IAMdata Python Library

Common errors

• AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'get' (or similar errors when accessing properties)

  cause A lookup method (e.g., `get_action`, `get_resource_type`) returned `None` because the requested item was not found, and subsequent code attempted to access properties of this `None` object.
  fix Always check if the result of a lookup method is `None` before attempting to access its attributes or dictionary items. For example: `data = iam_data.get_action('s3', 'NonExistentAction'); if data: print(data['description'])`.

• requests.exceptions.ConnectionError: ('Connection aborted.', RemoteDisconnected('Remote end closed connection without response')) OR URLError: <urlopen error ...>

  cause The library failed to connect to its external data source (GitHub) to download updates, likely due to a lack of internet connectivity, a firewall block, or temporary network issues.
  fix Verify your internet connection and ensure that no firewalls or proxy settings are preventing Python from making outbound HTTP/HTTPS requests to `github.com`.

• KeyError: 'some_field' (when accessing dictionary-like objects returned by the library)

  cause Attempting to access a field within an IAM data object that either does not exist, or its name has changed due to an upstream IAM data update.
  fix Use the `.get()` method with a default value for dictionary-like access (e.g., `item.get('description', 'N/A')`) to prevent `KeyError`. Consult AWS IAM documentation or the `iamdata` object structure for available fields.

Warnings

• gotcha The library's versioning (`0.1.YYYYMMDD1`) indicates it's still pre-1.0, and while core API methods are generally stable, minor API changes could occur in new date-stamped versions. Pin exact versions for production use to ensure stability.
  Fix: Pin the exact library version in your `requirements.txt` or `pyproject.toml` (e.g., `iamdata==0.1.202604161`).
• gotcha IAMdata relies on daily updates of external AWS IAM data. This means the *content* of the returned data (e.g., descriptions, condition keys, ARN patterns) can change over time without a library code update. Logic dependent on specific IAM data values might need periodic review.
  Fix: Design your applications to be resilient to potential changes in IAM data content. Avoid hardcoding assumptions about data structures beyond what is documented in AWS IAM policy references.
• gotcha The library requires internet access to fetch and update its internal IAM data cache. While subsequent operations can be performed offline with cached data, the initial load and daily updates will fail without connectivity.
  Fix: Ensure the environment where `IAMData()` is initialized has outbound internet access to download data from GitHub. For air-gapped environments, consider pre-populating the data cache.

Install

• pip install iamdata Install stable version

Imports

• IAMData

  from iamdata import IAMData

  The primary class for interacting with IAM data.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to initialize the `IAMData` client and retrieve information about AWS IAM actions and resource types. The library handles automatic data updates upon initialization.

from iamdata import IAMData

# Initialize the IAMData object, which will ensure data is up-to-date
iam_data = IAMData()

# Get details for a specific S3 action
s3_get_object_data = iam_data.get_action("s3", "GetObject")
if s3_get_object_data:
    print(f"S3 GetObject: {s3_get_object_data.get('description')}")
else:
    print("S3 GetObject not found.")

# Get all actions for the S3 service
s3_actions = iam_data.get_service_actions("s3")
if s3_actions:
    print(f"Number of S3 actions: {len(s3_actions)}")

# Get details for an EC2 resource type
ec2_instance_data = iam_data.get_resource_type("ec2", "instance")
if ec2_instance_data:
    print(f"EC2 Instance resourceARN: {ec2_instance_data.get('resourceARN')}")