Context

When building a Zensical site with Python 3.14, a DeprecationWarning is emitted from the emoji extension on every icon load.

Bug description

codecs.open() was deprecated in CPython 3.14 (python/cpython#133036, merged 2025-04-30). The _load() function in python/zensical/extensions/emoji.py uses codecs.open(file, encoding="utf-8"), which triggers a DeprecationWarning on every SVG icon load:

python/zensical/extensions/emoji.py:83: DeprecationWarning: codecs.open() is deprecated. Use open() instead.

The fix is to replace codecs.open() with the built-in open(), which has supported the encoding parameter since Python 3.0 and is safe for the full supported range (>=3.10).

References:

• CPython issue: Deprecate codecs.open() python/cpython#133036
• CPython PR: gh-133036: Deprecate codecs.open python/cpython#133038
• Discussion: https://discuss.python.org/t/deprecating-codecs-open/88135
• What's New in Python 3.14: https://docs.python.org/3/whatsnew/3.14.html

Related links

• Report a bug
• CPython #133036 - Deprecate codecs.open()
• GRASS GIS same issue - OSGeo/grass#7062

Reproduction

No .zip needed — this is reproducible with any Zensical project that uses emoji/icons on Python 3.14.

1. Install Python 3.14
2. pip install zensical==0.0.25
3. Run python -W all -c "from zensical.extensions.emoji import _load; _load('any_svg_file.svg')"
4. Observe DeprecationWarning

Steps to reproduce

1. Install Python 3.14.3
2. Install zensical 0.0.25: pip install zensical
3. Create or use any zensical project with icons/emojis
4. Run zensical build with warnings enabled (python -W all)
5. Observe: DeprecationWarning: codecs.open() is deprecated. Use open() instead. from emoji.py:83

Browser

No response

Before submitting

• I have read and followed the bug reporting guidelines.
• I have attached links to the documentation, and possibly related issues.
• I assure that I have removed all customizations before submitting this bug report.
• I have attached a .zip file with a minimal reproduction.