Honeybadger Python

1.2.2 · active · verified Fri Apr 17

Honeybadger Python is the official client library for sending Python and Django errors to Honeybadger.io. It provides real-time error tracking, uptime monitoring, and performance insights for applications built with frameworks like Django, Flask, and Celery, as well as general Python applications and AWS Lambda functions. The library is actively maintained, with version 1.2.2 being the latest, and receives frequent updates including bug fixes and minor features.

Common errors

```
Honeybadger API key is not configured. Errors will not be sent.
```
cause The `api_key` was not provided to `honeybadger.configure()` or the `HONEYBADGER_API_KEY` environment variable is missing.

fix Set the `HONEYBADGER_API_KEY` environment variable or explicitly pass `api_key='YOUR_KEY'` to `honeybadger.configure()`.
```
No errors appearing in Honeybadger UI, even after `honeybadger.notify()` calls.
```
cause Errors are sent asynchronously by default. In fast-exiting scripts (e.g., a CLI tool or serverless function without proper await), the process might terminate before the error report is sent.

fix Add `force_sync=True` to your `honeybadger.notify()` call: `honeybadger.notify(e, force_sync=True)`.
```
TypeError: __init__() got an unexpected keyword argument 'config'
```
cause This error can occur if you're trying to pass a dictionary of configuration options as `config` to `honeybadger.configure()`. The `configure` method expects keyword arguments directly.

fix Pass configuration options as individual keyword arguments: `honeybadger.configure(api_key='...', environment='production', ...)` instead of `honeybadger.configure(config={'api_key': '...'})`.

Warnings

gotcha Errors not appearing in Honeybadger dashboard due to missing API key configuration.
Fix: Ensure `honeybadger.configure(api_key='YOUR_API_KEY')` is called, or the `HONEYBADGER_API_KEY` environment variable is set. Errors won't be sent without a valid API key.
gotcha Manual `honeybadger.notify()` calls might not complete in short-lived scripts or serverless functions without `force_sync=True`.
Fix: When calling `honeybadger.notify()`, explicitly set `force_sync=True` (e.g., `honeybadger.notify(exception, force_sync=True)`) to ensure the HTTP request completes before the process exits.
gotcha Automatic error capture for frameworks like Django or Flask requires specific integration setup (middleware/init), not just importing the library.
Fix: For Django, add `'honeybadger.contrib.django'` to `INSTALLED_APPS` and configure it in `settings.py`. For Flask, initialize `Honeybadger` from `honeybadger.contrib.flask` with your Flask app (e.g., `hb = Honeybadger(app=my_flask_app)`).
breaking Prior to v1.0, the configuration method was `honeybadger.init()`. This was renamed to `honeybadger.configure()`.
Fix: Update `honeybadger.init(...)` calls to `honeybadger.configure(...)`.

Install

pip install honeybadger Install core library
pip install honeybadger[django] Install with Django support
pip install honeybadger[flask] Install with Flask support
pip install honeybadger[celery] Install with Celery support

Imports

honeybadger
```
import honeybadger
```
configure
```
honeybadger.configure(...)
```
notify
```
honeybadger.notify(...)
```
set_context
```
honeybadger.set_context(...)
```
Honeybadger
```
from honeybadger.contrib.flask import Honeybadger
```
For Flask applications, use the `Honeybadger` class from `contrib.flask`.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates basic initialization using an API key (preferably from an environment variable) and how to manually send an exception to Honeybadger. For immediate reporting in short-lived scripts, `force_sync=True` is recommended. Remember to replace `HONEYBADGER_API_KEY` with your actual API key from your Honeybadger project settings.

import honeybadger
import os

# Configure Honeybadger using an environment variable or direct assignment
honeybadger.configure(api_key=os.environ.get('HONEYBADGER_API_KEY', ''))

def problematic_function():
    raise ValueError("This is a test error from Honeybadger Python!")

try:
    problematic_function()
except Exception as e:
    # Manually send the error to Honeybadger
    honeybadger.notify(e, force_sync=True)
    print("Error notified to Honeybadger. Check your dashboard.")

# Example of setting custom context
honeybadger.set_context(user_id=123, email='test@example.com')

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