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

# unicon — Unicon Connection Library

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 336.9K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Unicon is a connection library that abstracts away the complexity of CLI-based network device management. It wraps underlying session protocols (telnet, SSH, serial) and provides expect-like pattern matching and command execution without requiring low-level session handling. The library handles multi-vendor devices through a plugin architecture, automatically manages CLI mode transitions (enable, configure, etc.), detects command errors and rejected commands, and offers platform-specific stateful services.

The package is the standard connection layer for the Cisco pyATS automation framework and is designed for network engineers and automation developers who need reliable, vendor-agnostic CLI access to devices. It depends on pyyaml for configuration, dill for serialization, and unicon.plugins for platform-specific behavior.

Use it for:

- Automate command execution across multiple Cisco or multi-vendor network devices without managing raw SSH/telnet sessions.
- Build network configuration management scripts that handle mode transitions and error detection automatically.
- Integrate device CLI access into larger pyATS-based test or validation frameworks.
- Develop custom network automation plugins for unsupported device platforms using the plugin architecture.
- Establish proxied connections to devices behind jump hosts or management interfaces.

## Worth the install?

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

Unicon provides a unified CLI connection interface to network devices, wrapping telnet, SSH, and serial connections with expect-like programming and multi-vendor support through a plugin architecture.

Yes. Unicon is actively maintained, carries no known vulnerabilities, uses a permissive Apache 2.0 license, and is the standard connection layer for pyATS. Install it if you need reliable, multi-vendor CLI device access or are already using pyATS. The medium install friction is offset by pre-built wheels for modern Python versions.

## Install

pip install unicon
uv add unicon
poetry add unicon

## Installing unicon

Before you install: Active maintenance with a release within the last week. Medium install friction due to compiled wheels across multiple Python versions (3.10–3.14) and platforms, but pre-built binaries are available for common architectures.

License in practice: Licensed under Apache 2.0 (permissive), allowing use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install unicon

from unicon import Connection

conn = Connection(hostname='device', start=['ssh'])
conn.connect()
output = conn.execute('show version')
conn.disconnect()

Requires Linux, macOS, or WSL; network device must be reachable via telnet, SSH, or serial interface.

Verify before relying:

- Exact list of supported network device platforms and vendors beyond Cisco.
- Performance characteristics and scalability limits for concurrent connections.
- Whether unicon.plugins is a separate package or bundled dependency.

## Package facts

- License: Apache 2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: medium
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 336.9K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

network device cli connection, telnet ssh serial wrapper, expect-like network automation, multi-vendor device management, cisco pyats connection library, cli session handling, network device mode switching, network-automation, device-management, cisco-pyats

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