Python script – API call fails due to JSON arguments

I am trying to pull reports through a (shadowserver) API – doc here:

The python script is written by ShadowServer and I have tested it with the simple usage example they are providing:

$ ./call-api.py test/ping '{}'
{"pong":"2020-10-26 23:06:37"}

Thus far, everything works fine. I can submit additional calls and I get a response back.

However, when i try to pass a JSON parameter to the script (that is executed in command prompt), such as the example below:

os.system('''[some_directory]\\call-api.py reports/query '{ "help":true }' pretty''')  

I get the following result:

JSON Exception: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)

I believe that it is an issue with the quotes – single/double/triple.. but I’ve tried everything and it keeps returning the same result.

Any ideas?

Many thanks!

>Solution :

You might want to try subprocess to see if you get the same result, e.g. like this

import subprocess
subprocess.Popen([
    "[some_directory]\\call-api.py",
    "reports/query",
    '{"help": true}',
    "pretty",
])

or use json.dumps to not worry about any quoting

import subprocess
import json
subprocess.Popen([
    "[some_directory]\\call-api.py",
    "reports/query",
    json.dumps({"help": True}),
    "pretty",
])

SitiSchu came up with the json.dumps idea.