---
id: wptserve
version: "4.0.3"
license: BSD
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# wptserve — Python web server intended for in web browser testing

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 123.3K/mo

## What it is and what it does

wptserve is a specialized HTTP server written in Python for running web platform tests—automated tests that verify browser behavior and web standards compliance. It sits between a test runner and a web browser, serving test pages and handling the HTTP interactions needed to exercise browser features in a controlled way.

The server depends on h2 for HTTP/2 support and pywebsocket3 for WebSocket handling, making it capable of testing modern web protocols. It is marked Production/Stable and has been in use since 2014, but development has slowed significantly—the last release was 455 days ago. It is intended specifically for the web-platform-tests project and similar in-browser testing scenarios rather than general-purpose web serving.

Use it for:

- Run web-platform-tests locally to verify browser standards compliance
- Serve test pages over HTTP/2 and WebSocket for protocol-specific browser testing
- Set up a controlled test environment for automated cross-browser testing
- Test web applications that require specific HTTP server behavior or headers

## Worth the install?

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

A Python web server built for testing web applications in browsers, particularly for the web-platform-tests project.

Yes, if you are working with web-platform-tests or need a specialized test server for browser testing. The low install friction, permissive license, and stable status make it straightforward to use. However, the 455-day release gap and unspecified Python version support mean you should verify compatibility with your environment before relying on it for new projects.

## Install

pip install wptserve
uv add wptserve
poetry add wptserve

## Installing wptserve

Before you install: Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies. Maintenance status is aging—last release was 455 days ago—so expect no active development, though the package is marked Production/Stable.

License in practice: BSD permissive license allows use in most contexts without restriction, including commercial and proprietary projects.

Quickstart:

pip install wptserve

from wptserve.server import WebTestHttpd

server = WebTestHttpd()
server.start()

Requires Python environment with h2 and pywebsocket3 available; no minimum Python version specified in metadata.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works with current Python versions (requires_python is unspecified)
- Active maintenance status and responsiveness to issues given the 455-day gap since last release
- Compatibility with modern versions of h2 and pywebsocket3
- Specific host and port configuration options supported by the server

## Package facts

- License: BSD (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 123.3K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

web server for testing, browser testing server, http test server, web platform tests, test harness server, wpt server, in-browser testing, browser-testing, web-standards, http-server

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/wptserve) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/wptserve/)