Whoosh-Reloaded

What it is and what it does

Whoosh-Reloaded is a maintained fork of the original Whoosh full-text search library, providing pure-Python indexing and retrieval without requiring compilation or binary dependencies. It offers a Pythonic API for building search functionality into applications, with features including fielded indexing, pluggable scoring algorithms (including BM25F), a powerful query language, and a pure-Python spell-checker. The library is designed for situations where a pure-Python solution is preferable to avoid build complexity, or where an easy-to-use interface matters more than raw speed.

The package depends only on cached-property at runtime, keeping dependencies minimal. It supports Python 2.7 and Python 3.4 through 3.12, though the fork was first released in February 2024. The original Whoosh was created for Houdini's help system and is now maintained by the Sygil-Dev Organization after the original project became unmaintained.

Use it for:

• Add search functionality to web applications or documentation systems without installing Elasticsearch or Solr
• Build a pure-Python research platform for text indexing and retrieval experiments
• Implement spell-checking features in applications where a pure-Python solution avoids compilation
• Index and search document collections in embedded or offline applications
• Prototype search features before committing to a heavier search infrastructure

Worth the install?

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

Whoosh-Reloaded is a pure-Python full-text indexing and search library that lets you add search functionality to applications without compiling native code.

Yes, if you need pure-Python full-text search without external dependencies. The low install friction, active maintenance, and permissive license make it a solid choice for applications where compilation is undesirable or simplicity is valued over maximum performance. Verify that the fork's API stability and security update cadence meet your project's needs.

Install

whoosh-reloaded on PyPI

pip install whoosh-reloaded

uv add whoosh-reloaded

poetry add whoosh-reloaded

Installing Whoosh-Reloaded

Before you install

Low install friction with a single lightweight runtime dependency (cached-property). The package is actively maintained by Sygil-Dev Organization with recent commits, though the original Whoosh project is no longer maintained.

License in practice

Licensed under the two-clause BSD license (permissive), allowing use in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart

pip install Whoosh-Reloaded

from whoosh.fields import Schema, TEXT
from whoosh.index import create_in

schema = Schema(title=TEXT, content=TEXT)
ix = create_in("indexdir", schema)
writer = ix.writer()
writer.add_document(title="Example", content="Sample document")
writer.commit()

Verify before relying

• Whether the fork maintains full backward compatibility with the original Whoosh API
• Performance characteristics compared to other pure-Python search solutions
• Scope and frequency of security updates from the Sygil-Dev maintainers

Package facts

Evidence: Whoosh_Reloaded-2.7.5-py2.py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: index, search, text, spell

Tags

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