Installation

Requirements

ABConnect requires Python 3.11 or higher.

Installing from PyPI

The recommended way to install ABConnect is via pip:

pip install ABConnect

Development Installation

For development, clone the repository and install in editable mode:

git clone https://github.com/AnnexBrands/ABConnectTools.git
cd ABConnectTools
pip install -e .[dev]

This will install the package along with development dependencies needed for testing and documentation.

Environment Configuration

ABConnect uses environment variables for configuration. You’ll need to create two environment files from the sample:

# Copy the sample to create both staging and production environment files
cp .env.sample .env.staging
cp .env.sample .env

Configuration Variables

Edit both .env.staging and .env files with your credentials:

# ABC Connect credentials
ABCONNECT_USERNAME=your_username
ABCONNECT_PASSWORD=your_password
ABC_CLIENT_ID=your_app_name
ABC_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret

# API environment setting
ABC_ENVIRONMENT=staging  # or 'production' for .env file

Note

To request a client secret for API access, please contact abconnect@annexbrands.com

Environment Usage

.env.staging - Used automatically by tests and development
.env - Used for production operations

The package will automatically use .env.staging when running tests via pytest.

Django Integration

For Django projects, ABConnect supports session-based token storage. Add to your Django settings:

# In your Django settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ... other apps
    'ABConnect',
]

The API client will automatically use Django’s session storage when available.