# Libxml2

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Free software library

"libXML" redirects here; not to be confused with [XML Library](/source/XML_Library).

libxml2 Original author The GNOME Project Release September 23, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-09-23) Stable release 2.15.3[1] / 16 April 2026; 2 months ago (16 April 2026) Written in C Operating system cross-platform[2][3] Type XML parser, XML validator License MIT License Website xmlsoft.org Repository gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2

**libxml2** is a [software library](/source/Software_library) for parsing [XML](/source/XML) documents. It is also the basis for the [libxslt](/source/Libxslt) library which processes [XSLT](/source/XSLT)-1.0 stylesheets.

## Description

Written in the [C programming language](/source/C_programming_language), libxml2 provides bindings to [C++](/source/C%2B%2B), [Ch](/source/Ch_interpreter),[4] [XSH](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=XSH_(programming_language)&action=edit&redlink=1), [C#](/source/C_Sharp_(programming_language)), [Python](/source/Python_(programming_language)), [Swift](/source/Swift_(programming_language)), [Kylix](/source/Kylix_(software))/[Delphi](/source/Delphi_(programming_language)) and other [Pascals](/source/Pascal_(programming_language)), [Ruby](/source/Ruby_(programming_language)), [Perl](/source/Perl), [Common Lisp](/source/Common_Lisp),[5] and [PHP](/source/PHP).[6] It was originally developed for [the GNOME project](/source/GNOME_Project), but can be used outside it. libxml2's code is highly portable[7] since it only depends on standard [ANSI C](/source/ANSI_C) libraries[8] and it is available under the [MIT license](/source/MIT_license)[3] since 2002, when it was previously made available under the [GNU Lesser General Public License](/source/GNU_Lesser_General_Public_License).[9] It has become the [de facto standard](/source/De_facto_standard) XML and HTML parsing library in the open-source world, being shipped in most of the [Linux distributions](/source/Linux_distribution).[10][11]

It includes the [command-line utility](/source/Command-line_utility) **xmllint** and an [HTML](/source/HTML) parser.[12]

As of June 2025, libxml2 was being maintained by a single person, Nick Wellnhofer. [13]

While the maintainer is an unpaid volunteer, the library is used in commercial software. In June 2025, Wellnhofer declared that he will treat security problem reports as normal bugs, fixed when there is time. In taking this stance, Wellnhofer hoped to encourage commercial users of the library to contribute work or money for maintenance.[14]

On 15 September 2025, Wellnhofer announced that he was stepping down as maintainer.[15][16] He has since started a libxml fork re-licensed under the [GNU Affero General Public License](/source/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License).[17]

## See also

- [Free and open-source software portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Free_and_open-source_software)

- [libxslt](/source/Libxslt) (the LibXML2's [XSLT](/source/XSLT) module)

- [XML validation](/source/XML_validation)

- [Comparison of HTML parsers](/source/Comparison_of_HTML_parsers)

- [Expat (library)](/source/Expat_(library))

- [Saxon XSLT](/source/Saxon_XSLT)

- [Xerces](/source/Apache_Xerces)

- [GNOME Project](/source/GNOME_Project)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-wikidata-52bb53a5f06af18c3337de72c01d2a1534df93de-v20_1-0)** ["libxml2 2.15.3"](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/releases/v2.15.3). Retrieved 17 April 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Introduction"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180406093245/http://www.xmlsoft.org/intro.html). 28 November 2017. Archived from [the original](http://xmlsoft.org/intro.html) on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-libxml2wiki_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-libxml2wiki_3-1) ["GNOME / libxml2 / Wiki / Home"](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/wikis/home). *gitlab.gnome.org*. Retrieved 18 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["ch libxml2 open source binding"](https://chlibxml2.sourceforge.net/). *chlibxml2.sourceforge.net*. Retrieved 18 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["cl-libxml2 High-level wrapper around libxml2 and libxslt libraries"](https://code.google.com/archive/p/cl-libxml2/). *code.google.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140418234643/http://code.google.com/p/cl-libxml2/) from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["libxml"](http://php.net/manual/en/book.libxml.php). *php.net*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160510034323/http://php.net/manual/en/book.libxml.php) from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Python bindings"](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/wikis/Python-bindings). *gitlab.gnome.org*. Retrieved 18 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["The XML C parser and toolkit of Gnome"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160610180046/http://www.xmlsoft.org/xml.html). *xmlsoft.org*. Archived from [the original](http://www.xmlsoft.org/xml.html) on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Commit c575b997, written by Daniel Veillard on February 8, 2022, as archived on [gitlab.gnome.org](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/commit/c575b997d85d4791d852ad43e175d47a64cf8b3c).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Borisov, Bobby (9 December 2025). ["Libxml2 Becomes Officially Unmaintained After Maintainer Steps Down"](https://linuxiac.com/libxml2-becomes-officially-unmaintained/). Retrieved 3 April 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["libxml2 Maintainer Stepping Down - "More Or Less Unmaintained For Now""](https://www.phoronix.com/news/Libxml2-No-Maintainer). *www.phoronix.com*. Retrieved 3 April 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Veillard, Daniel. ["HTMLparser: interface for an HTML 4.0 non-verifying parser"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230506080926/https://gnome.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/libxml2/devhelp/libxml2-HTMLparser.html). *libxml2 Reference Manual*. GNOME. Archived from [the original](https://gnome.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/libxml2/devhelp/libxml2-HTMLparser.html) on 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NWellnhofer_13-0)** ["NWellnhofer"](https://discourse.gnome.org/u/nwellnhof/summary). *gnome.org*. Retrieved 15 November 2025.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: url-status ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_url-status))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Brockmeier_14-0)** Brockmeier, Joe (25 June 2025). ["Libxml2's 'no security embargoes' policy"](https://lwn.net/Articles/1025971/). *LWN.net*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250710020924/https://lwn.net/Articles/1025971/) from the original on 10 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Wellnhofer-stepping-down-libxml2_15-0)** ["Stepping down as libxml2 maintainer"](https://discourse.gnome.org/t/stepping-down-as-libxml2-maintainer/31398). *discourse.gnome.org*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250915230021/https://discourse.gnome.org/t/stepping-down-as-libxml2-maintainer/31398) from the original on 15 September 2025. Retrieved 16 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** jzb (17 September 2025). ["Libxml2 2.15.0 released"](https://lwn.net/Articles/1038478/). *lwn.net*. Retrieved 18 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** nwellnhof. ["libxml2-ee"](https://codeberg.org/nwellnhof/libxml2-ee). *Codeberg.org*. Retrieved 3 April 2026.

## External links

- [Official website](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/wikis/home)

- ["XML::LibXML"](https://metacpan.org/dist/XML-LibXML/view/LibXML.pod). *metacpan.org*. Retrieved 18 September 2025. (Perl module)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Libxml2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libxml2) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libxml2?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.