pyairnow
A lightweight Python wrapper for EPA AirNow Air Quality API
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Active maintenance, low install friction, no known vulnerabilities, permissive license, and modern Python support make this a solid choice for integrating EPA air quality data. The async design and optional connection pooling support both simple and high-volume use cases. Requires only an API key registration.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires an AirNow API key (free, obtained from https://docs.airnowapi.org/account/request/).
- All calls are async and must run in an event loop.
- Low friction install with a single async dependency (aiohttp).
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions, provided you include the license notice.
last release 2026-07-31 (14 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-31 · 13 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 74,998 downloads/mo, #14,759 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pyairnow
import asyncio
from pyairnow import WebServiceAPI
async def main():
client = WebServiceAPI('your-api-key')
data = await client.observations.zipCode('90001')
print(data)
asyncio.run(main())- Whether the library handles rate limiting or retry logic for AirNow API calls.
- Performance characteristics when making many concurrent requests without connection pooling.
- Exact error handling and exception types raised for invalid API keys or network failures.
What it is and what it does
pyairnow is a lightweight async Python client for the EPA's AirNow Air Quality Index API. It provides a simple interface to fetch current air quality observations and forecasts for any US location by zip code or latitude/longitude coordinates. The library wraps the AirNow API endpoints and handles the HTTP communication using aiohttp, supporting both the current API format and a legacy format for backward compatibility.
The package is designed for developers who need to integrate air quality data into their applications—whether for environmental monitoring, health alerts, or data analysis. It includes convenience functions to convert between AQI values and pollutant concentrations (ozone, PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide) following EPA guidelines. All API calls are async, and you can optionally pass your own aiohttp ClientSession for connection pooling if making many requests.
Use it for
- Fetch current air quality observations for a location to display in a weather or health app.
- Retrieve multi-day air quality forecasts by zip code for planning outdoor activities.
- Convert raw pollutant concentration measurements to standardized AQI values for reporting.
- Monitor air quality across multiple locations concurrently using async calls with a shared connection pool.
- Build a backend service that periodically queries AirNow data and stores it in a database.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Active maintenance, low install friction, no known vulnerabilities, permissive license, and modern Python support make this a solid choice for integrating EPA air quality data. The async design and optional connection pooling support both simple and high-volume use cases. Requires only an API key registration.
Install
pyairnow on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with a single async dependency (aiohttp). Active maintenance with recent release (14 days old) and modern Python support (3.10–3.13). Repository is not archived and shows ongoing development.
Requires an AirNow API key (free, obtained from https://docs.airnowapi.org/account/request/). All calls are async and must run in an event loop.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions, provided you include the license notice.
Quickstart
pip install pyairnow
import asyncio
from pyairnow import WebServiceAPI
async def main():
client = WebServiceAPI('your-api-key')
data = await client.observations.zipCode('90001')
print(data)
asyncio.run(main())Verify before relying
- Whether the library handles rate limiting or retry logic for AirNow API calls.
- Performance characteristics when making many concurrent requests without connection pooling.
- Exact error handling and exception types raised for invalid API keys or network failures.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <4.0,>=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packageaiohttp |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 14 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 74,998 / month, #14,759 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Atmospheric ScienceTopic :: Software Development :: LibrariesTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: pyairnow-1.4.1-py3-none-any.whl
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