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QuickstartsPython

Python

Query a ZXCV database from server-side Python. You’ll end with a script that reads live data, then wire the same client into a FastAPI endpoint.

AI Assistance
Help me connect ZXCV to my Python app. Do the following:
1. Install the zxcv package with pip.
2. Initialize a client with my project ref + anon key (from Settings → API), reading them from environment variables (ZXCV_PROJECT / ZXCV_ANON_KEY) via os.environ rather than hard-coding.
3. Fetch rows from a "todos" table with .table("todos").select("*").execute() and print them, then serve them from a FastAPI endpoint.
4. Keep the anon key server-side — the Data Gateway enforces my policies on every request.
Ask me for my project ref and anon key if I haven't given them.

Create a project

In the dashboard  click Start building, or run zxcv from your terminal. Open Settings → API and copy your project ref and anon key — access is enforced server-side by your authorization rules.

Create a table

In the SQL editor, create a todos table with a couple of rows:

create table todos (
  id          bigint generated always as identity primary key,
  title       text not null,
  is_complete boolean not null default false
);
insert into todos (title) values ('Read the docs'), ('Ship an app');

Install the SDK

pip install zxcv

Initialize the client

Read your keys from the environment rather than hard-coding them. Set them in your shell (or a .env you load at startup):

.env
ZXCV_PROJECT=acme-store
ZXCV_ANON_KEY=your-anon-key

Create a shared client:

zxcv_client.py
import os
from zxcv import create_client
 
zxcv = create_client(
    project=os.environ["ZXCV_PROJECT"],
    anon_key=os.environ["ZXCV_ANON_KEY"],
)

Fetch and render

Query the table and print the rows. execute() returns data and error — error is None on success:

main.py
from zxcv_client import zxcv
 
response = zxcv.table("todos").select("*").execute()
 
if response.error:
    raise SystemExit(response.error)
 
for todo in response.data:
    print(todo["id"], todo["title"])

Run it:

python main.py

The anon key is safe in server-side code too — the Data Gateway enforces your .policy rules on every request, so a client can only read what its rules allow.

Serve it from FastAPI

Import the same client and return the rows from an endpoint:

app.py
from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
from zxcv_client import zxcv
 
app = FastAPI()
 
 
@app.get("/todos")
def list_todos():
    response = zxcv.table("todos").select("*").order("id").execute()
    if response.error:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(response.error))
    return response.data

Run the dev server:

pip install "fastapi[standard]"
fastapi dev app.py

Deploy

Ship to the global edge from your terminal:

npm i -g zxcv
zxcv link acme-store
zxcv deploy --prod

Every push gets a preview URL; --prod promotes to your domain. See Deploy for custom domains and canaries.

Next steps

ExpoDatabase