GCM Client 0.1 beta documentation.

Python client for Google Cloud Messaging (GCM).

Check out the client with similar interface for Apple Push Notification service.

Requirements

  • requests - HTTP request, handles proxies etc.
  • omnijson if you use Python 2.5 or older.

Alternatives

Th only alternative library known at the time of writing was python-gcm. This library differs in the following design decisions:

  • Predictable execution time. Do not automatically retry request on failure. According to Google’s recommendations, each retry has to wait exponential back-off delay. We use Celery back-end, where the best way to retry after some delay will be scheduling the task with countdown=delay. Sleeping while in Celery worker hurts your concurrency.
  • Do not forget results if you need to retry. This sounds obvious, but python-gcm drops important results, such as canonical ID mapping if request needs to be (partially) retried.
  • Clean pythonic API. No need to borrow all Java like exceptions etc.
  • Do not hard-code validation, let GCM fail. This decision makes library a little bit more future proof.

Support

GCM client was created by Sardar Yumatov, contact me if you find any bugs or need help. Contact Getlogic if you need a full-featured push notification service for all popular platforms. You can view outstanding issues on the GCM Bitbucket page.

Contents:

Getting Started

You need Google API key in order to consume Google’s services. You can obtain such key from the developers console. Open Services section and switch on Google Cloud Messaging for Android. Then open API Access section and create Key for server apps if you haven’t any. The API key string is what you need. Ensure IP filter is disabled or your server IP is listed.

Consult Google Cloud Messaging for Android for all options that you might pass with each message. There you will also find all error codes, such as MismatchSenderId, that can be returned by GCM.

Usage

Usage is straightforward:

from gcmclient import *

# Pass 'proxies' keyword argument, as described in 'requests' library if you
# use proxies. Check other options too.
gcm = GCM(API_KEY)

# Construct (key => scalar) payload. do not use nested structures.
data = {'str': 'string', 'int': 10}

# Unicast or multicast message, read GCM manual about extra options.
# It is probably a good idea to always use JSONMessage, even if you send
# a notification to just 1 registration ID.
unicast = PlainTextMessage("registration_id", data, dry_run=True)
multicast = JSONMessage(["registration_id_1", "registration_id_2"], data, collapse_key='my.key', dry_run=True)

try:
    # attempt send
    res_unicast = gcm.send(unicast)
    res_multicast = gcm.send(multicast)

    for res in [res_unicast, res_multicast]:
        # nothing to do on success
        for reg_id, msg_id in res.success.items():
            print "Successfully sent %s as %s" % (reg_id, msg_id)

        # update your registration ID's
        for reg_id, new_reg_id in res.canonical.items():
            print "Replacing %s with %s in database" % (reg_id, new_reg_id)

        # probably app was uninstalled
        for reg_id in res.not_registered:
            print "Removing %s from database" % reg_id

        # unrecoverably failed, these ID's will not be retried
        # consult GCM manual for all error codes
        for reg_id, err_code in res.failed.items():
            print "Removing %s because %s" % (reg_id, err_code)

        # if some registration ID's have recoverably failed
        if res.needs_retry():
            # construct new message with only failed regids
            retry_msg = res.retry()
            # you have to wait before attemting again. delay()
            # will tell you how long to wait depending on your
            # current retry counter, starting from 0.
            print "Wait or schedule task after %s seconds" % res.delay(retry)
            # retry += 1 and send retry_msg again

except GCMAuthenticationError:
    # stop and fix your settings
    print "Your Google API key is rejected"
except ValueError, e:
    # probably your extra options, such as time_to_live,
    # are invalid. Read error message for more info.
    print "Invalid message/option or invalid GCM response"
    print e.args[0]
except Exception:
    # your network is down or maybe proxy settings
    # are broken. when problem is resolved, you can
    # retry the whole message.
    print "Something wrong with requests library"

gcmclient Package

Google Cloud Messaging client built on top of requests library.

gcmclient Package

gcmclient.gcm.GCM_URL = 'https://android.googleapis.com/gcm/send'

Default URL to GCM service.

class gcmclient.gcm.GCM(api_key, url='https://android.googleapis.com/gcm/send', backoff=1000, **options)

Create new connection.

Arguments:
  • api_key (str): Google API key.
  • url (str): GCM server URL.
  • backoff (int): initial backoff in milliseconds.
  • options (kwargs): options for requests such as proxies.
send(message)

Send message.

The message may contain various options, such as time_to_live. Your request might be rejected, because some of your options might be invalid. In this case a ValueError with explanation will be raised.

Arguments:

message (Message): plain text or JSON message.
Returns:

Result interpreting the results.
Raises:
  • requests.exceptions.RequestException on any network problem.
  • ValueError if your GCM request or response is rejected.
  • GCMAuthenticationError your API key is invalid.
class gcmclient.gcm.JSONMessage(registration_ids, data=None, **options)

Multicast message, uses JSON format.

Arguments:
  • registration_ids (list): registration ID’s of target devices.
  • data (dict): key-value pairs of message payload.
  • options (kwargs): GCM options, see Message for more info.
__getstate__()

Returns dict with __init__ arguments.

If you use pickle, then simply pickle/unpickle the message object. If you use something else, like JSON, then:

# obtain state dict from message
state = message.__getstate__()
# send/store the state
# recover state and restore message. you have to pick the right class
message_copy = JSONMessage(**state)
Returns:kwargs for JSONMessage constructor.
registration_ids

Target registration ID’s.

class gcmclient.gcm.PlainTextMessage(registration_id, data=None, **options)

Unicast message, uses plain text format. All values in the data payload must be URL encodable scalars.

Arguments:
  • registration_id (str): registration ID of target device.
  • data (dict): key-value pairs of message payload.
  • options (kwargs): GCM options, see Message for more info.
__getstate__()

Returns dict with __init__ arguments.

If you use pickle, then simply pickle/unpickle the message object. If you use something else, like JSON, then:

# obtain state dict from message
state = message.__getstate__()
# send/store the state
# recover state and restore message. you have to pick the right class
message_copy = PlainTextMessage(**state)
Returns:kwargs for PlainTextMessage constructor.
registration_id

Target registration ID.

class gcmclient.gcm.Message(data=None, options=None)

Abstract message.

Arguments:
  • data (dict): key-value pairs, payload of this message.
  • options (dict): GCM options.

Refer to GCM for more explanation on available options.

Options:
  • collapse_key (str): collapse key/bucket.
  • time_to_live (int): message TTL in seconds.
  • delay_while_idle (bool): hold message if device is off-line.
  • restricted_package_name (str): declare package name.
  • dry_run (bool): pretend sending message to devices.
class gcmclient.gcm.Result(message, response, backoff)

Result of send operation.

You should check canonical() for any registration ID’s that should be updated. If the whole message or some registration ID’s have recoverably failed, then retry() will provide you with new message. You have to wait delay() seconds before attempting a new request.

backoff(retry=0)

Computes exponential backoff for given retry number.

canonical

New registration ID’s as mapping {registration_id: canonical_id}.

You have to update registration ID’s of your subscribers by replacing them with corresponding canonical ID. Read more here.

delay(retry=0)

Time to wait in seconds before attempting a retry as a float number.

This method will return value of Retry-After header if it is provided by GCM. Otherwise, it will return (backoff * 2^retry) with some random shift. Google may black list your server if you do not honor Retry-After hint and do not use exponential backoff.

failed

Unrecoverably failed regisration ID’s as mapping {registration_id: error code}.

This method lists devices, that have failed with something else than:

Read more about possible error codes.

needs_retry()

True if retry() will return message.

not_registered

List all registration ID’s that GCM reports as NotRegistered. You should remove them from your database.

retry()

Construct new message that will unicast/multicast to remaining recoverably failed registration ID’s. Method returns None if there is nothing to retry. Do not forget to wait for delay() seconds before new attempt.

success

Successfully processed registration ID’s as mapping {registration_id: message_id}.

class gcmclient.gcm.GCMAuthenticationError

Raised if your Google API key is rejected.

Indices and tables