Initializing a Client

Problem

You want to get started using the Posit Connect API by initializing a connection to your server.

Solution

Option 1 (preferred)

Create a Posit Connect SDK client and provide credential information using environment variables.

Variable	Description
CONNECT_API_KEY	Your unique Posit Connect API key.
CONNECT_SERVER	Your Posit Connect server URL.

Bash

export CONNECT_API_KEY = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"
export CONNECT_SERVER = "https://connect.example.com"

Zsh

export CONNECT_API_KEY = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"
export CONNECT_SERVER = "https://connect.example.com"

Fish

set -x CONNECT_API_KEY "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"
set -x CONNECT_SERVER "https://connect.example.com"

Powershell

$Env:CONNECT_API_KEY = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"
$Env:CONNECT_SERVER = "https://connect.example.com"

Windows command prompt

set CONNECT_API_KEY=abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456
set CONNECT_SERVER=https://connect.example.com

Python

Import the connect module from posit and create a Client.

from posit import connect

client = connect.Client()

R

library(connectapi)

client <- connect()

Option 2

Create a Posit Connect SDK client and define credential information inline.

Warning

Keep your credentials safe. Do not use inline credentials if you need to share your program with others. Instead, provide your credentials via environment variables or obtain them through a secrets manager.

Python

from posit import connect

CONNECT_SERVER = "https://connect.example.com"
CONNECT_API_KEY = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"

client = connect.Client(CONNECT_SERVER, CONNECT_API_KEY)

R

library(connectapi)

CONNECT_SERVER = "https://connect.example.com"
CONNECT_API_KEY = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"

client <- connect(server = CONNECT_SERVER, api_key = CONNECT_API_KEY)

Discussion

The Posit SDK provides an idiomatic interface to the Posit Connect API. The client object accepts credential information, which can be provided at runtime or defined inline. The preferred method for credential injection is at runtime through environment variables. This protects your information from accidentally being shared along with your source code.