sphinx-reredirects

What it is and what it does

sphinx-reredirects is a Sphinx extension that automates the creation of redirect pages when you rename or move documentation files. Instead of leaving broken links, it generates lightweight HTML files with meta refresh tags that send visitors to the new location—all configured from a single place in your project's conf.py file. It requires no server-side setup, works across domains, and supports wildcard patterns for bulk redirects.

The extension solves the common problem of maintaining documentation URLs as your site evolves. When you rename a page from `start.html` to `intro.html`, sphinx-reredirects generates a `start.html` that automatically redirects browsers to the new location. This keeps search engine rankings intact and prevents 404 errors for bookmarked or externally linked pages.

Use it for:

• Rename documentation pages without breaking external links or search engine indexing
• Move entire documentation sections to new locations with wildcard redirect rules
• Migrate a documentation site to a different domain while preserving old URLs
• Maintain backward compatibility when reorganizing a large documentation structure
• Centralize all redirect logic in conf.py instead of managing .htaccess or server config

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Sphinx extension that generates HTML redirect pages with meta refresh tags when you rename or move documentation files, preventing 404 errors without server-side configuration.

Yes, if you maintain a Sphinx documentation site and need to handle URL changes. The extension is actively maintained, has low install friction, and solves a real problem with minimal configuration. The only caveat is that license metadata is unclear—verify the MIT claim before use in contexts where license certainty matters.

Install

sphinx-reredirects on PyPI

pip install sphinx-reredirects

uv add sphinx-reredirects

poetry add sphinx-reredirects

Installing sphinx-reredirects

Before you install

Low friction install as a pure Python wheel with only Sphinx as a runtime dependency. Actively maintained with recent releases; last commit 2026-02-27 and latest release 2025-12-22.

License in practice

License treatment is unclear in the package metadata, though the description references MIT licensing. Verify the actual license terms before use in proprietary or restricted contexts.

Quickstart

pip install sphinx-reredirects

# In conf.py:
extensions = ['sphinx_reredirects']
redirects = {
    'old_page': 'new_page.html',
    'docs/old/*': 'docs/new/',
}

Requires Python 3.11 or later and Sphinx as a dependency; client-side redirects require JavaScript enabled in browsers.

Verify before relying

• Whether the MIT license claim in the description is authoritative or whether metadata omission indicates a different license
• Wildcard matching and cross-domain redirect behavior details beyond the description's summary
• Whether dynamic placeholders support variable substitution or simple string replacement

Package facts

Evidence: sphinx_reredirects-1.1.0-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Utilities packages