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Switcher Client SDK
A Python SDK for Switcher API

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Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage Examples
• Advanced Features
• Snapshot Management
• Testing & Development
• Contributing

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About

The Switcher Client SDK for Python provides seamless integration with Switcher-API, enabling powerful feature flag management in your Python applications.

Key Features

• Clean & Maintainable: Flexible and robust functions that keep your code organized
• Local Mode: Work offline using snapshot files from your Switcher-API Domain
• Silent Mode: Hybrid configuration with automatic fallback for connectivity issues
• Built-in Mocking: Manual and decorator-based test mocking with scoped mock isolation for concurrent execution
• Zero Latency: Local snapshot execution for high-performance scenarios
• Secure: Built-in protection against ReDoS attacks with regex safety features
• Monitoring: Comprehensive logging and error handling capabilities

Quick Start

Get up and running in just a few lines of code:

from switcher_client import Client

# Initialize the client
Client.build_context(
    domain='My Domain',
    url='https://api.switcherapi.com',
    api_key='[YOUR_API_KEY]',
    component='MyApp',
    environment='default'
)

# Use feature flags
switcher = Client.get_switcher()
if switcher.is_on('FEATURE_TOGGLE'):
    print("Feature is enabled!")

Installation

Install the Switcher Client SDK:

# Pip
pip install switcher-client

# Conda
conda install switcherapi::switcher-client

System Requirements

• Python: 3.9+ (supports 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14)
• Operating System: Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Configuration

Basic Setup

Initialize the Switcher Client with your domain configuration:

from switcher_client import Client

Client.build_context(
    domain='My Domain',                 # Your Switcher domain name
    url='https://api.switcherapi.com',  # Switcher-API endpoint (optional)
    api_key='[YOUR_API_KEY]',           # Your component's API key (optional)
    component='MyApp',                  # Your application name (optional)
    environment='default'               # Environment ('default' for production)
)

switcher = Client.get_switcher()

Configuration Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description	Default
domain	✅	Your Switcher domain name	-
url		Switcher-API endpoint	https://api.switcherapi.com
api_key		API key for your component	-
component		Your application identifier	-
environment		Target environment	default

Advanced Configuration

Enable additional features like local mode, silent mode, and security options:

from switcher_client import Client, ContextOptions

Client.build_context(
    domain='My Domain',
    url='https://api.switcherapi.com',
    api_key='[YOUR_API_KEY]',
    component='MyApp',
    environment='default',
    options=ContextOptions(
        local=True,
        logger=True,
        freeze=True,
        snapshot_location='./snapshot/',
        snapshot_auto_update_interval=3,
        silent_mode='5m',
        restrict_relay=True,
        throttle_max_workers=2,
        regex_max_black_list=10,
        regex_max_time_limit=100,
        cert_path='./certs/ca.pem'
    )
)

switcher = Client.get_switcher()

Advanced Options Reference

Option	Type	Description	Default
local	bool	Use local snapshot files only (zero latency)	False
logger	bool	Enable logging/caching of feature flag evaluations	False
freeze	bool	Enable cache-immutability responses for consistent results	False
snapshot_location	str	Directory for snapshot files	'./snapshot/'
snapshot_auto_update_interval	int	Auto-update interval in seconds (0 = disabled)	0
silent_mode	str	Silent mode retry time (e.g., '5m' for 5 minutes)	None
restrict_relay	bool	Enable relay restrictions in local mode	True
throttle_max_workers	int	Max workers for throttling feature checks	None
regex_max_black_list	int	Max cached entries for failed regex	100
regex_max_time_limit	int	Regex execution time limit (ms)	3000
cert_path	str	Path to custom certificate for secure API connections	None

Security Features

• ReDoS Protection: Built-in ReDoS attack prevention with regex safety features
• Time Limits: Configurable timeouts prevent long-running regex operations
• Certificate Support: Use custom certificates for secure API connections

Usage Examples

Basic Feature Flag Checking

The simplest way to check if a feature is enabled:

switcher = Client.get_switcher()

# Simple boolean check
if switcher.is_on('FEATURE_LOGIN_V2'):
    # Use new login system
    new_login()
else:
    # Use legacy login
    legacy_login()

Detailed Response Information

Get comprehensive information about the feature flag evaluation:

response = switcher.is_on_with_details('FEATURE_LOGIN_V2')

print(f"Feature enabled: {response.result}")     # True or False
print(f"Reason: {response.reason}")              # Evaluation reason
print(f"Metadata: {response.metadata}")          # Additional context

Strategy-Based Feature Flags

Method 1: Prepare and Execute

Load validation data separately, useful for complex applications:

# Prepare the validation context
switcher.check_value('USER_123').prepare('USER_FEATURE')

# Execute when ready
if switcher.is_on():
    enable_user_feature()

Method 2: All-in-One Execution

Chain multiple validation strategies for comprehensive feature control:

is_enabled = switcher \
                    # VALUE strategy
                    .check_value('premium_user') \
                    # NETWORK strategy
                    .check_network('192.168.1.0/24') \
                    # Fallback value if API fails
                    .default_result(True) \
                    # Cache result for 1 second
                    .throttle(1000) \
                    .is_on('PREMIUM_FEATURES')

if is_enabled:
    show_premium_dashboard()

Error Handling

Subscribe to error notifications for robust error management:

# Set up error handling
Client.subscribe_notify_error(lambda error: print(f"Switcher Error: {error}"))

Advanced Features

Throttling

# Zero-latency async execution
switcher.throttle(1000).is_on('FEATURE01')

Hybrid Mode

# Force remote resolution for specific features
switcher.remote().is_on('FEATURE01')

Snapshot Management

Loading Snapshots

Load configuration snapshots from the API for local/offline usage:

# Download and save snapshot from API
Client.load_snapshot()

Version Management

Check your current snapshot version:

# Verify snapshot version
version_info = Client.check_snapshot()
print(f"Current snapshot version: {Client.snapshot_version()}")

Automated Updates

Schedule automatic snapshot updates for zero-latency local mode:

Client.schedule_snapshot_auto_update(
    interval=60,
    callback=lambda error, updated: (
        print(f"Snapshot updated to version: {Client.snapshot_version()}") if updated else None
    )
)

Snapshot Monitoring

# Watch for snapshot file changes
Client.watch_snapshot(WatchSnapshotCallback(
    success=lambda: print("✅ Snapshot loaded successfully"),
    reject=lambda e: print(f"❌ Error loading snapshot: {e}")
))

Testing & Development

Built-in Mocking

The SDK includes powerful mocking capabilities for testing. Forced values are scoped to the current execution context, which adds a safe-net for concurrent test runs in the same process by reducing mock leakage between overlapping test executions while keeping the mocking API unchanged.

# Mock feature states for testing
Client.assume('FEATURE01').true()
assert switcher.is_on('FEATURE01') == True

# Conditional mocking based on input criteria
Client.assume('FEATURE01').true() \
    # value can be either 'guest' or 'admin'
    .when(StrategiesType.VALUE.value, ['guest', 'admin']) \
    .when(StrategiesType.NETWORK.value, '10.0.0.3')

assert switcher \
    .check_value('guest') \
    .check_network('10.0.0.3') \
    .is_on('FEATURE01') == True

# Reset to normal behavior
Client.forget('FEATURE01')

# Mock with metadata
Client.assume('FEATURE01').false().with_metadata({
    'message': 'Feature is disabled'
})
response = switcher.is_on_with_details('FEATURE01')
assert response.result == False
assert response.metadata['message'] == 'Feature is disabled'

Decorator-Based Testing

Decorator-based tests can use the same fluent mocking rules while automatically cleaning up mocked flags after the test finishes:

@switcher_test(assume_test('FEATURE01').true())
def test_feature_flag():
    assert switcher.is_on('FEATURE01') == True

@switcher_test(
    assume_test('FEATURE01').true()
        .when(StrategiesType.VALUE.value, 'guest')
        .with_metadata({'message': 'Decorated mock'})
)
def test_feature_flag_with_rules():
    response = switcher.check_value('guest').is_on_with_details('FEATURE01')
    assert response.result == True
    assert response.metadata['message'] == 'Decorated mock'

@switcher_test(
    assume_test('FEATURE01').true(),
    assume_test('FEATURE02').false()
)
def test_multiple_flags():
    assert switcher.is_on('FEATURE01') == True
    assert switcher.is_on('FEATURE02') == False

Decorator behavior:

• assume_test('FEATURE') builds a single mocked flag assumption
• switcher_test(...) accepts one or more assumptions
• fluent mock rules are preserved, including .true(), .false(), .when(...), and .with_metadata(...)
• mocked flags are always cleaned up with Client.forget(...) after the test finishes, even when the test raises an error
• both regular def tests and async def tests are supported

This decorator API is intended as a test convenience and mock-isolation improvement. It improves the safety of mocked flags in concurrent execution within the same process, but should not be treated as full SDK-wide parallel execution support.

Test Mode Configuration

Convenient functionality to prevent subprocess locking of snapshot files during testing.

# Enable test mode to prevent snapshot file locking when running tests
Client.test_mode()

Configuration Validation

Validate your feature flag configuration before deployment:

# Verify that all required switchers are configured
try:
    Client.check_switchers(['FEATURE_LOGIN', 'FEATURE_DASHBOARD', 'FEATURE_PAYMENTS'])
    print("✅ All switchers are properly configured")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"❌ Configuration error: {e}")

This validation helps prevent deployment issues by ensuring all required feature flags are properly set up in your Switcher domain.

Contributing

We welcome contributions to the Switcher Client SDK for Python! If you have suggestions, improvements, or bug fixes, please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.
3. Make your changes and commit them with clear messages.
4. Submit a pull request detailing your changes and the problem they solve.

Thank you for helping us improve the Switcher Client SDK!

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or higher
• Virtualenv - pip install virtualenv
• Create a virtual environment - python3 -m venv .venv
• Install Pipenv - pip install pipenv
• Check Makefile for all available commands