sphinxcontrib-openapi
OpenAPI (fka Swagger) spec renderer for Sphinx
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you maintain an OpenAPI spec and use Sphinx for documentation. The package is stable, permissively licensed, and has low install friction. Maintenance is aging (185 days since last release), so verify compatibility with your Sphinx version before adopting. No known security vulnerabilities.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low friction install with a pure Python wheel.
- Maintenance is aging—last release 185 days ago—but the repository remains active and the package has been stable since its 2016 release.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-3-Clause (permissive) — BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-02-10 (185 days) · last repo commit 2026-02-10 · 126 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 320,278 downloads/mo, #7,637 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install sphinxcontrib-openapi
# In conf.py:
extensions = [
'sphinxcontrib.openapi',
]
# In your .rst file:
.. openapi:: path/to/openapi.yml- Whether the package handles all OpenAPI 3.0+ features or has known limitations with certain spec versions.
- Performance characteristics when rendering large or complex OpenAPI specifications.
- Compatibility with recent Sphinx versions beyond what the classifiers indicate.
What it is and what it does
sphinxcontrib-openapi is a Sphinx extension that converts OpenAPI (formerly Swagger) specification files into formatted API documentation. It leverages the sphinxcontrib-httpdomain extension to provide HTTP domain support, so it integrates naturally with Sphinx's documentation build pipeline. You add it to your Sphinx conf.py extensions list and then use the openapi directive to point to your spec file—typically a YAML or JSON OpenAPI definition—and it renders the endpoints, parameters, request/response schemas, and other API details into your documentation.
The package depends on Sphinx, PyYAML for parsing specs, jsonschema for validation, and a few utility libraries (picobox, deepmerge, sphinx-mdinclude) to handle configuration and schema merging. It's designed for teams that maintain OpenAPI specs and want to keep their API documentation in sync without manual rewriting.
Use it for
- Generate API reference documentation from an OpenAPI spec as part of your Sphinx build process.
- Keep API docs automatically synchronized with your OpenAPI definition during development.
- Render REST endpoint details (paths, methods, parameters, responses) into a Sphinx project.
- Embed interactive or formatted API specifications into larger technical documentation.
- Build a single-source documentation site where API reference comes from your spec file.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you maintain an OpenAPI spec and use Sphinx for documentation.
The package is stable, permissively licensed, and has low install friction. Maintenance is aging (185 days since last release), so verify compatibility with your Sphinx version before adopting. No known security vulnerabilities.
Install
sphinxcontrib-openapi on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with a pure Python wheel. Maintenance is aging—last release 185 days ago—but the repository remains active and the package has been stable since its 2016 release.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
BSD-3-Clause is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install sphinxcontrib-openapi
# In conf.py:
extensions = [
'sphinxcontrib.openapi',
]
# In your .rst file:
.. openapi:: path/to/openapi.ymlVerify before relying
- Whether the package handles all OpenAPI 3.0+ features or has known limitations with certain spec versions.
- Performance characteristics when rendering large or complex OpenAPI specifications.
- Compatibility with recent Sphinx versions beyond what the classifiers indicate.
Package facts
| License | BSD-3-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 7 packagessphinxsphinxcontrib-httpdomainPyYAMLjsonschemasphinx-mdincludepicoboxdeepmerge |
| Maintenance | Aging 185 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 320,278 / month, #7,637 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Environment :: ConsoleFramework :: Setuptools PluginFramework :: SphinxFramework :: Sphinx :: ExtensionIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonTopic :: DocumentationTopic :: Documentation :: Sphinx |
Evidence: sphinxcontrib_openapi-0.9.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also sphinxcontrib-httpdomain · sphinxcontrib-images · sphinxcontrib-redoc · swagger-plugin-for-sphinx · sphinxcontrib-googleanalytics · django-rest-swagger · bravado · bidict · openapi-python-client · drf-yasg