March 25, 2026
Forks, feelings, and 404s
I Forked Httpx
Fork shocker: Dev walks from popular Python tool, fans split on 'fork it' vs 'fix it'
TLDR: Frustrated by stalled releases and hidden issue threads, a contributor forked widely used httpx into “httpxyz” to keep things stable. The crowd split: some welcome a safe path for countless apps, others push unity or alternatives like niquests—while jokes and link fixes soften nerves over a shaky 1.0 future.
A simmering open‑source saga just boiled over: a contributor forked the popular Python web‑request tool “httpx” into a new project called “httpxyz” after a bug fix sat unreleased and GitHub issues/discussions were hidden. He promises a calmer, stable path—hosted on Codeberg, away from the GitHub “monoculture”—with a motto to move a little faster and not break things.
The crowd? Loud and divided. One camp is heartbroken, saying httpx had so much potential to be the default, and they empathize with maintainer burnout while worrying about trust after years of “1.0 is coming” chatter. The optics didn’t help: big libraries like OpenAI and Anthropic reportedly pinned versions to avoid a surprise 1.0, and users fear more breakage. Another camp is yelling “don’t split the boat!” and urging everyone to unite—pointing to alternatives like niquests. One commenter called the Python HTTP scene “scary” right now.
Then came the memes and nitpicks: someone confessed, “I confused httpx with htmlx,” another fixed a broken HN link, and a friendly grammarian corrected “Michiels” vs “Michiel’s.” It’s classic open‑source energy: big feelings, tiny typos, and a fork that’s either a lifeline—or another logo in the pile.
Key Points
- •A new fork of the Python HTTP client HTTPX, named httpxyz, was created to provide a stable, actively maintained alternative.
- •The fork was motivated by stalled releases (none since November 2024), a broken zstd decoding feature with an unreleased fix, and hidden issues/disabled discussions on the upstream GitHub repository.
- •The upstream HTTPX 1.0 release has been discussed for years and may differ significantly from current versions; even patch release 0.28.2 remained in draft for over a year.
- •Downstream packages from OpenAI and Anthropic added guards to avoid installing a hypothetical HTTPX 1.0 due to potential breaking changes.
- •httpxyz will prioritize stability (no breaking changes) and a modestly faster release cadence, co-maintained by Sander Wegter and hosted on Codeberg.