API design & gRPC
REST best practices, protobuf, API versioning, and backward-compatible service contracts.
How to Add a Correlation ID Tracing Header in Python
A mock middleware generates or preserves a correlation ID header and logs structured JSON messages with it for API request tracing.
import uuid
import json
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from typing import Optional
@dataclass
class Request:
headers: dict = field(default_factory=dict)
def get(self, key, default=None):
return self.headers.get(key, default)
class CorrelationIdMiddleware:
def __init__(self, header_name…
How to Build an Idempotency-Key POST Handler in Python
Python HTTP server mock that accepts POST requests and deduplicates them using an Idempotency-Key header, returning the same response for repeated calls.
import hashlib
import json
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
from urllib.parse import urlparse
class MockAPI(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
responses = {}
def do_POST(self):
length = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length", 0))
body = self.rfile.read(length).decode("utf-8")
…
How to Decode Basic Auth Credentials in Python
Decode username and password from a Basic Auth header string using base64 and standard string operations.
import base64
def decode_basic_auth(header_value):
"""
Decode credentials from a Basic Auth header value.
Expected format: "Basic base64encoded(username:password)"
Returns a tuple (username, password).
"""
if not header_value.startswith("Basic "):
raise ValueError("Invalid Basic A…
How to Handle Retry-After Header in Python
Parse the Retry-After header from rate-limited API responses and implement retry logic with proper delays in Python.
```python
import time
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
class RetryAfterHandler:
def __init__(self, max_retries=3):
self.max_retries = max_retries
def get_retry_after_seconds(self, response_headers):
retry_after_value = response_headers.get("Retry-After")
if retry_after_value …
How to Implement Content Negotiation with JSON and XML in Python
Build an HTTP server that returns JSON or XML responses based on the client's Accept header, with a 406 response for unsupported formats.
import json
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
class RequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
def do_GET(self):
data = {"message": "Hello, world!"}
accept_header = self.headers.get("Accept", "")
if "application/json" in accept_hea…
How to Mock Content-Disposition and Extract Filename in Python
Parse and mock Content-Disposition headers in Python to extract filenames, handling both plain and RFC 5987 encoded values.
import os
from pathlib import Path
import re
from unittest.mock import patch
def get_filename_from_content_disposition(header_value):
"""
Extract filename from a Content-Disposition header value.
Supports both filename and filename* parameters (RFC 5987).
"""
if not header_value:
return No…
How to Mock X-RateLimit Headers in Python
This code creates a local HTTP server that mimics rate limit headers (X-RateLimit-Limit, Remaining, Reset, Update) and returns 429 responses when the limit is exceeded.
import time
import threading
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
class RateLimitHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
RATE_LIMIT = 5 # max requests allowed
WINDOW_SECONDS = 60 # per time window
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
…
How to Mock an API Key Header Authentication Server in Python
A minimal HTTP server that validates requests using an X-API-Key header and returns JSON responses for authenticated and unauthenticated calls.
import json
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, ThreadingHTTPServer
API_KEYS = {"test-user": "secret-key-123"}
class AuthHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
def do_GET(self):
auth = self.headers.get("X-API-Key")
if not auth or auth not in API_KEYS.values():
self.send_response…
How to handle CORS preflight OPTIONS requests in Python
Create a mock HTTP server with a CORS preflight OPTIONS handler that returns the correct headers for browser-based API requests.
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
class CORSRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
def _send_cors_headers(self):
self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS")
self.send_head…
Implement If-Match Precondition Update in Python
A mock resource store that uses the If-Match header's ETag to guard updates, preventing overwrites from stale clients.
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import Optional
@dataclass
class Resource:
id: str
version: int = 1
data: str = ""
etag: str = "etag-1"
class MockResourceStore:
def __init__(self):
self.resources = {}
def update(self, resource_id: str, new_data: str, if_match: Optiona…
Version API by Accept Header with Vendor Media Types in Python
Build a mock HTTP server that routes to API versions by parsing vendor-specific Accept headers in Python.
from http.client import HTTPMessage
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
class VendorVersionHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
def do_GET(self):
accept = self.headers.get("Accept", "")
version = "v1"
if "application/vnd.myapi.v2+json" in accept:
version = "…
Browse by section
Each section groups closely related Python snippets.
API design & gRPC — Python code examples
What you will find here
This page collects api design & grpc snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
Samples vs tutorials and challenges
Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.