Skip to main content

ImportSpy ensures structural integrity, runtime compliance, and security for external modules, preventing inconsistencies and enforcing controlled execution.

Project description

ImportSpy

License PyPI Version Docs Python Versions Build Status

Context-aware contract validation for Python imports.
Enforce runtime, environment, and code structure before execution.

ImportSpy banner


🔍 What is ImportSpy?

ImportSpy lets your Python modules declare structured import contracts (via .yml files) to define:

  • What environment they expect (OS, Python version, interpreter)
  • What structure they must follow (classes, methods, variables)
  • Who is allowed to import them

If the contract is not met, ImportSpy blocks the import — ensuring safe and predictable runtime behavior.


✨ Key Features

  • ✅ Validate imports dynamically at runtime or via CLI
  • ✅ Block incompatible usage of internal or critical modules
  • ✅ Enforce module structure, arguments, annotations
  • ✅ Context-aware: Python version, OS, architecture, interpreter
  • ✅ Human-readable YAML contracts
  • ✅ Clear, CI-friendly violation messages

📦 Installation

pip install importspy

Requires Python 3.10+


📐 Architecture

SpyModel UML

ImportSpy is powered by a layered introspection model (SpyModel), which captures:

  • Runtime: CPU architecture
  • System: OS and environment
  • Python: interpreter and version
  • Module: classes, functions, variables, annotations

Each layer is validated against the corresponding section of your .yml contract.


📜 Example Contract

filename: plugin.py
variables:
  - name: mode
    value: production
    annotation: str
classes:
  - name: Plugin
    methods:
      - name: run
        arguments:
          - name: self
          - name: data
            annotation: dict
        return_annotation: None

🔧 Modes of Use

Embedded Mode – protect your own module

from importspy import Spy

caller = Spy().importspy(filepath="spymodel.yml")
caller.Plugin().run()

Embedded mode


CLI Mode – external validation in CI

importspy -s spymodel.yml -l DEBUG path/to/module.py

CLI mode


🧠 How It Works

  1. You define an import contract in .yml
  2. At runtime or via CLI, ImportSpy inspects:
    • Who is importing the module
    • What the system/environment looks like
    • What the module structure provides
  3. If validation fails → the import is blocked
  4. If valid → the module runs safely

✅ Tech Stack


📘 Documentation

Full documentation is available at:
👉 https://atellaluca.github.io/ImportSpy/

Here are some useful entry points:

  • 🧠 How ImportSpy works
    A high-level overview of the validation lifecycle, contract structure, and runtime behavior.

  • ⚙️ SpyModel architecture
    Deep dive into the declarative model that describes runtime, environment, and module contracts.

  • 🧪 Violation system
    Learn how ImportSpy reports context-aware, structured errors on invalid imports.

  • 🚀 CLI usage
    Run contract validation in CI/CD pipelines or pre-deploy checks with the CLI interface.

  • 🛠 Embedded usage
    Use ImportSpy directly inside a module to protect it from being imported in unsupported contexts.

  • 📄 Writing import contracts
    Guide to authoring .yml contracts: syntax, best practices, and validation patterns.


🚀 Ideal Use Cases

  • Plugin-based frameworks (e.g., CMS, CLI, IDE)
  • CI/CD pipelines with strict integration
  • Security-regulated environments (IoT, medical, fintech)
  • Package maintainers enforcing internal boundaries

💡 Why It Matters

Python’s flexibility comes at a cost:

  • Silent runtime mismatches
  • Missing methods or classes
  • Platform-dependent failures
  • No enforcement over module consumers

ImportSpy brings governance
to how, when, and where modules are imported.


❤️ Contribute & Support


📜 License

MIT © 2024 – Luca Atella
ImportSpy logo

Project details


Download files

Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.

Source Distribution

importspy-0.4.4.tar.gz (26.1 kB view details)

Uploaded Source

Built Distribution

If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.

importspy-0.4.4-py3-none-any.whl (30.7 kB view details)

Uploaded Python 3

File details

Details for the file importspy-0.4.4.tar.gz.

File metadata

  • Download URL: importspy-0.4.4.tar.gz
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 26.1 kB
  • Tags: Source
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? No
  • Uploaded via: poetry/2.1.3 CPython/3.13.7 Darwin/24.5.0

File hashes

Hashes for importspy-0.4.4.tar.gz
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 bc2c0267f9c2bb770949c7d9f772e39e8535db0f2b45d5ea71af06bedc448082
MD5 5189d914113b687dc59291a428f500ea
BLAKE2b-256 aa7126b52c569c933137baf6ece1115e76c6cdd5363feff9a234eb41e58b3b3a

See more details on using hashes here.

File details

Details for the file importspy-0.4.4-py3-none-any.whl.

File metadata

  • Download URL: importspy-0.4.4-py3-none-any.whl
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 30.7 kB
  • Tags: Python 3
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? No
  • Uploaded via: poetry/2.1.3 CPython/3.13.7 Darwin/24.5.0

File hashes

Hashes for importspy-0.4.4-py3-none-any.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 5ef815514943cc9edf58d4b522fa9e2233e6e793681f3ac9ab0aab8a64c96607
MD5 abb782e151555fe20f5e1171eccd8b55
BLAKE2b-256 61d9de63627ec17c874a1239d490be4535cc2fd1a8189bb3ad611ced23938437

See more details on using hashes here.

Supported by

AWS Cloud computing and Security Sponsor Datadog Monitoring Depot Continuous Integration Fastly CDN Google Download Analytics Pingdom Monitoring Sentry Error logging StatusPage Status page