production environments
- Performance characteristics compared to other XML processors for large documents
- Community adoption and real-world usage patterns beyond download counts
What it is and what it does
SaxonC-HE is the open-source Home Edition of Saxon, a standards-compliant XML processor developed by Saxonica. It provides Python bindings to a native C/C++ implementation of Saxon, making W3C-standard XML processing available without a Java runtime. The package supports XSLT 3.0, XQuery 3.1, XPath 3.1, and XSD 1.1 validation—all the latest W3C standards for XML processing.
You use it by instantiating a PySaxonProcessor, then creating specialized processors (XSLT, XQuery, XPath) or validators as needed. The API lets you parse XML, compile stylesheets or queries, and execute transformations or evaluations, returning results as strings or XDM data model objects. It's designed for developers who need strict W3C compliance and don't want to depend on Java or pure-Python XML libraries that may lag behind standards.
Use it for
- Run XSLT 3.0 stylesheets against XML documents in production pipelines without a Java dependency
- Validate XML documents against XSD 1.1 schemas with full W3C compliance
- Execute XQuery 3.1 queries against XML data for complex document transformations
- Perform XPath 3.1 queries on XML documents when standard library XPath support is insufficient
- Integrate standards-compliant XML processing into Python applications that require strict W3C conformance
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need W3C-compliant XSLT 3.0, XQuery 3.1, or XPath 3.1 processing and want to avoid Java dependencies.
The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and supports modern Python versions. License treatment is unclear in metadata—verify Saxonica's terms before deployment. Medium install friction is acceptable for a compiled extension.
Install
saxonche on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled wheels for multiple Python versions and platforms. Package is actively maintained with a recent release 77 days ago and supports current Python versions (3.9+).
Requires Python 3.9 or later. License configuration via SAXONC_HOME environment variable or licenseFileLocation property may be needed for commercial editions.
License in practice
License treatment is unclear in the metadata. The package itself is open-source (Home Edition), but commercial editions (PE, EE) require paid licenses. Review Saxonica's terms and conditions before use.
Quickstart
pip install saxonche
from saxonche import PySaxonProcessor
proc = PySaxonProcessor(license=False)
print(proc.version)Verify before relying
- Whether the package works reliably on all listed platform/Python combinations in production environments
- Performance characteristics compared to other XML processors for large documents
- Community adoption and real-world usage patterns beyond download counts
Package facts
| License | Not declared unclear |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 77 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,320,441 / month, #4,063 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
Evidence: saxonche-13.0.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_11_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_24_aarch64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_24_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_11_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp311-cp311-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_24_aarch64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_24_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp311-cp311-win_amd64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp312-cp312-macosx_10_11_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp312-cp312-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_24_aarch64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_24_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp312-cp312-win_amd64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_10_11_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp313-cp313-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_24_aarch64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_24_x86_64.whl; saxonche-13.0.0-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.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 › “xslt 3.0 processor python”
- saxoncheSaxonC-HE is a Python wrapper for Saxon, an XML processor that runs…
- django-revproxyA Django application that forwards HTTP requests to another server…
- lxmllxml provides Python bindings to libxml2 and libxslt, enabling…
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 elementpath · lxml · cssselect · factur-x · turbohtml · xmlunittest · xmlschema · signxml · parsel · itemloaders