---
id: python-barbicanclient
version: "7.5.0"
license: unclear
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# python-barbicanclient — Client Library for OpenStack Barbican Key Management API

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 322.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

python-barbicanclient is the official Python client for OpenStack Barbican, a key management service that encrypts and securely stores sensitive data in the cloud. It provides both a Python library (barbicanclient module) and a command-line tool (barbican command) for programmatic and interactive access to Barbican's API. The library handles authentication via Keystone, allowing you to create secrets, store them encrypted on the Barbican server, retrieve them later, and manage access control lists—all without handling raw encryption yourself.

The package is built on OpenStack's standard authentication and utility stack (keystoneauth1, oslo.* libraries, cliff for CLI scaffolding) and is designed for operators and developers working within OpenStack environments. It supports Python 3.10, 3.11, and 3.12, and is actively maintained as part of the broader OpenStack ecosystem.

Use it for:

- Store API keys, database passwords, and certificates in Barbican from a Python application using Keystone authentication.
- Retrieve encrypted secrets programmatically at runtime without embedding credentials in code or configuration files.
- Manage secret access control and audit trails through the command-line tool in OpenStack deployment scripts.
- Integrate secret management into OpenStack-based infrastructure automation and orchestration workflows.
- Protect sensitive data in multi-tenant cloud environments where encryption and access isolation are required.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Python client library and command-line tool for interacting with OpenStack Barbican's Key Management API to store, retrieve, and manage encrypted secrets.

Yes, if you are working with OpenStack Barbican. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and provides the standard client interface for Barbican's key management API. Install it only if you have a Barbican server running and need to manage encrypted secrets from Python; it is not useful outside an OpenStack environment.

## Install

pip install python-barbicanclient
uv add python-barbicanclient
poetry add python-barbicanclient

## Installing python-barbicanclient

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure Python wheel distribution. Active maintenance status with a release within the last 36 days. Depends on well-established OpenStack libraries (keystoneauth1, cliff, oslo.* packages) and common utilities (pbr, requests).

License in practice: Licensed under Apache Software License (permissive), meaning you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely with minimal restrictions, provided you include the license notice.

Quickstart:

pip install python-barbicanclient

from keystoneauth1 import session
from keystoneauth1.identity import v3
from barbicanclient import client

auth = v3.Password(auth_url='http://localhost:5000/v3',
                   username='user', password='pass',
                   project_name='demo', user_domain_name='Default',
                   project_domain_name='Default')
sess = session.Session(auth=auth)
barbican = client.Client(session=sess)
secret = barbican.secrets.create(name='test', payload='data')
secret.store()

Requires a running Barbican server configured with Keystone middleware and valid OpenStack credentials (auth_url, username, password, project details).

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package supports Python 3.13+ beyond the stated 3.10, 3.11, 3.12 classifiers.
- Current state of the upstream Barbican project and whether this client is actively maintained alongside it.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 322.4K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

openstack key management client, barbican secret storage api, openstack encryption client, key management service python, barbican python library, openstack secret management, keystone authenticated secrets, openstack, key-management, secrets-management

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