untangle
Converts XML to Python objects
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need simple XML parsing for a one-off script or non-critical application and are comfortable with an unmaintained package. The low install friction and permissive license make it easy to adopt. However, avoid it for production systems, security-sensitive applications, or projects requiring ongoing maintenance—consider lxml or xml.etree.ElementTree instead.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.7 or later; defusedxml must be installed as a runtime dependency.
- Low install friction with a single runtime dependency on defusedxml.
- However, the package is abandoned—last release was 1504 days ago—so no maintenance or security updates are forthcoming.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions, though you must include the original license notice.
last release 2022-07-02 (1504 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 584,862 downloads/mo, #5,888 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install untangle
import untangle
obj = untangle.parse('file.xml')
print(obj.root.child['name'])- Whether the package still works reliably with Python 3.10 despite abandonment and lack of recent testing.
- Whether defusedxml's security updates are sufficient to mitigate XML vulnerabilities in untangle's parsing chain.
What it is and what it does
untangle is a lightweight XML-to-Python object converter that lets you access XML elements and attributes using Python dot notation instead of XPath or DOM traversal. It parses XML from files, URLs, or strings and automatically groups sibling elements with the same name into lists. Special characters in element names (hyphens, dots, colons) are converted to underscores, so an XML element like `<foo-bar/>` becomes accessible as `foo_bar`.
The package depends on defusedxml for secure parsing and supports Python 3.7 through 3.10. It is designed for straightforward XML reading tasks where you want simple, intuitive access to the document structure without the verbosity of standard XML libraries. However, the project is no longer maintained, meaning no updates or bug fixes will be released.
Use it for
- Parse configuration files in XML format and access settings via simple dot notation.
- Read RSS or Atom feeds and extract article metadata without writing XPath expressions.
- Convert REST API responses in XML format into navigable Python objects for data extraction.
- Process XML documents where element names contain hyphens or dots that need transparent mapping.
- Build quick prototypes or scripts that consume XML without setting up DOM or SAX parsers.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need simple XML parsing for a one-off script or non-critical application and are comfortable with an unmaintained package.
The low install friction and permissive license make it easy to adopt. However, avoid it for production systems, security-sensitive applications, or projects requiring ongoing maintenance—consider lxml or xml.etree.ElementTree instead.
Install
untangle on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a single runtime dependency on defusedxml. However, the package is abandoned—last release was 1504 days ago—so no maintenance or security updates are forthcoming.
Requires Python 3.7 or later; defusedxml must be installed as a runtime dependency.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions, though you must include the original license notice.
Quickstart
pip install untangle
import untangle
obj = untangle.parse('file.xml')
print(obj.root.child['name'])Verify before relying
- Whether the package still works reliably with Python 3.10 despite abandonment and lack of recent testing.
- Whether defusedxml's security updates are sufficient to mitigate XML vulnerabilities in untangle's parsing chain.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.7,<4.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packagedefusedxml |
| Maintenance | Abandoned 1,504 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 584,862 / month, #5,888 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9 |
Evidence: untangle-1.2.1-py3-none-any.whl
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