starsessions
Advanced sessions for Starlette and FastAPI frameworks
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Starsessions is production-ready (Development Status 5), actively maintained, has zero known vulnerabilities, and solves a common problem in Starlette/FastAPI applications with minimal dependencies and flexible storage options. The permissive MIT license and broad Python version support (3.8–3.13) make it suitable for most projects.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (starlette and itsdangerous).
- The package is actively maintained with a recent commit on 2026-03-16 and has been in production use since 2021-06-24.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal obligations—suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.
last release 2024-10-23 (660 days) · last repo commit 2026-03-16 · 123 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 449,233 downloads/mo, #6,597 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install starsessions
from starlette.applications import Starlette
from starlette.middleware import Middleware
from starsessions import CookieStore, SessionMiddleware, load_session
session_store = CookieStore(secret_key='TOP SECRET')
app = Starlette(
middleware=[Middleware(SessionMiddleware, store=session_store, lifetime=3600 * 24 * 14)]
)
async def view(request):
await load_session(request)
request.session['key'] = 'value'- Whether Redis extra installation (starsessions[redis]) is required for production deployments or optional for development
- Performance characteristics when handling high-concurrency session loads across different storage backends
What it is and what it does
Starsessions is a session middleware library for Starlette and FastAPI that manages user session data across HTTP requests. It abstracts session storage behind a pluggable backend system, offering three built-in stores: CookieStore (client-side signed cookies), InMemoryStore (for testing), and RedisStore (for distributed deployments). The middleware handles cookie lifecycle, security defaults (HTTPS-only, browser-session lifetime by default), and optional autoloading to reduce boilerplate.
The library is designed for developers building async web applications who need flexible session handling without reinventing session management. It supports rolling sessions (where inactivity resets the timeout), path and domain binding for cookies, and explicit session loading to avoid performance overhead. Dependencies are minimal (starlette and itsdangerous), and the package supports Python 3.8 through 3.13.
Use it for
- Add session support to a FastAPI REST API with cookie-based authentication and 14-day rolling expiration
- Store user preferences and shopping cart data in Redis for a multi-instance web application
- Implement admin-only session cookies scoped to /admin paths with automatic cleanup on browser close
- Unit test session behavior using InMemoryStore without external dependencies
- Migrate from stateless JWT to session-based auth with automatic session extension on user activity
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Starsessions is production-ready (Development Status 5), actively maintained, has zero known vulnerabilities, and solves a common problem in Starlette/FastAPI applications with minimal dependencies and flexible storage options. The permissive MIT license and broad Python version support (3.8–3.13) make it suitable for most projects.
Install
starsessions on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (starlette and itsdangerous). The package is actively maintained with a recent commit on 2026-03-16 and has been in production use since 2021-06-24.
License in practice
MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal obligations—suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.
Quickstart
pip install starsessions
from starlette.applications import Starlette
from starlette.middleware import Middleware
from starsessions import CookieStore, SessionMiddleware, load_session
session_store = CookieStore(secret_key='TOP SECRET')
app = Starlette(
middleware=[Middleware(SessionMiddleware, store=session_store, lifetime=3600 * 24 * 14)]
)
async def view(request):
await load_session(request)
request.session['key'] = 'value'Verify before relying
- Whether Redis extra installation (starsessions[redis]) is required for production deployments or optional for development
- Performance characteristics when handling high-concurrency session loads across different storage backends
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <4.0.0,>=3.8.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagesstarletteitsdangerous |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 660 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 449,233 / month, #6,597 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: Web EnvironmentIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development :: LibrariesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: starsessions-2.2.1-py3-none-any.whl
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See also aiohttp-session · pyramid-session-redis · starlette-context · fastapi-sessions · starlette-csrf · starlette-cramjam · starlette-compress · fastapi-lifespan-manager · starlette · django-session-timeout