from __future__ import print_function import ruamel.yaml inp = """\ abc: - a # comment 1 xyz: a: 1 # comment 2 b: 2 c: 3 d: 4 e: 5 f: 6 # comment 3 """ data = ruamel.yaml.load(inp, ruamel.yaml.RoundTripLoader) data['abc'].append('b') data['abc'].yaml_add_eol_comment('comment 4', 1) # takes column of comment 1 data['xyz'].yaml_add_eol_comment('comment 5', 'c') # takes column of comment 2 data['xyz'].yaml_add_eol_comment('comment 6', 'e') # takes column of comment 3 data['xyz'].yaml_add_eol_comment('comment 7', 'd', column=20) print(ruamel.yaml.dump(data, Dumper=ruamel.yaml.RoundTripDumper), end='')