isard

Gencat / IsardVDI from Python — and the isard command line — in one wheel. The client is written in Rust and compiled into the package (the way polars ships), so there is nothing to build and no dependency to resolve.

pip install isard        # or: uv tool install isard   (just the CLI)

The command line

isard login
isard list --hardware
isard up windows                      # start it, arm the SSH key, wait for sshd
isard exec windows -- 'Get-Date'      # stdout is data, the exit code is the guest's
isard stop windows --wait

isard --help lists every command. The same CLI is downloadable as a single binary from https://isard.xtec.dev, with the documentation at https://isard.xtec.dev/docs/.

The library

import isard

client = isard.connect()        # the CLI's cached session, or a fresh login
for desktop in client.get_desktops(hardware=True):
    print(desktop["name"], desktop["state"], desktop["vcpus"])

desktop = client.get_desktops("windows")[0]
client.start_desktop(desktop["id"])
client.wait_desktop(desktop["id"], "Started")

• Credentials come from the arguments of connect() / login(), else GENCAT_USERNAME / GENCAT_PASSWORD (a .env file works, and so does ~/.config/isard/.env). The library never prompts.
• An API key wins: with ISARD_API_KEY set (environment or .env) and no arguments, connect() uses that key — no login, no cache, and a 401 is raised rather than retried. Make one with isard api-key create.
• Sessions are shared with the CLI: connect() reuses ~/.config/isard/isardvdi.json and caches a new login there, and a 401 on a cached token logs in again once and retries.
• Records are plain dicts — Desktop, Template, Media, … are TypedDicts in the type stubs.
• Errors are isard.IsardError subclasses: HttpError (with status_code), NetworkError, AuthError, BookingRequiredError, IsardTimeoutError, ….
• Calls block, and release the GIL while they wait — run them in threads freely.
• Seeds: isard.render_cloud_init("box-1", "isard", "pw") → (user_data, meta_data), isard.render_kickstart(…), and isard.build_seed_iso("cidata", {"user-data": …, "meta-data": …}, "seed.iso") — pure Rust, no xorriso.
• On a desktop: isard.Remote("windows") runs commands and moves files over the route isard up windows cached — .run("Get-Date")["stdout"], .push("~/proj", mirror=True), .get(path), .put(data, path), .job(script, result). It keeps the GIL and stays on the thread that made it.

Licensed MIT OR Apache-2.0.