Snippet Configuration Object

Overview

The Snippet class manages snippet objects in Palo Alto Networks' Strata Cloud Manager. It provides methods for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting snippets, which are reusable configuration elements. The API supports advanced filtering, pagination, and (planned) folder associations.

Core Methods

Method	Description	Parameters	Return Type
`create()`	Creates a new snippet	`data: Dict[str, Any]`	`SnippetResponseModel`
`get()`	Retrieves a snippet by ID	`object_id: Union[str, UUID]`	`SnippetResponseModel`
`update()`	Updates an existing snippet	`snippet: SnippetUpdateModel`	`SnippetResponseModel`
`delete()`	Deletes a snippet	`object_id: Union[str, UUID]`	`None`
`list()`	Lists snippets with filtering	`**filters`	`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	Default	Description
`name`	str	Yes	None	Name of the snippet
`id`	UUID	Yes*	None	Unique identifier (*response/update only)
`description`	str	No	None	Optional description of the snippet
`labels`	List[str]	No	None	Optional list of labels to apply to the snippet
`enable_prefix`	bool	No	None	Whether to enable prefix for this snippet
`type`	str	No	None	Snippet type: 'predefined', 'custom', 'readonly'
`display_name`	str	No	None	Display name for the snippet
`last_update`	str	No	None	Timestamp of last update
`created_in`	str	No	None	Timestamp of creation
`folders`	List[FolderReference]	No	None	Folders the snippet is applied to
`shared_in`	str	No	None	Sharing scope (e.g., 'local')

* Only required for response and update models

Filter Parameters

The list() method supports the following filters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`labels`	List[str]	Filter by labels (server-side)
`types`	List[str]	Filter by snippet type (server-side)

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",
    tsg_id="your_tsg_id"
)

# Access the Snippet service directly through the client
# No need to create a separate Snippet instance
snippets = client.snippet

Traditional Service Instantiation (Legacy)

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

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

# 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

snippet_data = {
    "name": "Security Policy Snippet",
    "description": "Common security policy configurations",
    "labels": ["security", "policy"],
    "enable_prefix": True
}
created = snippets.create(snippet_data)
print(created.id, created.name)

Retrieving Snippets

snippet = snippets.get("12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012")
print(snippet.name, snippet.type)

Fetching a Snippet by Name

snippet_by_name = snippets.fetch("Security Policy Snippet")
if snippet_by_name:
    print(snippet_by_name.id)

Updating Snippets

# Fetch existing snippet
existing = client.snippet.fetch(name="Security Policy Snippet")

# Modify attributes using dot notation
existing.description = "Updated security policy configs"
existing.labels = ["security", "updated"]

# Pass modified object to update()
updated = client.snippet.update(existing)
print(f"Updated snippet: {updated.name}")

Listing Snippets

all_snippets = snippets.list()
security_snippets = snippets.list(labels=["security"])
custom_snippets = snippets.list(types=["custom"])

Filtering Responses

# Filter snippets by type
custom_snippets = snippets.list(types=["custom"])
# Filter snippets by labels
security_snippets = snippets.list(labels=["security"])

Controlling Pagination with max_limit

from scm.client import ScmClient

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

# Configure max_limit using the property setter
client.snippet.max_limit = 100

# List all snippets - auto-paginates through results
all_snippets = client.snippet.list()

# The snippets are fetched in chunks according to the max_limit setting.

Deleting Snippets

snippets.delete("12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012")

Folder Associations

The API supports associating snippets with folders, but this may not be fully implemented yet:

try:
    updated_snippet = snippets.associate_folder(snippet_id, folder_id)
    print("Associated snippet with folder")
    result = snippets.disassociate_folder(snippet_id, folder_id)
    print("Disassociated snippet from folder")
except NotImplementedError as e:
    print(f"Folder association not yet implemented: {e}")

Error Handling

from scm.exceptions import ObjectNotPresentError, InvalidObjectError
try:
    snippets.get("nonexistent-id")
except ObjectNotPresentError:
    print("Snippet not found!")

try:
    snippets.create({"name": "", "description": "Invalid"})
except InvalidObjectError as e:
    print("Validation error:", e)

Best Practices

Always provide a non-empty name when creating or updating snippets.
Use labels to organize and filter snippets.
Handle exceptions for robust automation.
Use pagination (max_limit) for large snippet sets.

Full Script Examples

See the test suite in tests/scm/config/setup/test_snippet.py for comprehensive usage and edge cases.