Quick Start

Installation

The Globus Automate CLI and SDK contains both a command-line tool globus-automate and a client library for interacting with Actions and Flows. It requires Python 3.6+. If a supported version of Python is not already installed on your system, see this Python installation guide.

For new users and users who want to primarily use the CLI interface into Globus Automate, we highly recommend installing the package using pipx:

pipx install globus-automate-client

For users interested in programmatic access to Globus Automate, the SDK interface will be required. Simply install the globus-automate-client library using your choice of package manager. For example, if using the pip package manager:

pip install globus-automate-client

Basic Usage

Once installed, run the CLI with the help flag to receive a summary of its functionality:

globus-automate --help

Or, if programmatic access to the Flows service is required, simply import the SDK in a Python script:

import globus_automate_client
help(globus_automate_client)

Note

Most operations available on the CLI are also available in the SDK. For users getting familiar with the Automate service, we recommend starting off with the CLI interface.

Authentication

All CLI and SDK operations invoking Globus Automate services require authentication.

When using the SDK, all operations require that authentication be provided in the form of Globus Authorizers.

Upon first interaction with any Globus Automate service via the CLI, a text prompt will appear directing the user to a web URL where they can proceed through an authentication process using Globus Auth to consent to the service they are using the CLI to interact with. This typically only needs to be done the first time a particular service is invoked. Subsequently, the cached authentication information will be used. Authentication information is cached in the file ~/.globus_automate_tokens.json. It is recommended that this file be protected. The file is in json format with section names based on the scope and it may be edited to remove particular scopes if done with care.

If re-authentication or re-consent is needed, the entire authentication cache may be deleted with the following command:

globus-automate session logout

Or, to invalidate the authentication cache’s contents first and then remove it:

globus-automate session revoke

Note

These commands will remove locally cached authentication data for all Globus Automate services.

Example Flows

To get started with authoring flows, you may find it helpful to reference some examples. The following flows are publicly visible and demonstrate some simple and common operations you may want to copy into your own flows: