Benkapner Python Patterns — Team Conventions
Unified conventions for team Python projects: credential management, API clients, testing discipline, and data pipeline structure. Supplements standard patterns with team-specific rules.
When to Activate
- Writing credential/secret handling code or
.envfiles - Creating or modifying API clients (GitHub, Stripe, LLM APIs)
- Parsing LLM responses or structured API outputs
- Writing or reviewing tests (TDD workflow, mocking external APIs)
- Building or debugging data pipeline stages
- Reviewing code that handles HTTP responses or LLM output
Quick Rules
Credentials:
- Never hardcode or use real defaults. Fail fast if missing. Always create
.env.example.
APIs:
- Always timeout (30s). Only retry transient errors (429, 5xx). Always validate response structure.
Tests:
- Mock external APIs. Set
random_state=42. Target 80%+ coverage. Test behavior, not internals.
Pipelines:
- Each stage is independently runnable. Validate input before processing. Include metadata in every output. Fail fast on invalid data.
Details
Read references/credentials.md, references/api-clients.md, references/testing.md, and references/pipelines.md for full examples and anti-patterns.