Automation & scripting
CLI tools, scheduled jobs, filesystem tasks, and glue scripts that save time.
Generate Strong Random Passwords with Custom Rules in Python
Build a configurable password generator using Python's secrets module that lets you toggle lowercase, uppercase, digits, and punctuation.
import secrets
import string
def generate_password(length=16, use_lower=True, use_upper=True, use_digits=True, use_punct=True):
pool = ''
if use_lower:
pool += string.ascii_lowercase
if use_upper:
pool += string.ascii_uppercase
if use_digits:
pool += string.digits
if use_pu…How to Build a Simple argparse CLI in Python
Create a beginner-friendly command-line tool with argparse that reads a file, optionally uppercases its lines, and prints a configurable number of lines.
import argparse
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description="Automate file processing with a simple CLI tool."
)
parser.add_argument("filename", help="Path to the input file")
parser.add_argument("--uppercase", action="store_true", help="Convert text to uppercase")
parser.add…How to Clean Old Temp Files in Python
A Python script that scans a directory and deletes files older than a configurable age (default: one week), with safe error handling.
import os
import time
from pathlib import Path
def clean_old_temp_files(directory=".", max_age_seconds=7 * 24 * 60 * 60):
"""
Remove files in directory older than the specified age.
Args:
directory: Path to directory to clean
max_age_seconds: Maximum age in seconds (default: 1 week)
…How to Find Stale GitHub Issues in Python
Filter a list of GitHub issues to find those not updated within a configurable number of days using Python datetime arithmetic.
import os
from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta
import re
# Simulated GitHub issue data structure
SAMPLE_ISSUES = [
{"number": 101, "title": "Login button not working", "updated_at": "2025-06-01T12:00:00Z", "assignee": "alice"},
{"number": 102, "title": "Fix database migration error", "updated_at…Browse by section
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Automation & scripting — Python code examples
What you will find here
This page collects automation & scripting 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.