---
id: sphinx-notfound-page
version: "1.1.0"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# sphinx-notfound-page — Sphinx extension to build a 404 page with absolute URLs

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 867.3K/mo

## What it is and what it does

sphinx-notfound-page is a Sphinx extension that automates the creation of a 404 error page for documentation sites. When a reader lands on a missing page, this extension serves a custom 404 page with absolute URLs hardcoded, ensuring navigation links work correctly even when the page doesn't exist. The extension integrates directly into Sphinx's build process via a simple configuration entry.

The package depends only on Sphinx itself and supports Python 3.8 through 3.12. It is marked Production/Stable and has been in use since 2019, though recent maintenance activity has slowed. The extension is particularly useful for documentation hosted on Read the Docs or similar platforms where 404 handling needs to be explicit and reliable.

Use it for:

- Build a custom 404 page for Sphinx documentation that guides users back to the main site with working links.
- Ensure broken documentation links in search engines or external references land on a helpful error page instead of a generic server error.
- Customize the 404 experience for multi-version or multi-language documentation builds where navigation must remain functional.

## Worth the install?

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

A Sphinx extension that generates a custom 404 error page with absolute URLs hardcoded for documentation sites.

Yes, if you maintain Sphinx documentation and need a reliable 404 page. The extension is lightweight, has no security vulnerabilities, and integrates with minimal configuration. The aging maintenance status is not a blocker for a stable, focused tool—but monitor the repository if you rely on it for production documentation.

## Install

pip install sphinx-notfound-page
uv add sphinx-notfound-page
poetry add sphinx-notfound-page

## Installing sphinx-notfound-page

Before you install: Low install friction with a single runtime dependency on sphinx. Maintenance status is aging—last commit was 2026-01-28 and no release in 563 days—but the repository remains active and the package is marked Production/Stable.

License in practice: Licensed under MIT (permissive), so you can use and modify this extension freely in commercial and private projects without restriction.

Quickstart:

pip install sphinx-notfound-page

Then in conf.py:
extensions = ['notfound.extension']

Verify before relying:

- Whether the 404 page generation works correctly with all Sphinx theme variations and configurations.
- How the extension handles dynamic documentation builds or multi-version documentation setups.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 867.3K/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

sphinx 404 page, custom notfound page sphinx, sphinx documentation 404, sphinx extension error page, absolute urls 404 sphinx, sphinx-extension, documentation-tooling

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/sphinx-notfound-page) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/sphinx-notfound-page/)