Python Quickstart

Learn how to query data from Convex in a Python app.

1. Create a Python script folder

   Create a folder for your Python script with a virtual environment.

   python3 -m venv my-app/venv
2. Install the Convex client and server libraries

   To get started, install the convex npm package which enables you to write your backend.

   And also install the convex Python client library and python-dotenv for working with .env files.

   cd my-app && npm install convex && venv/bin/pip install convex python-dotenv
3. Setup a Convex dev deployment

   Next, run npx convex dev. This will prompt you to log in with GitHub, create a project, and save your production and deployment URLs.

   It will also create a convex/ folder for you to write your backend API functions in. The dev command will then continue running to sync your functions with your dev deployment in the cloud.

   npx convex dev
4. Create sample data for your database

   In a new terminal window, create a sampleData.jsonl file with some sample data.

   sampleData.jsonl

   {"text": "Buy groceries", "isCompleted": true}
   {"text": "Go for a swim", "isCompleted": true}
   {"text": "Integrate Convex", "isCompleted": false}
5. Add the sample data to your database

   Now that your project is ready, add a tasks table with the sample data into your Convex database with the import command.

   npx convex import tasks sampleData.jsonl
6. Expose a database query

   Add a new file getTasks.js in the convex/ folder with a query function that loads the data.

   The default export declares an API function named after the file, "getTasks".

   convex/getTasks.js

   import { query } from "./_generated/server";
   
   export default query(async ({ db }) => {
     return await db.query("tasks").collect();
   });
7. Create a script to load data from Convex

   In a new file main.py, create a ConvexClient and use it to fetch from your "getTasks" API.

   main.py

   from dotenv import load_dotenv
   load_dotenv('.env.local'); load_dotenv()
   
   import os
   from convex import ConvexClient
   client = ConvexClient(os.getenv('CONVEX_URL'))
   print(client.query("getTasks"))
8. Run the script

   Run the script and see the serialized list of tasks.

   venv/bin/python -m main