---
id: wadllib
version: "2.1.0"
license: LGPL v3
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# wadllib — Navigate HTTP resources using WADL files as guides.

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 316.3K/mo

## What it is and what it does

wadllib is a Python library for working with WADL files—XML documents that formally describe HTTP web services. It parses WADL markup and builds an object model representing the service's resources, methods, parameters, and representations, letting you navigate and query the service structure programmatically.

The library is designed for clients that need to discover and interact with HTTP APIs whose structure is defined in WADL. You load a WADL file by URL or file handle, then navigate from a root resource through linked resources, retrieve method definitions, build request URLs with parameters, and bind actual HTTP response data to WADL resource descriptions to extract typed values. It depends on importlib-resources for resource loading and lazr.uri for URL handling.

Use it for:

- Build a dynamic HTTP client that discovers API endpoints and methods from a WADL file at runtime.
- Extract and validate parameter definitions for HTTP requests before making them to a WADL-described service.
- Navigate a complex REST API by following WADL-defined links between resources without hardcoding URLs.
- Parse WADL metadata to generate documentation or code stubs for a web service.
- Bind JSON or XML response data to WADL resource descriptions to access typed fields and linked resources.

## Worth the install?

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

Parses and navigates HTTP web services described by WADL (Web Application Description Language) files, allowing you to discover resources, methods, and parameters programmatically.

Yes, if you are working with a WADL-described web service. The package is stable, actively maintained, has low install friction, and carries no known vulnerabilities. However, WADL adoption is limited in modern APIs; verify that your target service actually uses WADL before adding it as a dependency. The copyleft license (LGPL v3) requires derivative works to be similarly licensed.

## Install

pip install wadllib
uv add wadllib
poetry add wadllib

## Installing wadllib

Before you install: Low friction install with only two runtime dependencies (importlib-resources and lazr.uri). Actively maintained as of 44 days ago with stable status.

License in practice: Licensed under LGPL v3 (copyleft). You may use and modify wadllib freely, but any derivative work must also be distributed under LGPL v3 or compatible terms.

Quickstart:

pip install wadllib

from wadllib.application import Application

wadl_bytes = open('service.wadl', 'rb').read()
app = Application('http://api.example.com/', wadl_bytes)
resource = app.get_resource_by_path('')

Requires Python 3.8 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether WADL is still actively used in modern REST API ecosystems or primarily for legacy systems.
- Real-world performance characteristics when parsing large or deeply nested WADL documents.

## Package facts

- License: LGPL v3 (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 316.3K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

WADL parser, web service description language, HTTP API navigation, WADL resource discovery, REST API description parsing, web service metadata, WADL application client, wadl, web-service-description, api-client

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