Snippet Configuration Object

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Core Methods
3. Snippet Model Attributes
4. Exceptions
5. Basic Configuration
6. Usage Examples
   • Creating Snippets
   • Retrieving Snippets
   • Updating Snippets
   • Listing Snippets
   • Filtering Responses
   • Controlling Pagination with max_limit
   • Deleting Snippets
7. Folder Associations
8. Error Handling
9. Best Practices
10. Full Script Examples
11. Related Models

Overview

The Snippet class provides functionality to manage snippet objects in Palo Alto Networks' Strata Cloud Manager. This class inherits from BaseObject and provides methods for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting snippet objects, which are used to store reusable configuration elements.

Core Methods

Method	Description	Parameters	Return Type
create()	Creates a new snippet	name: str, etc.	SnippetResponseModel
get()	Retrieves a snippet by ID	object_id: Union[str, UUID]	SnippetResponseModel
update()	Updates an existing snippet	snippet_id: Union[str, UUID], etc.	SnippetResponseModel
delete()	Deletes a snippet	object_id: Union[str, UUID]	None
list()	Lists snippets with filtering	name: str, etc.	List[SnippetResponseModel]
fetch()	Gets a snippet by its name	name: str	Optional[SnippetResponseModel]
associate_folder()	Associates a snippet with a folder	snippet_id, folder_id	SnippetResponseModel
disassociate_folder()	Disassociates a snippet from a folder	snippet_id, folder_id	SnippetResponseModel

Snippet Model Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
name	str	Yes	Name of the snippet
id	UUID	Yes*	Unique identifier (*response only)
description	Optional[str]	No	Optional description of the snippet
labels	Optional[List[str]]	No	Optional list of labels to apply to the snippet
enable_prefix	bool	No	Whether to enable prefix for this snippet

Exceptions

Exception	HTTP Code	Description
InvalidObjectError	400	Invalid snippet data or format
ObjectNotPresentError	404	Requested snippet not found
APIError	Various	General API communication error
NotImplementedError	501	Feature not yet implemented (folder associations)
AuthenticationError	401	Authentication failed
ServerError	500	Internal server error

Basic Configuration

The Snippet service can be accessed using either the unified client interface (recommended) or the traditional service instantiation.

Unified Client Interface (Recommended)

from scm.client import ScmClient

# Initialize client
client = ScmClient(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret"
)

# Access the Snippet service directly through the client
snippets = client.snippet

Traditional Service Instantiation (Legacy)

from scm.client import Scm
from scm.config.setup import Snippet

# Initialize client
client = Scm(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret"
)

# Initialize Snippet object explicitly
snippets = Snippet(client)

Note

While both approaches work, the unified client interface is recommended for new development as it provides a more streamlined developer experience and ensures proper token refresh handling across all services.

Usage Examples

Creating Snippets

# Create a basic snippet
snippet = client.snippet.create(
    name="Security Policy Snippet",
    description="Common security policy configurations"
)
print(f"Created snippet: {snippet.name} (ID: {snippet.id})")

# Create a snippet with all optional parameters
detailed_snippet = client.snippet.create(
    name="Network Config Snippet",
    description="Network configuration template",
    labels=["network", "template"],
    enable_prefix=True
)
print(f"Created detailed snippet: {detailed_snippet.name}")

Retrieving Snippets

# Get a snippet by ID
snippet_id = "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012"
snippet = client.snippet.get(object_id=snippet_id)
print(f"Retrieved snippet: {snippet.name}")

# Fetch a snippet by name
snippet_by_name = client.snippet.fetch(name="Security Policy Snippet")
if snippet_by_name:
    print(f"Found snippet with ID: {snippet_by_name.id}")
else:
    print("Snippet not found")

Updating Snippets

# Update a snippet
updated_snippet = client.snippet.update(
    snippet_id="12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012",
    name="Updated Security Policy",
    description="Updated security policy configurations",
    labels=["security", "updated"]
)
print(f"Updated snippet: {updated_snippet.name}")

# Update only specific fields
partial_update = client.snippet.update(
    snippet_id="12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012",
    description="New description only"
)
print(f"Partially updated snippet: {partial_update.name}")

Listing Snippets

# List all snippets
all_snippets = client.snippet.list()
print(f"Found {len(all_snippets)} snippets")

# List snippets with pagination
paginated_snippets = client.snippet.list(offset=10, limit=5)
print(f"Page of snippets: {len(paginated_snippets)}")

Filtering Responses

# Filter by name
filtered_snippets = client.snippet.list(name="Security")
print(f"Found {len(filtered_snippets)} snippets with 'Security' in the name")

# Exact match filter
exact_snippets = client.snippet.list(name="Network Config Snippet", exact_match=True)
print(f"Found {len(exact_snippets)} snippets with exact name match")

# Filter by type
type_snippets = client.snippet.list(type="predefined")
print(f"Found {len(type_snippets)} predefined snippets")

Controlling Pagination with max_limit

# Create a snippet client with custom max_limit
snippet_service = Snippet(client, max_limit=100)

# List snippets with pagination controls
snippets = snippet_service.list(limit=20, offset=40)
print(f"Retrieved {len(snippets)} snippets starting from offset 40")

# Be aware of the absolute maximum limit
print(f"Default max limit: {Snippet.DEFAULT_MAX_LIMIT}")
print(f"Absolute max limit: {Snippet.ABSOLUTE_MAX_LIMIT}")

Deleting Snippets

# Delete a snippet
client.snippet.delete(object_id="12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012")
print("Snippet deleted successfully")

try:
    # Verify deletion
    client.snippet.get(object_id="12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012")
except ObjectNotPresentError:
    print("Snippet was successfully deleted")

Folder Associations

The API supports associating snippets with folders, although this functionality is currently in development:

try:
    # Associate a snippet with a folder
    snippet_id = "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012"
    folder_id = "87654321-4321-4321-4321-210987654321"

    updated_snippet = client.snippet.associate_folder(
        snippet_id=snippet_id,
        folder_id=folder_id
    )
    print(f"Associated snippet {snippet_id} with folder {folder_id}")

    # Disassociate a snippet from a folder
    result = client.snippet.disassociate_folder(
        snippet_id=snippet_id,
        folder_id=folder_id
    )
    print(f"Disassociated snippet from folder")
except NotImplementedError as e:
    print(f"Folder association not yet implemented: {e}")

Error Handling

try:
    # Try to retrieve a non-existent snippet
    snippet = client.snippet.get(object_id="nonexistent-id")
except ObjectNotPresentError:
    print("Snippet not found")
except APIError as e:
    print(f"API error occurred: {e}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")

Best Practices

1. Naming Conventions
2. Use descriptive names for snippets

3. Establish consistent naming patterns

4. Organization

5. Use labels to categorize snippets by purpose or application

6. Group related snippets in folders

7. Error Handling

8. Always implement proper error handling

9. Catch specific exceptions for different error scenarios

10. Validation

11. Validate input data before sending to API

12. Check for naming conflicts before creating snippets

13. Performance

14. Use pagination for large result sets
15. Apply appropriate filters to limit results

Full Script Examples

Complete Snippet Management Example

from scm.client import ScmClient
from scm.exceptions import ObjectNotPresentError, APIError

def manage_snippets():
    """Complete example of managing snippets in Strata Cloud Manager."""

    # Initialize the client
    client = ScmClient(
        client_id="your_client_id",
        client_secret="your_client_secret"
    )

    try:
        # Create a new snippet
        snippet = client.snippet.create(
            name="Security Policy Snippet",
            description="Common security policy configurations",
            labels=["security", "policy", "example"],
            enable_prefix=True
        )
        print(f"Created snippet: {snippet.name} (ID: {snippet.id})")

        # Get the snippet by ID
        retrieved_snippet = client.snippet.get(object_id=snippet.id)
        print(f"Retrieved snippet: {retrieved_snippet.name}")

        # Update the snippet
        updated_snippet = client.snippet.update(
            snippet_id=snippet.id,
            description="Updated security policy configurations",
            labels=["security", "policy", "updated"]
        )
        print(f"Updated snippet description: {updated_snippet.description}")

        # List all snippets with "Security" in the name
        filtered_snippets = client.snippet.list(name="Security")
        print(f"Found {len(filtered_snippets)} snippets matching 'Security'")

        # Delete the snippet
        client.snippet.delete(object_id=snippet.id)
        print("Snippet deleted successfully")

        # Verify deletion
        try:
            client.snippet.get(object_id=snippet.id)
            print("ERROR: Snippet was not deleted!")
        except ObjectNotPresentError:
            print("Verified: Snippet was successfully deleted")

    except ObjectNotPresentError as e:
        print(f"Snippet not found: {e}")
    except APIError as e:
        print(f"API error occurred: {e}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    manage_snippets()

Related Models

For detailed information about the models used with snippets, see Snippet Models.