InterSystems IRIS Python SDK

5.3.2 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python

Official InterSystems IRIS Python SDK for connecting to and interacting with InterSystems IRIS data platform. Current version 5.3.2, supporting Python >=3.8. Released on a per-release cadence aligned with IRIS updates.

pip install intersystems-irispython

Common errors

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'iris' ↓

cause Trying to import 'iris' instead of 'intersystems_irispython'.

fix

Install the correct package: pip install intersystems-irispython, then use 'from intersystems_irispython import IRIS'.

error AttributeError: module 'intersystems_irispython' has no attribute 'IRIS' ↓

cause Incorrect import: 'import intersystems_irispython' then trying to use intersystems_irispython.IRIS but the class is inside the module but not directly accessible.

fix

Use 'from intersystems_irispython import IRIS'.

error ConnectionError: [Errno 111] Connection refused ↓

cause Wrong host, port, or IRIS instance not running.

fix

Check hostname, port (default 1972), and ensure IRIS is running and listening on that port.

Warnings

breaking In v5.x, the `IRIS.connection()` method replaced the old `iris.create_connection()` pattern from v4.x. Existing code using `create_connection` will break. ↓

fix Replace `iris.create_connection(...)` with `IRIS.connection(...)`.

gotcha The class name `IRIS` is all uppercase. A common mistake is to use `Iris` or `iris` (lowercase) which will raise AttributeError. ↓

fix Use `from intersystems_irispython import IRIS` (exact casing).

gotcha Default port is 1972 (Superserver), not 51773 or 9091. Using wrong port leads to connection timeout. ↓

fix Ensure port number matches IRIS Superserver port (default 1972).

Imports

IRIS
wrong
```
import iris
```
correct
```
from intersystems_irispython import IRIS
```
Common mistake; 'iris' is not the correct module name.

iris

import intersystems_irispython.iris as iris

Quickstart

Connect to IRIS using environment variables for credentials.

import os
from intersystems_irispython import IRIS

# Connect using environment variables
conn = IRIS.connection(
    hostname=os.environ.get('IRIS_HOSTNAME', 'localhost'),
    port=int(os.environ.get('IRIS_PORT', 1972)),
    namespace=os.environ.get('IRIS_NAMESPACE', 'USER'),
    username=os.environ.get('IRIS_USERNAME', '_SYSTEM'),
    password=os.environ.get('IRIS_PASSWORD', '')
)
print('Connected:', conn.is_connected())
conn.close()