Automation & scripting
CLI tools, scheduled jobs, filesystem tasks, and glue scripts that save time.
How to Scan Configuration Files for Security Issues in Python
Automatically scan configuration files for common security mistakes using regex rules in Python.
import re
import os
from pathlib import Path
SECURITY_RULES = [
(r'^#\s*INSECURE_', 'Insecure comment starts with # INSECURE_'),
(r'password\s*=\s*("|\\\')?[^"\\\'"\s]+("|\\\')?$', 'Hardcoded password'),
(r'debug\s*=\s*True', 'Debug mode enabled'),
(r'[Pp]ermit[Rr]ootLogin\s+yes', 'PermitRootLogin ena…How to Scan Open Ports on a Host with Python
A Python function that uses socket.connect_ex to check for open TCP ports on a given host within a range and returns a list of open ports.
import socket
def scan_ports(host, start_port, end_port):
open_ports = []
for port in range(start_port, end_port + 1):
sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
sock.settimeout(0.5)
result = sock.connect_ex((host, port))
if result == 0:
open_ports.app…How to Track GitHub Stars, Forks, and Watchers in Python
Automatically fetch and track stars, forks, and watchers for multiple GitHub repositories, saving snapshots locally as JSON files for historical analysis.
import os
import time
import json
import requests
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime
REPOS = [
"psf/requests",
"python/cpython",
"pallets/flask",
]
DATA_DIR = Path("github_metrics")
def fetch_repo_stats(repo):
url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{repo}"
resp = requests.get(ur…How to Validate SSL Certificates for Multiple Domains in Python
A Python utility that checks SSL certificate expiry dates for a list of domains using the standard library ssl and socket modules.
import ssl
import socket
from datetime import datetime
def check_ssl_certificate(hostname: str, port: int = 443) -> dict:
"""Validate SSL certificate for a given hostname."""
context = ssl.create_default_context()
with socket.create_connection((hostname, port), timeout=5) as sock:
with context.wra…How to check Python files for common coding mistakes
Walks a directory tree parsing each .py file with ast, reporting empty functions, bare try blocks, too many parameters, and empty classes.
import ast
import os
import sys
def check_file(filepath):
try:
with open(filepath) as f:
code = f.read()
tree = ast.parse(code, filename=filepath)
except SyntaxError as e:
print(f"{filepath}: SyntaxError: {e.msg}")
return
issues = []
for node in ast.wal…Track File Changes with Version History in Python
A Python utility that monitors a file for changes, creating versioned backups with SHA-256 hashing to detect modifications and store a local JSON history.
import hashlib, json, os, shutil, time
from pathlib import Path
class FileTracker:
def __init__(self, history_file="file_history.json"):
self.history_file = Path(history_file)
self.history = self._load_history()
def _load_history(self):
if self.history_file.exists():
retur…Track Internet Connectivity and Downtime Automatically in Python
Monitors internet connectivity by pinging a remote host and logs any downtime events with timestamps and duration.
import time
import subprocess
from datetime import datetime
def check_internet(host="8.8.8.8", timeout=3):
"""Returns True if internet is reachable via ping."""
try:
subprocess.run(
["ping", "-c", "1", "-W", str(timeout), host],
capture_output=True,
timeout=timeout …Browse by section
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Automation & scripting — Python code examples
What you will find here
This page collects automation & scripting snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
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