axis 74

A Python library for communicating with devices from Axis Communications

axis

Python project to set up a connection towards Axis Communications devices and to subscribe to specific events on the metadatastream.

Development setup

uv is required for development setup:

uv python install 3.14
uv sync --python 3.14 --all-extras

Or run the bootstrap script, which installs uv if needed and provisions Python 3.14 automatically:

./setup.sh

Dependencies are locked via uv.lock. Regenerate lock data when dependency inputs change:

uv lock

Run checks with uv:

uv run ruff check .
uv run ruff format --check .
uv run mypy axis
uv run pytest

Initial ty support is configured as an opt-in check and does not replace mypy:

uvx ty check

CLI navigation contract

The interactive CLI in axis/cli/ follows a menu-first model. Router runtime is the only interactive execution path.

• Canonical route graph: main -> devices -> device_operations -> {api|events|accounts}.
• device_operations routes to feature submenus using router navigation, not direct feature command execution.
• Feature nodes (api, events, accounts) own their local menu layout and selected-device context rendering.
• b always navigates to parent_id; e always exits.

To keep the CLI reusable boundary clear:

• CLI concerns (menu keys, prompts, render text, router state) stay in axis/cli/.
• axis/interfaces/ and axis/models/ must remain presentation-agnostic and reusable by non-CLI consumers.
• Domain layers return typed data/errors; CLI adapters map them to user-facing text and flow.

Initialization architecture

Vapix initialization is phase-based and driven by handler metadata:

• API_DISCOVERY: handlers initialized after API discovery.
• PARAM_CGI_FALLBACK: handlers that may initialize from parameter support when not listed in discovery.
• APPLICATION: handlers initialized after applications are loaded.

Handlers declare phase membership through handler_groups and may customize phase eligibility through should_initialize_in_group.

Request and response typing

Vapix.api_request() is the single typed request entrypoint.

• Request models declare their decode contract with ApiRequest[ResponseT].
• Every ApiRequest subclass must set response_type explicitly.
• Decoded/read requests use their concrete response model as response_type.
• Write-style requests use BytesResponse as response_type.

Examples:

@dataclass
class ListApisRequest(ApiRequest[GetAllApisResponse]):
	response_type = GetAllApisResponse


@dataclass
class SetPortsRequest(ApiRequest[ApiResponse[bytes]]):
	response_type = BytesResponse

Handler methods may unwrap .data when they intentionally preserve a bytes-returning boundary.

Example fallback policy:

• LightHandler participates in both API_DISCOVERY and PARAM_CGI_FALLBACK.
• In PARAM_CGI_FALLBACK, it initializes only when not listed in API discovery and listed in parameters.

Event Instance Model Notes

EventInstance keeps name as the raw device-provided NiceName value.

EventInstance.source and EventInstance.data are typed containers (EventInstanceSource and EventInstanceData) built from SimpleItemInstance payloads.

For compatibility with integrations that still need the historical raw payload shape, EventInstance also exposes:

• raw_source: returns {} or a dict or a list of dicts.
• raw_data: returns {} or a dict or a list of dicts.