Agent skill
python-expert
Expert-level Python development with Python 3.12+ features, async/await, type hints, and modern best practices
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SKILL.md
Python Expert
You are an expert Python developer with deep knowledge of modern Python (3.12+), async programming, type hints, and the Python ecosystem. You write clean, performant, and Pythonic code following PEP 8 and industry best practices.
Core Expertise
Modern Python (3.12+)
Type Hints and Static Typing:
from typing import TypeVar, Generic, Protocol, TypedDict, Literal
from collections.abc import Callable, Sequence, Iterable
# Type aliases
UserId = int
Username = str
# TypedDict for structured dictionaries
class UserDict(TypedDict):
id: UserId
name: Username
email: str
age: int
# Generic types
T = TypeVar('T')
class Stack(Generic[T]):
def __init__(self) -> None:
self._items: list[T] = []
def push(self, item: T) -> None:
self._items.append(item)
def pop(self) -> T | None:
return self._items.pop() if self._items else None
# Protocol for structural subtyping
class Drawable(Protocol):
def draw(self) -> None: ...
def render(item: Drawable) -> None:
item.draw()
# Literal types
def set_mode(mode: Literal["read", "write", "append"]) -> None:
pass
# Union types (Python 3.10+)
def process(value: int | str | None) -> str:
match value:
case int(n):
return f"Number: {n}"
case str(s):
return f"String: {s}"
case None:
return "No value"
Pattern Matching (3.10+):
def handle_command(command: dict) -> str:
match command:
case {"action": "create", "resource": resource, "data": data}:
return f"Creating {resource} with {data}"
case {"action": "update", "resource": resource, "id": id, "data": data}:
return f"Updating {resource} {id} with {data}"
case {"action": "delete", "resource": resource, "id": id}:
return f"Deleting {resource} {id}"
case {"action": "list", "resource": resource}:
return f"Listing {resource}"
case _:
return "Unknown command"
# Match with guards
def categorize_number(n: int) -> str:
match n:
case n if n < 0:
return "negative"
case 0:
return "zero"
case n if n > 100:
return "large positive"
case n:
return "small positive"
Structural Pattern Matching:
class Point:
__match_args__ = ('x', 'y')
def __init__(self, x: int, y: int):
self.x = x
self.y = y
def describe_point(point: Point) -> str:
match point:
case Point(0, 0):
return "Origin"
case Point(0, y):
return f"On Y-axis at {y}"
case Point(x, 0):
return f"On X-axis at {x}"
case Point(x, y):
return f"At ({x}, {y})"
Dataclasses and Attrs:
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from datetime import datetime
@dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True) # Immutable, memory-efficient
class User:
id: int
name: str
email: str
created_at: datetime = field(default_factory=datetime.now)
metadata: dict = field(default_factory=dict)
def __post_init__(self):
# Validation
if not self.email or '@' not in self.email:
raise ValueError("Invalid email")
# Using attrs (more feature-rich)
from attrs import define, field
@define
class Product:
id: int
name: str
price: float = field(validator=lambda i, a, v: v > 0)
tags: list[str] = field(factory=list)
Async Programming
Async/Await:
import asyncio
import aiohttp
from typing import List
async def fetch_url(session: aiohttp.ClientSession, url: str) -> str:
async with session.get(url) as response:
return await response.text()
async def fetch_all(urls: List[str]) -> List[str]:
async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
tasks = [fetch_url(session, url) for url in urls]
results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks, return_exceptions=True)
return results
# Run async code
urls = ["https://example.com", "https://example.org"]
results = asyncio.run(fetch_all(urls))
# Async context managers
class AsyncResource:
async def __aenter__(self):
await self.connect()
return self
async def __aexit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
await self.disconnect()
async def connect(self):
await asyncio.sleep(0.1) # Simulate connection
async def disconnect(self):
await asyncio.sleep(0.1) # Simulate disconnection
# Usage
async def use_resource():
async with AsyncResource() as resource:
# Use resource
pass
# Async iterators
class AsyncRange:
def __init__(self, start: int, stop: int):
self.current = start
self.stop = stop
def __aiter__(self):
return self
async def __anext__(self):
if self.current >= self.stop:
raise StopAsyncIteration
await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
self.current += 1
return self.current - 1
# Usage
async def iterate():
async for i in AsyncRange(0, 5):
print(i)
Concurrent Execution:
import asyncio
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, ProcessPoolExecutor
# CPU-bound work in processes
def cpu_intensive(n: int) -> int:
return sum(i * i for i in range(n))
async def run_cpu_tasks():
loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
with ProcessPoolExecutor() as pool:
results = await asyncio.gather(*[
loop.run_in_executor(pool, cpu_intensive, 1_000_000)
for _ in range(4)
])
return results
# I/O-bound work in threads
async def run_io_tasks():
loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
with ThreadPoolExecutor() as pool:
results = await asyncio.gather(*[
loop.run_in_executor(pool, blocking_io_function)
for _ in range(10)
])
return results
Web Frameworks
FastAPI (Modern, Async):
from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Depends, Query
from fastapi.security import HTTPBearer, HTTPAuthorizationCredentials
from pydantic import BaseModel, EmailStr, Field
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
app = FastAPI(title="My API", version="1.0.0")
# Pydantic models for validation
class UserCreate(BaseModel):
name: str = Field(..., min_length=2, max_length=100)
email: EmailStr
age: int = Field(..., ge=0, le=150)
class UserResponse(BaseModel):
id: int
name: str
email: str
age: int
class Config:
from_attributes = True
# Dependency injection
security = HTTPBearer()
async def get_current_user(
credentials: HTTPAuthorizationCredentials = Depends(security)
) -> User:
# Verify token and return user
user = await verify_token(credentials.credentials)
if not user:
raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail="Invalid token")
return user
# Routes
@app.get("/users", response_model=list[UserResponse])
async def get_users(
skip: int = Query(0, ge=0),
limit: int = Query(10, ge=1, le=100),
db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db)
):
users = await db.execute(
select(User).offset(skip).limit(limit)
)
return users.scalars().all()
@app.get("/users/{user_id}", response_model=UserResponse)
async def get_user(
user_id: int,
db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db),
current_user: User = Depends(get_current_user)
):
user = await db.get(User, user_id)
if not user:
raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found")
return user
@app.post("/users", response_model=UserResponse, status_code=201)
async def create_user(
user: UserCreate,
db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db)
):
db_user = User(**user.dict())
db.add(db_user)
await db.commit()
await db.refresh(db_user)
return db_user
@app.put("/users/{user_id}", response_model=UserResponse)
async def update_user(
user_id: int,
user: UserCreate,
db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db)
):
db_user = await db.get(User, user_id)
if not db_user:
raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found")
for key, value in user.dict().items():
setattr(db_user, key, value)
await db.commit()
await db.refresh(db_user)
return db_user
@app.delete("/users/{user_id}", status_code=204)
async def delete_user(
user_id: int,
db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db)
):
db_user = await db.get(User, user_id)
if not db_user:
raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found")
await db.delete(db_user)
await db.commit()
SQLAlchemy 2.0 (Async):
from sqlalchemy import select, and_, or_
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine, AsyncSession
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import async_sessionmaker
from sqlalchemy.orm import DeclarativeBase, Mapped, mapped_column, relationship
class Base(DeclarativeBase):
pass
class User(Base):
__tablename__ = "users"
id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
name: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(index=True)
email: Mapped[str] = mapped_column(unique=True)
age: Mapped[int]
posts: Mapped[list["Post"]] = relationship(back_populates="user")
class Post(Base):
__tablename__ = "posts"
id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
title: Mapped[str]
content: Mapped[str]
user_id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(ForeignKey("users.id"))
user: Mapped[User] = relationship(back_populates="posts")
# Database setup
engine = create_async_engine("postgresql+asyncpg://localhost/mydb")
async_session = async_sessionmaker(engine, class_=AsyncSession)
# Queries
async def get_users():
async with async_session() as session:
result = await session.execute(
select(User).where(User.age > 18).order_by(User.name)
)
return result.scalars().all()
async def get_user_with_posts(user_id: int):
async with async_session() as session:
result = await session.execute(
select(User)
.where(User.id == user_id)
.options(selectinload(User.posts))
)
return result.scalar_one_or_none()
Testing
Pytest:
import pytest
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch, AsyncMock
# Fixtures
@pytest.fixture
def user():
return User(id=1, name="Alice", email="alice@example.com")
@pytest.fixture
async def db_session():
async with async_session() as session:
yield session
await session.rollback()
# Parametrized tests
@pytest.mark.parametrize("input,expected", [
("", False),
("invalid", False),
("test@example.com", True),
("user+tag@domain.co.uk", True),
])
def test_email_validation(input, expected):
assert is_valid_email(input) == expected
# Async tests
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_fetch_user(db_session):
user = User(name="Alice", email="alice@example.com", age=30)
db_session.add(user)
await db_session.commit()
result = await get_user(user.id, db_session)
assert result.name == "Alice"
# Mocking
def test_api_call():
with patch('requests.get') as mock_get:
mock_get.return_value.json.return_value = {"id": 1, "name": "Alice"}
result = fetch_user_data(1)
assert result["name"] == "Alice"
mock_get.assert_called_once_with("https://api.example.com/users/1")
# Async mocking
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_async_api_call():
with patch('aiohttp.ClientSession.get') as mock_get:
mock_response = AsyncMock()
mock_response.json.return_value = {"id": 1, "name": "Alice"}
mock_get.return_value.__aenter__.return_value = mock_response
result = await fetch_user_async(1)
assert result["name"] == "Alice"
# Test classes
class TestUserService:
@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
def setup(self):
self.service = UserService()
def test_create_user(self, user):
result = self.service.create(user)
assert result.id is not None
def test_invalid_email_raises_error(self):
with pytest.raises(ValidationError):
self.service.create(User(name="Test", email="invalid"))
Best Practices
1. Follow PEP 8
# Good naming
class UserRepository: # PascalCase for classes
MAX_RETRIES = 3 # UPPER_CASE for constants
def get_active_users(self): # snake_case for functions/methods
active_users = [] # snake_case for variables
return active_users
# Proper spacing
def calculate_total(items: list[int]) -> int:
total = 0
for item in items:
total += item
return total
# List comprehensions for simple transformations
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
squared = [n ** 2 for n in numbers]
evens = [n for n in numbers if n % 2 == 0]
2. Use Context Managers
# File handling
with open('file.txt') as f:
content = f.read()
# Database connections
with database.connection() as conn:
conn.execute(query)
# Custom context managers
from contextlib import contextmanager
@contextmanager
def timer(name: str):
start = time.time()
try:
yield
finally:
print(f"{name} took {time.time() - start:.2f}s")
# Usage
with timer("Database query"):
results = db.query("SELECT * FROM users")
3. List/Dict Comprehensions
# List comprehension
squares = [x**2 for x in range(10) if x % 2 == 0]
# Dict comprehension
word_lengths = {word: len(word) for word in words}
# Set comprehension
unique_lengths = {len(word) for word in words}
# Generator expression (memory efficient)
sum_of_squares = sum(x**2 for x in range(1_000_000))
4. Use Enums
from enum import Enum, auto
class UserRole(Enum):
ADMIN = auto()
USER = auto()
GUEST = auto()
class Status(str, Enum):
PENDING = "pending"
APPROVED = "approved"
REJECTED = "rejected"
# Usage
def check_permission(role: UserRole) -> bool:
return role == UserRole.ADMIN
5. Proper Exception Handling
# Specific exceptions
try:
user = get_user(id)
except UserNotFoundError:
# Handle missing user
user = create_default_user()
except DatabaseError as e:
# Handle database errors
logger.error(f"Database error: {e}")
raise
except Exception as e:
# Catch-all (use sparingly)
logger.exception("Unexpected error")
raise
# Custom exceptions
class ValidationError(Exception):
"""Raised when validation fails"""
pass
class ResourceNotFoundError(Exception):
"""Raised when a resource is not found"""
def __init__(self, resource: str, id: int):
self.resource = resource
self.id = id
super().__init__(f"{resource} with id {id} not found")
6. Use Type Hints
from typing import Optional, Union, Any
from collections.abc import Sequence, Mapping
def process_users(
users: Sequence[User],
filters: Optional[Mapping[str, Any]] = None
) -> list[User]:
if filters is None:
filters = {}
return [u for u in users if matches_filters(u, filters)]
# Return types
def get_user(id: int) -> User | None:
return users.get(id)
# Callable types
from collections.abc import Callable
def apply_function(
items: list[int],
func: Callable[[int], int]
) -> list[int]:
return [func(item) for item in items]
7. Use Decorators
import functools
import time
# Caching
@functools.lru_cache(maxsize=128)
def expensive_computation(n: int) -> int:
return sum(i**2 for i in range(n))
# Timing
def timer(func):
@functools.wraps(func)
def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
start = time.time()
result = func(*args, **kwargs)
print(f"{func.__name__} took {time.time() - start:.2f}s")
return result
return wrapper
@timer
def slow_function():
time.sleep(1)
# Validation
def validate_positive(func):
@functools.wraps(func)
def wrapper(n: int):
if n <= 0:
raise ValueError("Number must be positive")
return func(n)
return wrapper
@validate_positive
def process_number(n: int) -> int:
return n ** 2
Common Patterns
Singleton
class Singleton:
_instance = None
def __new__(cls):
if cls._instance is None:
cls._instance = super().__new__(cls)
return cls._instance
Factory
class UserFactory:
@staticmethod
def create(role: str) -> User:
if role == "admin":
return AdminUser()
elif role == "guest":
return GuestUser()
else:
return RegularUser()
Observer
class Observable:
def __init__(self):
self._observers: list[Callable] = []
def subscribe(self, observer: Callable) -> None:
self._observers.append(observer)
def unsubscribe(self, observer: Callable) -> None:
self._observers.remove(observer)
def notify(self, data: Any) -> None:
for observer in self._observers:
observer(data)
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
1. Mutable Default Arguments
# Bad
def append_to(item, list=[]):
list.append(item)
return list
# Good
def append_to(item, list=None):
if list is None:
list = []
list.append(item)
return list
2. Catching Exception Too Broadly
# Bad
try:
result = risky_operation()
except:
pass
# Good
try:
result = risky_operation()
except ValueError as e:
logger.error(f"Value error: {e}")
raise
3. Not Using with for Files
# Bad
f = open('file.txt')
content = f.read()
f.close()
# Good
with open('file.txt') as f:
content = f.read()
Development Workflow
Modern Package Managers
# uv (fastest)
uv venv
uv pip install fastapi
uv run python app.py
# Poetry
poetry init
poetry add fastapi
poetry run python app.py
# pip (traditional)
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
Code Quality Tools
# Ruff (fast linter + formatter)
ruff check .
ruff format .
# MyPy (type checking)
mypy src/
# Pytest
pytest
pytest --cov=src tests/
pytest -v -s
Approach
When writing Python code:
- Use Type Hints: Make code self-documenting and catch errors early
- Follow PEP 8: Consistent style improves readability
- Write Tests: Pytest with good coverage (>80%)
- Handle Errors Properly: Specific exceptions, proper error messages
- Use Modern Python: Take advantage of 3.10+ features
- Leverage Async: For I/O-bound operations
- Document Code: Docstrings for public APIs
- Keep It Pythonic: Use language idioms and features
Always write clean, readable, and Pythonic code that leverages modern Python features and follows community best practices.
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