python

Use when building FastAPI applications, implementing async endpoints, setting up Pydantic schemas, working with SQLAlchemy, or writing pytest tests for Python backend services.

248 stars

Best use case

python is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.

Use when building FastAPI applications, implementing async endpoints, setting up Pydantic schemas, working with SQLAlchemy, or writing pytest tests for Python backend services.

Teams using python should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.

When to use this skill

  • You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.

When not to use this skill

  • You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
  • You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.

Installation

Claude Code / Cursor / Codex

$curl -o ~/.claude/skills/python/SKILL.md --create-dirs "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MadAppGang/claude-code/main/plugins/dev/skills/backend/python/SKILL.md"

Manual Installation

  1. Download SKILL.md from GitHub
  2. Place it in .claude/skills/python/SKILL.md inside your project
  3. Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill

How python Compares

Feature / AgentpythonStandard Approach
Platform SupportNot specifiedLimited / Varies
Context Awareness High Baseline
Installation ComplexityUnknownN/A

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this skill do?

Use when building FastAPI applications, implementing async endpoints, setting up Pydantic schemas, working with SQLAlchemy, or writing pytest tests for Python backend services.

Where can I find the source code?

You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.

Related Guides

SKILL.md Source

# Python Backend Patterns

## Overview

Python patterns for building backend services with FastAPI.

## Project Structure

```
project/
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── main.py               # FastAPI app
│   ├── config.py             # Configuration
│   ├── dependencies.py       # Dependency injection
│   ├── routers/              # API routes
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── users.py
│   ├── services/             # Business logic
│   ├── repositories/         # Data access
│   ├── models/               # SQLAlchemy models
│   ├── schemas/              # Pydantic schemas
│   └── utils/                # Utilities
├── tests/                    # Test files
├── migrations/               # Alembic migrations
├── pyproject.toml
└── requirements.txt
```

## FastAPI Application

### Main Application

```python
# app/main.py
from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
from contextlib import asynccontextmanager

from app.config import settings
from app.routers import users, auth
from app.database import engine, Base

@asynccontextmanager
async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
    # Startup
    async with engine.begin() as conn:
        await conn.run_sync(Base.metadata.create_all)
    yield
    # Shutdown
    await engine.dispose()

app = FastAPI(
    title="My API",
    version="1.0.0",
    lifespan=lifespan,
)

app.add_middleware(
    CORSMiddleware,
    allow_origins=settings.cors_origins,
    allow_credentials=True,
    allow_methods=["*"],
    allow_headers=["*"],
)

app.include_router(auth.router, prefix="/api/auth", tags=["auth"])
app.include_router(users.router, prefix="/api/users", tags=["users"])

@app.get("/health")
async def health():
    return {"status": "ok"}
```

### Configuration

```python
# app/config.py
from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
from functools import lru_cache

class Settings(BaseSettings):
    database_url: str = "postgresql+asyncpg://localhost/app"
    redis_url: str = "redis://localhost:6379"
    secret_key: str = "your-secret-key"
    access_token_expire_minutes: int = 30
    cors_origins: list[str] = ["http://localhost:3000"]

    class Config:
        env_file = ".env"

@lru_cache
def get_settings() -> Settings:
    return Settings()

settings = get_settings()
```

## Pydantic Schemas

```python
# app/schemas/user.py
from pydantic import BaseModel, EmailStr, Field
from datetime import datetime
from typing import Optional

class UserBase(BaseModel):
    name: str = Field(..., min_length=2, max_length=100)
    email: EmailStr

class UserCreate(UserBase):
    password: str = Field(..., min_length=8)

class UserUpdate(BaseModel):
    name: Optional[str] = Field(None, min_length=2, max_length=100)
    email: Optional[EmailStr] = None

class UserResponse(UserBase):
    id: str
    created_at: datetime

    class Config:
        from_attributes = True

class PaginatedResponse(BaseModel):
    items: list[UserResponse]
    total: int
    page: int
    page_size: int
```

## SQLAlchemy Models

```python
# app/models/user.py
from sqlalchemy import Column, String, DateTime, Boolean
from sqlalchemy.sql import func
from app.database import Base
import uuid

class User(Base):
    __tablename__ = "users"

    id = Column(String, primary_key=True, default=lambda: str(uuid.uuid4()))
    name = Column(String(100), nullable=False)
    email = Column(String(255), unique=True, nullable=False, index=True)
    password_hash = Column(String(255), nullable=False)
    is_active = Column(Boolean, default=True)
    created_at = Column(DateTime(timezone=True), server_default=func.now())
    updated_at = Column(DateTime(timezone=True), onupdate=func.now())
```

## Async Database

```python
# app/database.py
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine, AsyncSession
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker, declarative_base
from app.config import settings

engine = create_async_engine(settings.database_url, echo=True)
async_session = sessionmaker(engine, class_=AsyncSession, expire_on_commit=False)
Base = declarative_base()

async def get_db():
    async with async_session() as session:
        try:
            yield session
            await session.commit()
        except Exception:
            await session.rollback()
            raise
        finally:
            await session.close()
```

## Repository Pattern

```python
# app/repositories/user.py
from sqlalchemy import select, func
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
from app.models.user import User
from app.schemas.user import UserCreate, UserUpdate

class UserRepository:
    def __init__(self, session: AsyncSession):
        self.session = session

    async def find_by_id(self, id: str) -> User | None:
        result = await self.session.execute(
            select(User).where(User.id == id)
        )
        return result.scalar_one_or_none()

    async def find_by_email(self, email: str) -> User | None:
        result = await self.session.execute(
            select(User).where(User.email == email)
        )
        return result.scalar_one_or_none()

    async def find_all(self, page: int = 1, page_size: int = 20) -> tuple[list[User], int]:
        offset = (page - 1) * page_size

        # Get items
        result = await self.session.execute(
            select(User)
            .order_by(User.created_at.desc())
            .offset(offset)
            .limit(page_size)
        )
        items = result.scalars().all()

        # Get total count
        count_result = await self.session.execute(
            select(func.count()).select_from(User)
        )
        total = count_result.scalar()

        return list(items), total

    async def create(self, data: UserCreate, password_hash: str) -> User:
        user = User(
            name=data.name,
            email=data.email,
            password_hash=password_hash,
        )
        self.session.add(user)
        await self.session.flush()
        return user

    async def update(self, user: User, data: UserUpdate) -> User:
        for key, value in data.model_dump(exclude_unset=True).items():
            setattr(user, key, value)
        await self.session.flush()
        return user

    async def delete(self, user: User) -> None:
        await self.session.delete(user)
```

## API Routes

```python
# app/routers/users.py
from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, status, Query
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
from app.database import get_db
from app.repositories.user import UserRepository
from app.services.user import UserService
from app.schemas.user import UserCreate, UserUpdate, UserResponse, PaginatedResponse
from app.dependencies import get_current_user

router = APIRouter()

def get_user_service(db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db)) -> UserService:
    return UserService(UserRepository(db))

@router.get("", response_model=PaginatedResponse)
async def list_users(
    page: int = Query(1, ge=1),
    page_size: int = Query(20, ge=1, le=100),
    service: UserService = Depends(get_user_service),
):
    users, total = await service.find_all(page, page_size)
    return PaginatedResponse(
        items=users,
        total=total,
        page=page,
        page_size=page_size,
    )

@router.get("/{id}", response_model=UserResponse)
async def get_user(
    id: str,
    service: UserService = Depends(get_user_service),
):
    user = await service.find_by_id(id)
    if not user:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found")
    return user

@router.post("", response_model=UserResponse, status_code=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)
async def create_user(
    data: UserCreate,
    service: UserService = Depends(get_user_service),
):
    return await service.create(data)

@router.patch("/{id}", response_model=UserResponse)
async def update_user(
    id: str,
    data: UserUpdate,
    service: UserService = Depends(get_user_service),
    current_user: User = Depends(get_current_user),
):
    user = await service.update(id, data)
    if not user:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found")
    return user

@router.delete("/{id}", status_code=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)
async def delete_user(
    id: str,
    service: UserService = Depends(get_user_service),
    current_user: User = Depends(get_current_user),
):
    success = await service.delete(id)
    if not success:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found")
```

## Authentication

```python
# app/dependencies.py
from fastapi import Depends, HTTPException, status
from fastapi.security import OAuth2PasswordBearer
from jose import jwt, JWTError
from app.config import settings
from app.models.user import User

oauth2_scheme = OAuth2PasswordBearer(tokenUrl="/api/auth/login")

async def get_current_user(
    token: str = Depends(oauth2_scheme),
    db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db),
) -> User:
    credentials_exception = HTTPException(
        status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED,
        detail="Could not validate credentials",
        headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"},
    )
    try:
        payload = jwt.decode(token, settings.secret_key, algorithms=["HS256"])
        user_id: str = payload.get("sub")
        if user_id is None:
            raise credentials_exception
    except JWTError:
        raise credentials_exception

    repo = UserRepository(db)
    user = await repo.find_by_id(user_id)
    if user is None:
        raise credentials_exception
    return user
```

## Testing

```python
# tests/test_users.py
import pytest
from httpx import AsyncClient
from app.main import app
from app.database import get_db, async_session

@pytest.fixture
async def client():
    async with AsyncClient(app=app, base_url="http://test") as client:
        yield client

@pytest.fixture
async def db():
    async with async_session() as session:
        yield session
        await session.rollback()

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_list_users(client: AsyncClient):
    response = await client.get("/api/users")
    assert response.status_code == 200
    data = response.json()
    assert "items" in data
    assert "total" in data

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_create_user(client: AsyncClient):
    response = await client.post("/api/users", json={
        "name": "John Doe",
        "email": "john@example.com",
        "password": "password123",
    })
    assert response.status_code == 201
    data = response.json()
    assert data["name"] == "John Doe"
    assert data["email"] == "john@example.com"

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_create_user_validation(client: AsyncClient):
    response = await client.post("/api/users", json={
        "name": "J",  # Too short
        "email": "invalid",  # Invalid email
    })
    assert response.status_code == 422
```

---

*Python FastAPI patterns for backend development*

Related Skills

test-skill

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

A test skill for validation testing. Use when testing skill parsing and validation logic.

bad-skill

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

This skill has invalid YAML in frontmatter

release

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

Plugin release process for MAG Claude Plugins marketplace. Covers version bumping, marketplace.json updates, git tagging, and common mistakes. Use when releasing new plugin versions or troubleshooting update issues.

openrouter-trending-models

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

Fetch trending programming models from OpenRouter rankings. Use when selecting models for multi-model review, updating model recommendations, or researching current AI coding trends. Provides model IDs, context windows, pricing, and usage statistics from the most recent week.

Claudish Integration Skill

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

**Version:** 1.0.0

transcription

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

Audio/video transcription using OpenAI Whisper. Covers installation, model selection, transcript formats (SRT, VTT, JSON), timing synchronization, and speaker diarization. Use when transcribing media or generating subtitles.

final-cut-pro

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

Apple Final Cut Pro FCPXML format reference. Covers project structure, timeline creation, clip references, effects, and transitions. Use when generating FCP projects or understanding FCPXML structure.

ffmpeg-core

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

FFmpeg fundamentals for video/audio manipulation. Covers common operations (trim, concat, convert, extract), codec selection, filter chains, and performance optimization. Use when planning or executing video processing tasks.

statusline-customization

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

Configuration reference and troubleshooting for the statusline plugin — sections, themes, bar widths, and script architecture

technical-audit

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

Technical SEO audit methodology including crawlability, indexability, and Core Web Vitals analysis. Use when auditing pages or sites for technical SEO issues.

serp-analysis

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

SERP analysis techniques for intent classification, feature identification, and competitive intelligence. Use when analyzing search results for content strategy.

schema-markup

248
from MadAppGang/claude-code

Schema.org markup implementation patterns for rich results. Use when adding structured data to content for enhanced SERP appearances.