ini2py

A CLI tool to generate type-hinted Python config classes from .ini files with automatic file watching and hot reloading capabilities.

Features

• 🔧 Auto-generate type-hinted Python classes from INI configuration files
• 🔍 Intelligent type inference (int, float, boolean, string)
• 🔄 Hot reloading - automatically reload configuration when files change
• 🛡️ Sensitive data protection - passwords and API keys are only masked when using print_all()
• 🎯 Smart path detection - automatically find config files in common locations
• 💡 IDE-friendly - full autocomplete and type hints support
• 🏗️ Singleton pattern - ensure single configuration instance across your app

Installation

pip install ini2py

Quick Start

1. Create a config.ini file

[system]
mode = development
debug = true
port = 8080
timeout = 30.5

[database]
host = localhost
port = 5432
name = myapp
user = admin
password = secret123

[redis]
host = 127.0.0.1
port = 6379
db = 0

[ai_service]
api_key = sk-1234567890abcdef
model = gpt-4
temperature = 0.7

2. Generate Python config classes

Run the CLI tool in your project directory:

ini2py

The tool will:

• Auto-detect your config.ini file
• Suggest an appropriate output directory
• Generate type-hinted Python classes

Example output:

Path to your config.ini file [./config/config.ini]: 
Path to the output directory for generated files [./src/config]: 
Reading configuration from: ./config/config.ini
Generating schema.py...
Successfully generated ./src/config/schema.py
Generating manager.py...
Successfully generated ./src/config/manager.py

Configuration generation complete!

3. Use in your Python code

from src.config.manager import ConfigManager

# Initialize configuration manager (singleton pattern)
config = ConfigManager()

# Access configuration with full type hints and autocomplete
mode = config.system.mode          # str
debug = config.system.debug        # bool
port = config.system.port          # int
timeout = config.system.timeout    # float

# Access sensitive data normally
api_key = config.ai_service.api_key  # Returns actual value
password = config.database.password   # Returns actual value

# Use print_all() to safely display configuration with masked sensitive data
print("Database Config:")
print(config.database.print_all(return_type='list'))
# Output: ['host: localhost', 'port: 5432', 'password: se****23', ...]

# Or get properties without masking (be careful!)
print(config.database.return_properties(return_type='list', mask_sensitive=False))

Advanced Usage

Manual Path Specification

# Specify custom paths
ini2py --config /path/to/config.ini --output /path/to/output/

Hot Reloading

The generated config manager automatically watches for file changes:

import time
from src.config.manager import ConfigManager

config = ConfigManager()

# The config will automatically reload when config.ini is modified
while True:
    print(f"Current port: {config.system.port}")
    time.sleep(2)

Sensitive Data Handling

By default, sensitive data (passwords, API keys, etc.) is accessible normally. Use the print_all() method to safely display configuration with automatic masking.

Sensitive keywords detected:

• password, pwd
• api_token, token
• secret, key
• appkey

# Normal access returns actual values
password = config.database.password      # "secret123"
api_key = config.ai_service.api_key     # "sk-1234567890abcdef"

# Use print_all() for safe display
config.database.print_all()              # password shown as "se****23"
config.ai_service.print_all('dict')      # api_key shown as "sk-12**************ef"

# Manual control with return_properties
raw = config.database.return_properties(mask_sensitive=False)  # Actual values
masked = config.database.return_properties(mask_sensitive=True) # Masked values

Configuration File Discovery

ini2py automatically searches for configuration files in these locations:

1. ./config.ini
2. ./config/config.ini
3. ./conf/config.ini
4. ../config.ini (up to 5 levels up)

Generated File Structure

src/config/
├── schema.py    # Type-hinted schema classes
└── manager.py   # Configuration manager with hot reloading

Generated Schema Classes

Each INI section becomes a typed schema class:

class SystemSchema(ConfigSchema):
    """[system]"""
    
    @property
    def mode(self) -> str:
        return self._config_section.get('mode')
    
    @property
    def debug(self) -> bool:
        return self._config_section.getboolean('debug')
    
    @property
    def port(self) -> int:
        return self._config_section.getint('port')

CLI Options

ini2py --help

Options:

• --config, -c: Path to input config.ini file
• --output, -o: Directory for generated files
• --help: Show help message

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• click >= 8.0
• watchdog >= 2.1.6

Development

Setup Development Environment

git clone https://github.com/joneshong/ini2py.git
cd ini2py
pip install -e .

Running Tests

python -m pytest tests/

Project Structure

ini2py/
├── ini2py/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── cli.py           # Main CLI logic
│   └── templates/       # Code generation templates
│       ├── schema.py.tpl
│       └── manager.py.tpl
├── tests/
├── examples/
├── README.md
└── pyproject.toml

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Changelog

v0.2.2

• Updated README documentation to clarify sensitive data handling
• Added Chinese (Traditional) documentation (README.zh.md)

v0.2.1

• Added print_all() method for safe display with automatic sensitive data masking
• Fixed CI/CD issues for cross-platform compatibility
• Improved code formatting with Black and isort

v0.1.0

• Initial release
• Basic INI to Python class generation
• Type inference support
• Hot reloading with watchdog
• Sensitive data protection
• Smart path detection

Author

JonesHong - GitHub

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• Open an issue
• Check the examples directory
• Review the generated code documentation