---
id: rest-connector
version: "26.7"
license: Apache 2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# rest.connector — pyATS REST connection package

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 262.5K/mo

## What it is and what it does

rest-connector is a package that abstracts REST API communication with network devices, allowing you to interact with F5 load balancers, Cisco ISE, and other REST-capable network equipment through a standardized connection interface. It handles REST request and response marshaling, including XML serialization via dict2xml and integration with vendor-specific SDKs like f5-icontrol-rest and ciscoisesdk.

The package is designed for network engineers and automation developers who need to test, validate, or automate network device state and configuration through REST APIs. It depends on requests for HTTP communication, dict2xml for XML handling, and vendor SDKs for device-specific protocol support.

Use it for:

- Automate F5 BIG-IP load balancer configuration and health checks via REST API.
- Integrate Cisco ISE policy and endpoint management into network validation scripts.
- Retrieve operational state and metrics from REST-enabled network devices.
- Validate REST API responses from custom network applications during testing.
- Build multi-device network tests combining different API interaction patterns.

## Worth the install?

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

Provides REST API connectivity for network testing and automation, enabling interaction with F5, Cisco ISE, and other REST-based network devices through a unified connector interface.

Yes, if you need to interact with REST-based network devices. The package is actively maintained with no known vulnerabilities and low install friction. Install with caution if you are not already using the ecosystem it is designed for, as it is a specialized connector rather than a standalone REST client.

## Install

pip install rest-connector
uv add rest-connector
poetry add rest-connector

## Installing rest.connector

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure Python wheel and active maintenance—released 7 days ago. Four runtime dependencies (requests, dict2xml, f5-icontrol-rest, ciscoisesdk) are well-established libraries.

License in practice: Apache 2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; you may use, modify, and distribute freely as long as you retain the license notice.

Quickstart:

pip install rest-connector

import rest_connector
from requests import Session
conn = Session()

Requires network connectivity to target REST-enabled devices and appropriate credentials for authentication.

Verify before relying:

- Python version support beyond 3.7 (classifiers list 3.5–3.7 but package was released recently).
- Specific REST endpoint coverage and which network device types are supported.
- Whether dict2xml is used for all device types or only specific ones.
- Integration requirements with the broader ecosystem this connector is designed for.

## Package facts

- License: Apache 2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 262.5K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

rest api network connector, network device rest client, cisco ise rest integration, f5 rest connector, network automation rest, api testing framework, rest connectivity, network-automation, rest-api

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/rest-connector) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/rest-connector/)