Core Classes
This page documents the core classes that form pynetbox's API surface.
Overview
pynetbox uses a layered architecture, with each layer wrapping the one below:
Api— main entry point; manages the HTTP session, authentication token, and global flags.App— represents a NetBox application (e.g.dcim,ipam); attribute access returns endpoints.Endpoint— represents an individual NetBox API endpoint and exposes CRUD methods.
import pynetbox
# Create an API connection (Api)
nb = pynetbox.api('http://localhost:8000', token='your-token')
# Access an app (App)
nb.dcim
# Access an endpoint (Endpoint)
nb.dcim.devices
# Call an endpoint method (returns Record / RecordSet)
devices = nb.dcim.devices.all()
Api
The Api class is the main entry point. It manages the underlying requests.Session, holds the authentication token, and provides access to NetBox applications.
pynetbox.core.api.Api
The API object is the point of entry to pynetbox.
After instantiating the Api() with the appropriate named arguments you can specify which app and endpoint you wish to interact with.
Valid attributes currently are:
- circuits
- core (NetBox 3.5+)
- dcim
- extras
- ipam
- tenancy
- users
- virtualization
- vpn (NetBox 3.7+)
- wireless
Calling any of these attributes will return an App object which exposes endpoints as attributes.
Additional Attributes
- http_session(requests.Session): Override the default session with your own. This is used to control a number of HTTP behaviors such as SSL verification, custom headers, retires, and timeouts. See custom sessions for more info.
Parameters
- url (str): The base URL to the instance of NetBox you wish to connect to.
- token (str): Your NetBox token.
- threading (bool, optional): Set to True to use threading in
.all()and.filter()requests. - thread_pool_executor (callable, optional): A
concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutorclass (or any callable matching its(max_workers=...)signature and context-manager protocol) used to build the pool for threaded requests. Defaults toconcurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor. Inject a custom executor to propagate thread-local state such as OpenTelemetry trace context into worker threads. - max_workers (int, optional): Maximum number of worker threads used for threaded
.all()and.filter()requests. Defaults to 4. Only used whenthreading=True.
Raises
- AttributeError: If app doesn't exist.
Examples
import pynetbox
nb = pynetbox.api(
'http://localhost:8000',
token='d6f4e314a5b5fefd164995169f28ae32d987704f'
)
list(nb.dcim.devices.all())
# [test1-leaf1, test1-leaf2, test1-leaf3]
Source code in pynetbox/core/api.py
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version
property
Gets the API version of NetBox.
Can be used to check the NetBox API version if there are version-dependent features or syntaxes in the API.
Returns
Version number as a string.
Example
import pynetbox
nb = pynetbox.api(
'http://localhost:8000',
token='d6f4e314a5b5fefd164995169f28ae32d987704f'
)
nb.version
# '3.1'
__init__(url, token=None, threading=False, strict_filters=False, extensions=None, pagination='offset', thread_pool_executor=None, max_workers=4)
Initialize the API client.
Parameters:
| Name | Type | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
url
|
str
|
The base URL to the instance of NetBox you wish to connect to. |
required |
token
|
str
|
Your NetBox API token. If not provided, authentication will be required for each request. |
None
|
threading
|
bool
|
Set to True to use threading in |
False
|
strict_filters
|
bool
|
Set to True to check GET call filters against OpenAPI specifications (intentionally not done in NetBox API), defaults to False. |
False
|
extensions
|
list
|
A list of |
None
|
pagination
|
str
|
Pagination strategy for |
'offset'
|
thread_pool_executor
|
callable
|
A |
None
|
max_workers
|
int
|
Maximum number of worker threads used for threaded requests, defaults to 4. |
4
|
Source code in pynetbox/core/api.py
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create_token(username, password)
Creates an API token using a valid NetBox username and password. Saves the created token automatically in the API object.
Parameters
- username (str): NetBox username
- password (str): NetBox password
Returns
Record: The token as a Record object.
Raises
RequestError: If the request is not successful.
Notes
NetBox 4.5 introduced v2 tokens. For v2 tokens, nb.token is set to
nbt_<key>.<token> (the full auth value required in the Authorization
header), which differs from token.key. For v1 tokens (pre-4.5),
nb.token is the plaintext token value.
Example
import pynetbox
nb = pynetbox.api("https://netbox-server")
token = nb.create_token("admin", "netboxpassword")
# NetBox 4.5+ v2 token: nb.token differs from token.key
nb.token
# 'nbt_shortkey1234567.plaintexttoken7890abcdef1234567890abcdef'
token.key
# 'shortkey1234567'
# Pre-4.5 / v1 token: nb.token matches token.key (or token.token)
nb.token
# '96d02e13e3f1fdcd8b4c089094c0191dcb045bef'
Source code in pynetbox/core/api.py
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openapi()
Returns the OpenAPI spec.
Quick helper function to pull down the entire OpenAPI spec. It is stored in memory to avoid repeated calls on NetBox API.
Returns
dict: The OpenAPI specification as a dictionary.
Example
import pynetbox
nb = pynetbox.api(
'http://localhost:8000',
token='d6f4e314a5b5fefd164995169f28ae32d987704f'
)
nb.openapi()
# {...}
Source code in pynetbox/core/api.py
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status()
Gets the status information from NetBox.
Returns
Dictionary containing NetBox status information.
Raises
RequestError: If the request is not successful.
Example
from pprint import pprint
pprint(nb.status())
{
'django-version': '3.1.3',
'installed-apps': {
'cacheops': '5.0.1',
'debug_toolbar': '3.1.1',
'django_filters': '2.4.0',
'django_prometheus': '2.1.0',
'django_rq': '2.4.0',
'django_tables2': '2.3.3',
'drf_yasg': '1.20.0',
'mptt': '0.11.0',
'rest_framework': '3.12.2',
'taggit': '1.3.0',
'timezone_field': '4.0'
},
'netbox-version': '2.10.2',
'plugins': {},
'python-version': '3.7.3',
'rq-workers-running': 1
}
Source code in pynetbox/core/api.py
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activate_branch(branch)
Context manager to activate the branch by setting the schema ID in the headers.
Note: The NetBox branching plugin must be installed and enabled in your NetBox instance for this functionality to work.
Parameters
- branch (Record): The NetBox branch to activate
Raises
ValueError: If the branch is not a valid NetBox branch.
Example
import pynetbox
nb = pynetbox.api("https://netbox-server")
branch = nb.plugins.branching.branches.create(name="testbranch")
with nb.activate_branch(branch):
sites = nb.dcim.sites.all()
# All operations within this block will use the branch's schema
Source code in pynetbox/core/api.py
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App
The App class represents a NetBox application (such as dcim, ipam, or circuits). Accessing an attribute on the Api instance returns an App; accessing an attribute on an App returns an Endpoint.
pynetbox.core.app.App
Represents apps in NetBox.
Calls to attributes are returned as Endpoint objects.
Returns
Endpoint matching requested attribute.
Raises
RequestError if requested endpoint doesn't exist.
Source code in pynetbox/core/app.py
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config()
Returns config response from app.
Returns
Raw response from NetBox's config endpoint.
Raises
RequestError if called for an invalid endpoint.
Examples
pprint.pprint(nb.users.config())
{
'tables': {
'DeviceTable': {
'columns': [
'name',
'status',
'tenant',
'role',
'site',
'primary_ip',
'tags'
]
}
}
}
Source code in pynetbox/core/app.py
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endpoint(name)
Return an Endpoint using name as the literal URL slug.
Attribute access (app.ip_addresses) converts underscores to
dashes, which is correct for the vast majority of NetBox endpoints.
This method skips that conversion so endpoints whose slug genuinely
contains underscores can be reached.
Parameters
- name (str): The endpoint slug, used verbatim (no
_→-).
Returns
Endpoint matching the given slug.
Examples
nb.plugins.custom_objects.endpoint("my_custom_object").all()
Source code in pynetbox/core/app.py
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PluginsApp
The PluginsApp class exposes plugin endpoints under nb.plugins. Plugin and endpoint names containing dashes are accessed using underscores (e.g. /api/plugins/my-plugin/objects/ becomes nb.plugins.my_plugin.objects).
pynetbox.core.app.PluginsApp
Basically valid plugins api could be handled by same App class, but you need to add plugins to request url path.
Returns
App with added plugins into path.
Source code in pynetbox/core/app.py
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installed_plugins()
Returns raw response with installed plugins.
Returns
Raw response NetBox's installed plugins.
Examples
nb.plugins.installed_plugins()
[
{
'name': 'test_plugin',
'package': 'test_plugin',
'author': 'Dmitry',
'description': 'Netbox test plugin',
'verison': '0.10'
}
]
Source code in pynetbox/core/app.py
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Relationship to Endpoints
Attribute access on an App returns an Endpoint instance:
# nb.dcim is an App
# nb.dcim.devices is an Endpoint
devices_endpoint = nb.dcim.devices
# Endpoint provides CRUD methods
all_devices = devices_endpoint.all()
device = devices_endpoint.get(1)
new_device = devices_endpoint.create(name='test', site=1, device_type=1, role=1)
See the Endpoint reference for the full method list.