The Sinch Python SDK allows you to quickly interact with the Conversation API from inside your Python applications. When using the Python SDK, the code representing requests and queries sent to and responses received from the Conversation API are structured similarly to those that are sent and received using the Conversation API.
The fastest way to get started with the SDK is to check out our getting started guides. There you'll find all the instructions necessary to download, install, set up, and start using the SDK.
This guide describes the syntactical structure of the Python SDK for the Conversation API, including any differences that may exist between the API itself and the SDK. For a full reference on Conversation API calls and responses, see the Conversation API Reference.
The code sample below is an example of how to use the Python SDK to send a text message on the SMS channel of a Conversation API app. The Conversation API call that accomplishes the same task is displayed below for reference.
from sinch import SinchClient
sinch_client = SinchClient(
key_id="YOUR_key_id",
key_secret="YOUR_key_secret",
project_id="YOUR_project_id"
)
# conversation_region must be set to either us or eu
sinch_client.configuration.conversation_region="us"
send_conversation_api_message_response = sinch_client.conversation.message.send(
app_id="YOUR_app_id",
recipient={
"identified_by" : {
"channel_identities" : [
{"identity":"RECIPIENT_number","channel" : "SMS"}
]
}
},
message={
"text_message" : {
"text" : "Text message from Sinch Conversation API."
}
},
channel_properties={
"SMS_SENDER" : "YOUR_sms_sender"
}
)
print(send_conversation_api_message_response)
This example highlights the following required to successfully make a Conversation API call using the Sinch Python SDK:
When using the Sinch Python SDK, you initialize communication with the Sinch backend by initializing the Python SDK's main client class. This client allows you to access the the functionality of the Sinch Python SDK.
To successfully initialize the Sinch client class, you must provide a valid access key ID and access key secret combination. You must also provide your Project ID. For example:
from sinch import SinchClient
sinch_client = SinchClient(
key_id="YOUR_key_id",
key_secret="YOUR_key_secret",
project_id="YOUR_project_id"
)
After intializing the client, you can modify the following Conversation properties using the configuration class:
Property | Description |
---|---|
conversation_region | The geographical location in which the conversation server is located. Must set to either us or eu . |
conversation_domain | The URL (excluding the region) of the conversation server. Do not change unless advised by your account manager. |
templates_region | The geographical location in which the templates server is located. Must set to either us or eu . |
templates_domain | The URL (excluding the region) of the templates server. Do not change unless advised by your account manager. |
You will mostly use the configuration class to detail the location of the server you'd like to interact with. For example:
sinch_client.configuration.conversation_region="us"
The Sinch Python SDK organizes different functionalities in the Sinch product suite into domains. These domains are accessible through the client. For example, sinch_client.conversation.[endpoint_category].[method]
. You can also create a domain-specific client from a general client. For example:
from sinch import SinchClient
sinch_client = SinchClient(key_id="YOUR_key_id", key_secret="YOUR_key_secret",
project_id="YOUR_project_id")
from sinch.domains.conversation import Conversation
conversation_client = Conversation(sinch_client)
In the Sinch Python SDK, Conversation API endpoints are accessible through the client (either a general client or a Conversation-specific client). The naming convention of the endpoint's representation in the SDK matches the API:
message
app
contact
event
transcoding
capability
template
webhook
conversation
For example:
conversation_response = sinch_client.conversation.message.send(
app_id="YOUR_app_ID",
recipient={
"identified_by" : {
"channel_identities" : [
{"identity":"RECIPIENT_number","channel" : "SMS"}
]
}
},
message={
"text_message" : {
"text" : "Text message from Sinch Conversation API."
}
},
channel_properties={
"SMS_SENDER" : "YOUR_sms_sender"
}
)
The message
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the messages endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
Send a message | send |
Get a message | get |
Delete a message | delete |
List messages | list |
The app
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the apps endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
List all apps for a given project | list |
Create an app | create |
Get an app | get |
Delete an app | delete |
Update an app | update |
The contact
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the contacts endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
List contacts | list |
Create a contact | create |
Get a contact | get |
Delete a contact | delete |
Update a contact | update |
Merge two contacts | merge |
Get channel profile | get_channel_profile |
The conversation
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the conversations endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
List conversations | list |
Create a conversation | create |
Get a conversation | get |
Delete a conversation | delete |
Update a conversation | update |
Stop conversation | stop |
Inject messages | inject_message_to_conversation |
The event
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the events endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
Send an event | send |
The transcoding
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the messages:transcode endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
Transcode a message | transcode_message |
The capability
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the capability endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
Capability lookup | query |
The webhook
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the webhooks endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
List webhooks | list |
Create a new webhook | create |
Get a webhook | get |
Update an existing webhook | update |
Delete an existing webhook | delete |
The template
category of the Python SDK corresponds to the templates endpoint. The mapping between the API operations and corresponding Python methods are described below:
API operation | SDK method |
---|---|
List all templates belonging to a project ID | list |
Creates a template | create |
Updates a template | update |
Get a template | get |
Delete a template | delete |
Requests and queries made using the Python SDK are similar to those made using the Conversation API. Many of the fields are named and structured similarly. In most cases, they are the same. For example, consider the representations of a Conversation API app ID below. One field is represented in JSON, and the other is using our Python SDK:
app_id = "{APP_ID}"
Note that the fields have the same name. Additionally, path parameters, request body parameters, and query parameters that are used in the API are all passed as arguments to the corresponding python method. For example, consider this example in which the get
method of the message
class is invoked:
conversation_response = sinch_client.conversation.message.get(
message_id="YOUR_message_id"
messages_source="CONVERSATION_SOURCE")
When using the Conversation API, message_id
would be included as a path parameter, and messages_source
would be included as a query parameter in the JSON payload. With the Python SDK, both parameters are included as arguments in the get
method.
Below is a table detailing field names present in the Conversation API and their modified counterparts in the Conversation API Python SDK:
API field name | SDK field name |
---|---|
metadata_json | conversation_metadata |
update_mask.paths | update_mask |
message.conversation_id | conversation_id |
from | from_ |
default_translation | default_translations |
template.id | template_id |
When making calls directly to the API, we use JSON objects, including (in some cases) nested JSON objects. When using the Python SDK, we use dictionaries instead of nested JSON objects. For example, consider the message objects below. One is represented in JSON, the other as a Python dictionary:
message = {
"text_message": {
"text": "Text message from Sinch Conversation API."
}
}
Note that, in both cases, the text_message
and text
objects are structured in exactly the same way as they would be in a normal Python call to the Conversation API. When using the Python SDK, any argument that represents a nested JSON object will be represented as a Python dictionary at the top level, but the contents of that dictionary must be represented as JSON objects. This is also highlighted in the below example:
recipient={
"identified_by" : {
"channel_identities" : [
{"identity":"RECIPIENT_number","channel" : "SMS"}
]
}
}
Response fields match the API responses. They are delivered as Python objects, with each top-level field represented as a property. Note that any nested objects normally returned by the Conversation API are returned as dictionaries by the Python SDK.