prefect-client
Workflow orchestration and management.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need to interact with Prefect from a resource-constrained environment (Lambda, lightweight containers, edge functions). The low install friction, active maintenance, and permissive license make it a straightforward choice. Not suitable if you need the CLI, server components, or full Prefect functionality—use the main prefect package instead.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later; PREFECT_API_KEY and PREFECT_API_URL environment variables must be set to connect to a remote Prefect server or Prefect Cloud.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with no compiled dependencies.
- Active maintenance—released 1 day ago with 23623 repository stars.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 (permissive) — Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions; suitable for most production and proprietary contexts.
last release 2026-08-13 (1 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 23,623 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 456,523 downloads/mo, #6,554 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install prefect-client
from prefect.deployments import run_deployment
run_deployment(
name="my-flow/my-deployment",
parameters={"foo": "bar"},
timeout=0,
)- Whether all 42 runtime dependencies are truly required for typical client-side workflows or if some are optional.
- Performance characteristics and memory footprint compared to the full prefect package in Lambda or other constrained environments.
- Completeness of API coverage—which server-oriented classes or methods remain unavailable despite being importable.
What it is and what it does
prefect-client is a stripped-down distribution of Prefect designed to run in resource-constrained environments. It removes the CLI, server components, and related dependencies, keeping only what's needed to communicate with a remote Prefect server or Prefect Cloud. You use it to trigger deployments, emit events, and query the Prefect API from lightweight applications—particularly useful in ephemeral compute like Lambda functions where installation size and startup time matter.
The package shares the same API surface as the full Prefect library for client-side operations, so existing code often works unchanged. However, it explicitly omits server-oriented functionality and CLI tools; attempting to use those will fail. It requires Python 3.10 or later and depends on 42 runtime packages including FastAPI, Pydantic, httpx, and OpenTelemetry for observability.
Use it for
- Trigger Prefect deployments from AWS Lambda or other serverless functions without installing the full Prefect package.
- Emit events into a Prefect event-driven system from lightweight, ephemeral workloads.
- Query Prefect's orchestration API (read concurrency limits, deployment status, etc.) from a minimal client application.
- Deploy client-side Prefect integrations in container images where installation size is constrained.
- Monitor and observe workflows from remote applications using OpenTelemetry without server-side overhead.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need to interact with Prefect from a resource-constrained environment (Lambda, lightweight containers, edge functions).
The low install friction, active maintenance, and permissive license make it a straightforward choice. Not suitable if you need the CLI, server components, or full Prefect functionality—use the main prefect package instead.
Install
prefect-client on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with no compiled dependencies. Active maintenance—released 1 day ago with 23623 repository stars. Supports Python 3.10 through 3.14.
Requires Python 3.10 or later; PREFECT_API_KEY and PREFECT_API_URL environment variables must be set to connect to a remote Prefect server or Prefect Cloud.
License in practice
Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions; suitable for most production and proprietary contexts.
Quickstart
pip install prefect-client
from prefect.deployments import run_deployment
run_deployment(
name="my-flow/my-deployment",
parameters={"foo": "bar"},
timeout=0,
)Verify before relying
- Whether all 42 runtime dependencies are truly required for typical client-side workflows or if some are optional.
- Performance characteristics and memory footprint compared to the full prefect package in Lambda or other constrained environments.
- Completeness of API coverage—which server-oriented classes or methods remain unavailable despite being importable.
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <3.15,>=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 42 packagesamplitude-analyticsanyioasgi-lifespancachetoolscloudpicklecoolnamedateparserexceptiongroupfastapifsspecgraphvizgriffehttpcorehttpxhumanizejsonpatchjsonschemaopentelemetry-apiorjsonpackagingpathspecpendulumprometheus-clientpydanticpydantic-corepydantic-extra-typespydantic-settingspython-dateutilpython-slugifypytz |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 1 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 456,523 / month, #6,554 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Intended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: System AdministratorsLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries |
Evidence: prefect_client-3.8.3-py3-none-any.whl
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See also prefect · prefect-cloud · prefect-email · prefect-docker · prefect-gitlab · prefect-ray · prefect-aws · prefect-gcp · prefect-dask · prefect-snowflake