Python access to the Etsy API

By Dan McKinley - [email protected] - http://mcfunley.com

The simplest way to install the module is using setuptools.

$ easy_install etsy

To install from source, extract the tarball and use the following commands.

$ python setup.py build
$ sudo python setup.py install

To use, first register for an Etsy developer key. Below is an example session.

$ python
python
Python 2.5.1 (r251:54863, Feb  6 2009, 19:02:12) 
[GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5465)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from etsy import Etsy
>>> api = Etsy('YOUR-API-KEY-HERE')
>>> api.getFrontFeaturedListings(offset=10, limit=1)[0]['title']
'Artists Eco Journal -  Landscape Watercolor - Rustic Vegan Hemp and Recycled Rubber'

See also this blog post on Code as Craft.

For convenience (and to avoid storing API keys in revision control systems), the package supports local configuration. You can manage your API keys in a file called $HOME/etsy/keys (or the equivalent on Windows) with the following format:

v2 = 'Etsy API version 2 key goes here'

Alternatively, you can specify a different key file when creating an API object.

from etsy import Etsy

api = Etsy(key_file='/usr/share/etsy/keys')

(Implementation note: the keys file can be any valid python script that defines a module-level variable for the API version you are trying to use.)

This package comes with a reasonably complete unit test suite. In order to run the tests, use:

$ python setup.py test

Some of the tests (those that actually call the Etsy API) require your API key to be locally configured. See the Configuration section, above.

This module is implemented by metaprogramming against the method table published by the Etsy API. In other words, API methods are not explicitly declared by the code in this module. Instead, the list of allowable methods is downloaded and the patched into the API objects at runtime.

This has advantages and disadvantages. It allows the module to automatically receive new features, but on the other hand, this process is not as fast as explicitly declared methods.

In order to speed things up, the method table json is cached locally by default. If a $HOME/etsy directory exists, the cache file is created there. Otherwise, it is placed in the machine's temp directory. By default, this cache lasts 24 hours.

The cache file can be specified when creating an API object:

from etsy import Etsy

api = Etsy(method_cache='myfile.json')

Method table caching can also be disabled by passing None as the cache parameter:

from etsy import Etsy

# do not cache methods
api = Etsy(method_cache=None)

• Allowing Python Longs to be passed for parameters declared as "integers" by the API (thanks to Marc Abramowitz).

• Support for Etsy API v2 thanks to Marc Abramowitz.
• Removed support for now-dead Etsy API v1.

• Added a cache for the method table json.
• Added a logging facility.

• Added local configuration (~/.etsy) to eliminate cutting & pasting of api keys.
• Added client-side type checking for parameters.
• Added support for positional arguments.
• Added a test suite.
• Began differentiation between API versions.
• Added module to PyPI.

Initial release