Collectors · Developers & tech

PyPI API in Python

Python package metadata from PyPI — version, summary, license, Python support, links. One POST from Python with packages, rows back as JSON with 24 fields, $0.0003 per delivered package. No proxies or parsers to maintain.

Get an API key See the collector

A Python requests snippet that posts { — A Python requests call to the pypi_packages collector returns one dict per package, at $0.0003 each.

First call

Install, call, read the rows.

pip install requests

The only dependency.

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/pypi_packages/run",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"},
    json={
        "packages": ["requests","numpy","fastapi"],
        "max_results": 3,
    },
    timeout=120,
)
r.raise_for_status()
run = r.json()["payload"]
print(run["count"], "rows,", run["cost"]["usd"], "USD")
for row in run["results"]:
    print(row.get("name"), row.get("version"), row.get("summary"), row.get("author"))

Python: one PyPI package data run (Alcuni pacchetti), printing name, version, summary, author

The key comes from an environment variable, never from the code. The run answers in the same request when it finishes in time; payload.results holds the rows and payload.cost what they cost.

Request parameters

What the collector takes.

Input of the PyPI package data collector
Parameter	Type	Required	Meaning
`packages`	array	yes	PyPI package names, e.g. requests, numpy.
`max_results`	integer	no (default 10)	How many packages to deliver at most (1–50). You pay only for delivered packages.

Response fields

24 fields per package.

Fields of each row (package)
Field	Type	What it holds
`rank`	integer	1-based position.
`name`	string	Package name.
`version`	string, nullable	Latest version.
`summary`	string, nullable	Short summary.
`author`	string, nullable	Author.
`license`	string, nullable	License.
`requires_python`	string, nullable	Required Python version spec.
`homepage`	string, nullable	Homepage URL.
`repository`	string, nullable	Source repository URL.
`keywords`	string[]	Declared keywords.
`python_versions`	string[]	Supported Python versions (classifiers).
`release_count`	integer, nullable	Number of releases.
`url`	string	PyPI project URL.
`maintainer`	string, nullable	Maintainer.
`documentation`	string, nullable	Documentation URL.
`changelog`	string, nullable	Changelog URL.
`dependencies`	string[]	Runtime dependencies (requires_dist without extras).
`optional_dependencies_count`	integer	Dependencies that belong to an extra.
`extras`	string[]	Extras the package provides.
`development_status`	string, nullable	Development status classifier.
`released_at`	string, nullable	Upload time of the current version.
`first_release_at`	string, nullable	Upload time of the first release.
`yanked`	boolean	Whether the current version is yanked.
`known_vulnerabilities`	integer, nullable	Known vulnerabilities PyPI lists for the current version.

Add ?format=csv to the runs endpoint to get the same rows as CSV.

Long runs

Run in the background, then poll.

A run that needs more time can go to the background: send "async": true, get 202 with the run id, and poll the runs endpoint until the status is done. Reading a run is free.

import os, time, requests

H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"}
r = requests.post("https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/pypi_packages/run", headers=H,
                  json={**{"packages":["requests","numpy","fastapi"],"max_results":3}, "async": True}, timeout=30)
run_id = r.json()["payload"]["run_id"]
while True:
    run = requests.get(f"https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/runs/{run_id}", headers=H, timeout=30).json()["payload"]
    if run["status"] in ("done", "failed"):
        break
    time.sleep(5)
print(run["status"], run["count"])

Python: background run and polling

Errors

What can come back, and what is billed.

Collector run errors
Status	Meaning	Billed
`400`	The input does not match the collector (`payload.errors`)	No
`401`	Missing or wrong API key	No
`402`	Balance and free credit do not cover the run: top up	No
`422`	The input can never resolve; retrying the same input cannot help	No
`424`	The run failed at the source (blocked, timed out, layout changed); safe to retry	No
`429`	Rate limit or a per-account brake; wait for `Retry-After`	No

Only delivered rows are billed: a run that delivers nothing costs nothing.

Price

$0.0003 per delivered package.

What PyPI package data rows cost at list price
Rows	Cost
1	$0.0003
1,000	$0.30
10,000	$3.00

Up to 50 packages per run; split larger jobs into several runs. The $2 free credit every month covers about 6,666 packages. No subscription; paid tiers lower the unit price. All collector prices: collector pricing.

Before you run it

Questions developers ask

Is there a free PyPI package data API?

Every account gets $2 of free usage each month, about 6,666 packages of this collector at $0.0003 each, with no card.

Do I have to handle proxies, retries or blocks?

No. The collector runs on our network and handles them; a run blocked at the source returns 424 and is not billed.

How many rows can one run return?

Up to 50 packages per run (the max_results input, where the collector has one).

Can an AI agent run it?

Yes: the MCP server exposes it as the run_collector tool, with the same input and price. See the MCP server.

Run it on the free credit.

Create an API key, export it as QD_API_KEY and run the example. $0.0003 per delivered package, no subscription.

Get an API key PyPI API