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Python SDK

Last updated: Dec-02-2025

The Cloudinary Python SDK provides simple, yet comprehensive image and video upload, transformation, optimization, and delivery capabilities through the Cloudinary APIs, that you can implement using code that integrates seamlessly with your existing Python application.

Most of the functionality provided by Cloudinary can be implemented using Python, regardless of your framework. However, some features are available only for Django.

SDK security upgrade, June 2025
We recently released an enhanced security version of this SDK that improves the validation and handling of input parameters. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of the SDK to benefit from these security improvements.

How would you like to learn?

Resource Description
Python quick start Get up and running in five minutes with a walk through of installation, configuration, upload, management and transformations.
Video tutorials Watch tutorials relevant to your use cases, from getting started with the Python SDK, to uploading, transforming and analyzing your images and videos.
Sample projects Explore sample projects to see how to implement Cloudinary functionality such as upload and delivery with transformations.
Cloudinary Python SDK GitHub repo Explore the source code and see the CHANGELOG for details on all new features and fixes from previous versions.
Cloudinary Academy Try the free Introduction to Cloudinary for Python Developers online course, where you can learn how to upload, manage, transform and optimize your digital assets.

Install

  1. Install Cloudinary's module using either easy_install or pip package management tools:

    Note
    Check that you're using a supported version of Python.

  2. Add cloudinary to the list of INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py.

Configure

Include Cloudinary's Python classes in your code:

Note
You can also initialize Cloudinary tags in your Django templates by entering: {% load cloudinary %}

Set required configuration parameters

You can set the required configuration parameters, cloud_name, api_key and api_secret either using the CLOUDINARY_URL environment variable, or using the config method in your code.

To define the CLOUDINARY_URL environment variable:

  1. Copy the API environment variable format from the API Keys page of the Cloudinary Console Settings.
  2. Replace <your_api_key> and <your_api_secret> with your actual values. Your cloud name is already correctly included in the format.

For example:

Note
When using Cloudinary through a PaaS add-on, such as Heroku, this environment variable is automatically defined in your deployment environment.

Alternatively, you can use the config method to set your cloud_name, api_key and api_secret, for example:

Important
  • When writing your own applications, follow your organization's policy on storing secrets and don't expose your API secret.
  • If you use a method that involves writing your environment variable to a file (e.g., using .env with python-dotenv), the file should be excluded from your version control system so as not to expose it publicly.
Tip
To generate transformation URLs, you only need to configure the cloud name. The API key and API secret aren't required for URL generation.

Set additional configuration parameters

In addition to the required configuration parameters, you can define a number of optional configuration parameters if relevant.

You can append configuration parameters, for example upload_prefix and secure_distribution, to the environment variable:

Or you can use the config method in your code, for example:

Note
By default, URLs generated with this SDK include an appended SDK-usage query parameter. Cloudinary tracks aggregated data from this parameter to improve future SDK versions and no individual data is collected. If needed, you can disable the urlAnalytics configuration option. Learn more.
Tip
If you want to pass the optional api_proxy configuration parameter, you must call cloudinary.config() before importing the cloudinary.uploader and cloudinary.api classes:

Configuration video tutorials

The following tutorials can help you install and set up your SDK.

See more Python video tutorials.

Use

Once you've installed and configured the Python SDK, you can use it for:

  • Uploading files to your product environment: You can upload any files, not only images and videos, set your own naming conventions and overwrite policies, moderate and tag your assets on upload, and much more. See example
  • Transforming and optimizing images and videos: Keeping your original assets intact in your product environment, you can deliver different versions of your media - different sizes, formats, with effects and overlays, customized for your needs. See example
  • Managing assets: Using methods from the Admin and Upload APIs, you can organize your assets, for example, list, rename and delete them, add tags and metadata and use advanced search capabilities. See example

Quick example: File upload

The following Python code uploads the dog.mp4 video to the asset folder pets using the public_id, my_dog. The video will overwrite the existing video if a video with that public_id already exists. When the video upload is complete, the specified notification URL will receive details about the uploaded media asset.

Learn more about upload

Quick example: Transform and optimize

Take a look at the following transformation code and the image it delivers:

sample transformation

This relatively simple code performs all of the following on the original front_face.jpg image before delivering it:

  • Crop to a 150x150 thumbnail using face-detection gravity to automatically determine the location for the crop
  • Round the corners with a 20 pixel radius
  • Apply a sepia effect
  • Overlay the Cloudinary logo on the southeast corner of the image (with a slight offset). The logo is scaled down to a 50 pixel width, with increased brightness and partial transparency (opacity = 60%)
  • Rotate the resulting image (including the overlay) by 10 degrees
  • Convert and deliver the image in PNG format (the originally uploaded image was a JPG)

And here's the URL that would be included in the image tag that's automatically generated from the above code:

In a similar way, you can transform a video.

Learn more about transformations
  • Read the image and video transformation guides to learn about the different ways to transform your assets.
  • See more examples of image and video transformations using the Cloudinary Python library.
  • See all possible transformations in the Transformation URL API reference.

Quick example: Get details of a single asset

The following Python example uses the Admin API resource method to return details of the image with public ID cld-sample:

Sample response

Learn more about managing assets

Sample projects

Take a look at the Python sample projects page to help you get started integrating Cloudinary into your Python application.

Tip
Check out our collection of Python code explorers too!
Related topics

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