# ibmcloudant

> Python client library for IBM Cloudant

- **URL**: https://www.freshcrate.ai/projects/ibmcloudant
- **Author**: pypi
- **Category**: Databases
- **Latest version**: `v0.11.7` (2026-05-22)
- **License**: Unknown
- **Source**: https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/issues
- **Homepage**: https://pypi.org/project/ibmcloudant/
- **Language**: Python
- **GitHub**: 57 stars, 20 forks
- **Registry**: pypi (`ibmcloudant`)
- **Tags**: `client`, `cloudant`, `database`, `ibm`, `ibmcloudant`, `official`, `pypi`, `sdk`

## Description

[![Build Status](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg?branch=main&event=push)](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/actions/workflows/test.yml)
[![Release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk?include_prereleases&sort=semver)](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/releases/latest)
[![Docs](https://img.shields.io/static/v1?label=Pydoc&message=latest&color=blue)](https://ibm.github.io/cloudant-python-sdk/)

# IBM Cloudant Python SDK Version 0.11.5

IBM Cloudant Python SDK is a client library that interacts with the
[IBM Cloudant APIs](https://cloud.ibm.com/apidocs/cloudant?code=python).

Disclaimer: This library is still a 0.x release. We do consider this
library production-ready and capable, but there are still some
limitations we’re working to resolve, and refinements we want to
deliver. We are working really hard to minimise the disruption from
now until the 1.0 release, but there may still be some changes that
impact applications using this SDK. For now, be sure to pin versions
to avoid surprises.

<details>
<summary>Table of Contents</summary>

<!-- toc -->
- [Overview](#overview)
- [Features](#features)
- [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
- [Installation](#installation)
- [Using the SDK](#using-the-sdk)
  * [Authentication](#authentication)
  * [Automatic retries](#automatic-retries)
  * [Request timeout configuration](#request-timeout-configuration)
  * [Code examples](#code-examples)
  * [Error handling](#error-handling)
  * [Raw IO](#raw-io)
  * [Model classes vs dictionaries](#model-classes-vs-dictionaries)
  * [Further resources](#further-resources)
- [Questions](#questions)
- [Issues](#issues)
- [Versioning and LTS support](#versioning-and-lts-support)
- [Open source at IBM](#open-source-at-ibm)
- [Contributing](#contributing)
- [License](#license)

</details>

## Overview

The IBM Cloudant Python SDK allows developers to programmatically
interact with [IBM Cloudant](https://cloud.ibm.com/apidocs/cloudant)
with the help of the `ibmcloudant` package.

## Features

The purpose of this Python SDK is to wrap most of the HTTP request APIs
provided by Cloudant and supply other functions to ease the usage of Cloudant.
This SDK should make life easier for programmers to do what’s really important
to them: developing software.

Reasons why you should consider using Cloudant Python SDK in your
project:

- Supported by IBM Cloudant.
- Server compatibility with:
  - IBM Cloudant.
  - [Apache CouchDB 3.x](https://docs.couchdb.org/en/stable/) for data operations.
- Includes all the most popular and latest supported endpoints for
  applications.
- Handles the authentication.
- Familiar user experience with IBM Cloud SDKs.
- Flexibility to use either built-in models or byte-based requests and responses for documents.
- Built-in [Changes feed follower](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/tree/v0.11.5/docs/Changes_Follower.md)
- Built-in [Pagination](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/tree/v0.11.5/docs/Pagination.md)
- Instances of the client are unconditionally thread-safe.

## Prerequisites

- A
  [Cloudant](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/Cloudant?topic=Cloudant-getting-started-with-cloudant)
  service instance or a
  [CouchDB](https://docs.couchdb.org/en/latest/install/index.html)
  server.
- Python 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13 or 3.14

## Installation

To install, use `pip` or `easy_install`:

```bash
pip install --upgrade "ibmcloudant>=0.11.5"
```

or

```bash
easy_install --upgrade "ibmcloudant>=0.11.5"
```

## Using the SDK

For fundamental SDK usage information and config options, please see the common [IBM Cloud SDK](https://github.com/IBM/ibm-cloud-sdk-common/blob/main/README.md) documentation.

This library requires configuration with a service URL and
[Cloudant service credentials][service-credentials] to authenticate with your
account.

There are several ways to **set** these authentication properties:

1. As [environment variables](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/tree/v0.11.5/docs/Authentication.md#authentication-with-environment-variables)
2. The [programmatic approach](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/tree/v0.11.5/docs/Authentication.md#programmatic-authentication)
3. With an [external credentials file](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/tree/v0.11.5/docs/Authentication.md#authentication-with-external-configuration)

The following section describes the different authentication types and provides environment variable examples.
Examples for other configuration methods are available by following the provided links.

### Authentication

Consult the [authentication document](https://github.com/IBM/cloudant-python-sdk/tree/v0.11.5/docs/Authentication.md)
for comprehensive details of all the available authentication methods and how to configure them with environment settings
or programmatically.

Quick start for Cloudant with an IAM API key:
```sh
CLOUDANT_URL=https://~replace-with-cloudant-host

## Recent releases

| Version | Date | Urgency | Changes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `v0.11.7` | 2026-05-22 | High | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. * Updated documentation. |
| `v0.11.6` | 2026-04-27 | High | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. |
| `0.11.5` | 2026-04-21 | Low | Imported from PyPI (0.11.5) |
| `v0.11.5` | 2026-03-17 | Low | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. * Updated documentation. |
| `v0.11.5` | 2026-03-17 | Low | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. * Updated documentation. |
| `v0.11.5` | 2026-03-17 | Low | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. * Updated documentation. |
| `v0.11.5` | 2026-03-17 | Low | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. * Updated documentation. |
| `v0.11.4` | 2026-02-09 | Low | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. * Pagination feature is no longer marked as beta. * Documented known issue about `application/json` attachments. |
| `v0.11.3` | 2026-01-15 | Low | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Fixed missing capability to set the default analyzer for `perfield` analyzers. * Updated dependencies. * Updated documentation. |
| `v0.11.2` | 2025-12-02 | Low | **Note: APIs may be subject to change.**  Changes: * Updated dependencies. * Updated documentation. |

## Citation

- HTML: https://www.freshcrate.ai/projects/ibmcloudant
- Markdown: https://www.freshcrate.ai/projects/ibmcloudant.md
- Dependencies JSON: https://www.freshcrate.ai/api/projects/ibmcloudant/deps

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