Automation & scripting
CLI tools, scheduled jobs, filesystem tasks, and glue scripts that save time.
Batch Rename Hundreds of Files in Python
Rename all files with a given extension inside a folder using a sequential counter and a custom prefix.
import os
from pathlib import Path
def batch_rename_files(directory: str, prefix: str, extension: str = ".txt") -> None:
"""Rename all files with given extension in directory to prefix_{counter}.ext."""
path = Path(directory)
if not path.is_dir():
print(f"Directory '{directory}' does not exist.")
…How to Automatically Download Every Favicon from a List of Websites in Python
Download each website's favicon.ico file by constructing its URL, making a GET request, and saving the binary content locally.
import requests
from urllib.parse import urlparse
import os
websites = [
"https://www.google.com",
"https://www.github.com",
"https://www.stackoverflow.com"
]
def download_favicon(url):
parsed = urlparse(url)
favicon_url = f"{parsed.scheme}://{parsed.netloc}/favicon.ico"
response = requests.g…How to Check Website Status Codes in Python
This script checks the HTTP status codes of multiple URLs concurrently using a thread pool and prints the results.
import requests
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
URLS = [
"https://www.google.com",
"https://www.python.org",
"https://www.nonexistent-site-12345.com",
"https://www.github.com",
]
def check_status(url):
try:
response = requests.get(url, timeout=5)
return url, resp…How to Mock a Whisper API Transcription Stub in Python
Simulate an OpenAI Whisper-style transcription response with a dataclass request model and a mock function that returns structured audio transcription output.
import json
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import Optional
@dataclass
class AudioRequest:
file_path: str
language: Optional[str] = None
def to_api_payload(self) -> dict:
return {"file": self.file_path, "language": self.language}
def mock_whisper_transcribe(payload: dict) -> dict:
…How to generate website performance reports from HTTP requests in Python
Measure and report website load time, status code, and content size using Python's standard library.
import urllib.request
import time
def measure_website_load_time(url):
"""Measures total loading time of a website."""
start_time = time.time()
try:
with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=10) as response:
content = response.read()
status_code = response.status
…How to validate argparse CLI commands in Python
Build a beginner-friendly command-line argument parser with argparse, including required and optional arguments, plus simple validation for age.
import argparse
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Validate CLI arguments for beginners.")
parser.add_argument("name", type=str, help="Your name.")
parser.add_argument("--age", type=int, default=None, help="Your age (optional).")
parser.add_argument("--verbose", action="store_t…Monitor Website Uptime with Python
Periodically check if a website is reachable and its HTTP status is 200, logging the status with timestamps.
import requests
import time
def check_website(url):
try:
response = requests.get(url, timeout=5)
if response.status_code == 200:
return True
else:
return False
except requests.ConnectionError:
return False
except requests.Timeout:
return Fals…Parse nginx access log top IPs in Python
Reads an nginx access log line by line, extracts the client IP, and returns the most frequent IPs using a regex and Counter.
import re
from collections import Counter
def top_ips(log_file, n=10):
ip_pattern = re.compile(r'^(\S+)')
ip_counts = Counter()
with open(log_file, 'r') as f:
for line in f:
match = ip_pattern.match(line)
if match:
ip_counts[match.group(1)] += 1
return…Pin Python package versions in requirements.txt
Pin package versions in requirements.txt-style text by adding ==version when no specifier is present, while preserving existing version constraints and comments.
import re
from pathlib import Path
def pin_versions(requirements_text: str) -> str:
"""
Pin package versions in requirements.txt-style text.
Adds ==version if no version specifier is present.
Keeps existing specifiers (>=, <=, ~=, etc.) unchanged.
"""
lines = requirements_text.strip().splitli…Post a message to a Slack webhook in Python
Send a message to a Slack webhook endpoint using the standard library's urllib.request, handling the POST request and response cleanly.
import json
from urllib import request
def post_to_slack(webhook_url: str, message: str) -> dict:
payload = json.dumps({"text": message}).encode("utf-8")
req = request.Request(
webhook_url,
data=payload,
headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
method="POST",
)
wit…Rename Files in Folder with Numeric Prefix in Python
Renames all files in a folder by adding a sequential numeric prefix (e.g., 01_, 02_) to each filename using pathlib.
from pathlib import Path
def rename_with_numeric_prefix(folder_path):
folder = Path(folder_path)
for index, file_path in enumerate(folder.iterdir(), start=1):
if file_path.is_file():
new_name = f"{index:02d}_{file_path.name}"
new_path = file_path.with_name(new_name)
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Automation & scripting — Python code examples
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