XPath Tester

Free Online XPath Tester and XML Tools in One

This page provides six browser-based XPath and XML utilities accessible from the left sidebar. Every tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and no account is required. Choose a tool from the sidebar, paste your data, and the output appears immediately.

XPath Tester Online - Evaluate Expressions Against Real XML

Testing XPath expressions by hand in code takes time. This online XPath tester lets you paste any XML document on the left, type an XPath expression into the bar above the results pane, and press Run XPath to instantly see every matching node. The tool uses the browser native document.evaluate() API, so you get the same XPath 1.0 behavior you would get in real browser-based code.

How the XPath Tester Works

The XML you paste is parsed using DOMParser into a live DOM document. Your XPath expression is then evaluated against that document using document.evaluate() with XPathResult.ANY_TYPE, which means it handles node sets, strings, numbers, and booleans correctly. Each matching node is displayed as its outer HTML so you can see the full element including attributes and child content.

Common XPath Expressions to Try

Here are some XPath patterns that work well with the sample bookstore XML included in the Try Example button:

• //book - selects all book elements anywhere in the document
• //book[@category='fiction'] - selects book elements with a specific attribute value
• //book/title/text() - selects the text content of every title element
• //book[price < 15]/title - selects titles of books priced below 15
• count(//book) - returns the total number of book elements as a number

XPath Validator Free - Check Expression Syntax Instantly

Writing XPath by hand is error-prone. A missing bracket, a wrong axis name, or an unmatched quote will cause a runtime error that is difficult to trace. The free xpath validator on this page checks your expression syntax before you run it. It evaluates the expression against a minimal XML document in the browser and reports the exact error message from the XPath engine if the syntax is wrong.

What the XPath Validator Checks

The validator uses document.evaluate() to parse the expression. Any expression that causes a SyntaxError or XPathException is flagged as invalid with the engine message. Common causes of invalid XPath include unclosed square brackets, invalid function names like contains( without a closing parenthesis, and axis names written without the double-colon separator such as child instead of child::.

XML Formatter Online - Prettify XML with Consistent Indentation

Compact or minified XML returned by APIs and data exports is impossible to read at a glance. The online XML formatter on this page parses your XML using DOMParser and re-serializes it with two-space indentation, producing clean, readable output. If your XML contains a syntax error, the formatter shows the parse error message so you can identify exactly what is wrong.

When to Format XML

Formatting is useful when debugging API responses that return compact XML, when reviewing configuration files stored in a single line, when comparing two XML documents visually, or when preparing XML for documentation or a pull request review. Formatted XML makes attribute values, nesting structure, and data values immediately visible.

XML Minifier and XML Validator - Two More Free xpath Tools

Alongside the formatter, this page includes an XML Minifier that strips all inter-element whitespace using XMLSerializer, and an XML Validator that checks well-formedness using DOMParser. The minifier is useful for reducing payload size in API responses, SOAP envelopes, and build artifacts. The validator is useful for confirming that generated XML is structurally correct before sending it to a parser or database.

XML Well-Formedness vs Schema Validity

The XML Validator checks well-formedness only: a single root element, properly closed and nested tags, correctly escaped characters, and valid attribute syntax. It does not validate against an XML Schema (XSD) or Document Type Definition (DTD). If you need schema validation, you will need a server-side tool or a language library such as lxml in Python or javax.xml.validation in Java.

XPath to CSS Selector Converter - Free xpath Conversion Tool

CSS selectors and XPath expressions both describe node locations in a document tree, but they have different syntax and different levels of expressiveness. This free xpath to CSS converter handles the most common patterns: descendant axes (// becomes a descendant combinator space), child axes (/ becomes >), [@id] predicates become #id, [@class] predicates become .class, and arbitrary attribute predicates become CSS attribute selectors.

XPath Features with No CSS Equivalent

XPath is significantly more expressive than CSS. Features like ancestor::, preceding-sibling::, following::, text(), and most XPath functions such as contains(), starts-with(), count(), and normalize-space() have no direct CSS equivalent. When you paste XPath that uses these features, the converter will note that the pattern cannot be directly mapped and you should verify the output manually.

Related Developer and XML Tools

If you work with structured data and markup regularly, these tools on the site work well alongside this page:

• JSON Formatter - format, minify, validate, and convert JSON in one tool
• Regex Tester - test and debug regular expressions with live match highlighting
• Code Formatter - format HTML, CSS, JSON, XML, and JavaScript in one place
• CSV to JSON - convert CSV data to JSON arrays and objects