Installation

Many actions and workflows available in the Labelbox app can be automated using the Python SDK, which provides access to the Labelbox API.

Requirements

• Make sure pip is installed and up-to-date.

• Use the Workspace settings menu of the Labelbox app to create an API key. Store your key in a safe place, as you cannot view it after it has been created.

• Python: 3.9 - 3.12

Install or upgrade SDK

After you create an API key, you can start using our Python SDK.

To install, run either pip install labelbox orpip install "labelbox[data]" in your command line.

pip install "labelbox[data]" 
# or
pip install labelbox

# install latest labelbox version
!pip install labelbox

import labelbox as lb

# Enter your Labelbox API key here
LB_API_KEY = None

# Create Labelbox client
client = lb.Client(api_key=LB_API_KEY)

To upgrade to the latest version, use your package manager:
pip install --upgrade labelbox

To run the Python SDK in a Docker container, use the included Dockerfile as a starting place.

Related info:

• The Python SDK Github repository
• The most recent update to the Python SDK can be found at:
  https://github.com/Labelbox/labelbox-python/releases/latest/
• Changelog of recent changes.

Authentication

You need an API key to authenticate your client. You can:

• Save your key to an environment variable:

  Shell

  user@machine:~$ export LABELBOX_API_KEY="<your_api_key>"
  user@machine:~$ python3
  

  Then, import and initialize the API Client.

  Python

  import labelbox as lb
  
  client = lb.Client()
  

• Paste your API key directly into your script (not recommended)

  Python

  import labelbox as lb
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      API_KEY = "<your_api_key_here>"
      client = lb.Client(API_KEY)
  

Remember that your API key authorizes access to Labelbox, your account, and your data assets; treat it as carefully as any other set of credentials, and make sure the scope of the key is set according to the usage is meant for.