Python SDK Guide

Complete Python SDK guide — sync/async clients, marketplace filtering, order lifecycle, spot market, wallet ops, and error handling

New to the SDK? Start with the 5-minute quickstart first.

For a quick-start tutorial with real examples, see Clore.ai Python SDK — Automate Your GPU Workflows in 5 Minutes

Installation

pip install clore-ai

The SDK provides two clients:

• CloreAI — synchronous (simpler, good for scripts)

• AsyncCloreAI — asynchronous (faster for concurrent operations)

Both share the same methods and return the same Pydantic models.

---

Sync vs Async — When to Use Each

Use Case	Client	Why
Simple scripts, one-off tasks	CloreAI	Simpler code, no async/await
Monitoring loops	CloreAI	Sequential checks work fine
Bulk marketplace queries	AsyncCloreAI	Concurrent requests = faster
Batch order creation	AsyncCloreAI	Create multiple orders in parallel
Web applications	AsyncCloreAI	Non-blocking I/O

Sync Example

from clore_ai import CloreAI

client = CloreAI()  # Uses CLORE_API_KEY env var

servers = client.marketplace(gpu="RTX 4090")
print(f"Found {len(servers)} servers")

client.close()  # Or use context manager

Async Example

import asyncio
from clore_ai import AsyncCloreAI

async def main():
    async with AsyncCloreAI() as client:
        servers = await client.marketplace(gpu="RTX 4090")
        print(f"Found {len(servers)} servers")

asyncio.run(main())

Context Managers (Recommended)

Both clients support context managers for automatic cleanup:

# Sync
with CloreAI() as client:
    wallets = client.wallets()

# Async
async with AsyncCloreAI() as client:
    wallets = await client.wallets()

---

Client Configuration

client = CloreAI(
    api_key="your_key",      # Or set CLORE_API_KEY env var
    base_url="https://api.clore.ai/v1",  # Custom API endpoint
    timeout=30.0,            # Request timeout in seconds
    max_retries=3            # Retries on rate limit / network errors
)

The SDK includes a built-in rate limiter:

• General requests: 1 request/second

• create_order: 5-second cooldown between calls

• Rate limit errors (code 5): Automatic exponential backoff

---

Marketplace Filtering

The marketplace() method fetches all available servers and filters client-side:

from clore_ai import CloreAI

client = CloreAI()

# All available servers
all_servers = client.marketplace()

# Filter by GPU model (case-insensitive substring match)
rtx_4090s = client.marketplace(gpu="RTX 4090")

# Filter by multiple criteria
budget_gpus = client.marketplace(
    gpu="RTX 4090",
    max_price_usd=1.0,       # Max $1.00/hour
    min_gpu_count=2,          # At least 2 GPUs
    min_ram_gb=64.0,          # At least 64GB system RAM
    available_only=True       # Only available servers (default)
)

Advanced Filtering (Client-Side)

For filters not built into the method, filter the returned Server objects yourself:

servers = client.marketplace(gpu="RTX 4090")

# Servers in EU with high reliability
eu_servers = [
    s for s in servers
    if s.location and s.location.upper() in ("DE", "FR", "NL", "FI")
    and s.reliability and s.reliability >= 0.95
]

# Sort by price
cheapest = sorted(servers, key=lambda s: s.price_usd or float("inf"))
print(f"Cheapest: Server {cheapest[0].id} — ${cheapest[0].price_usd:.4f}/h")

Server Model Fields

Each MarketplaceServer object has these attributes and convenience properties:

Field	Type	Description
id	int	Server ID (use this in create_order)
gpu_model	str | None	GPU description from specs (property)
gpu_count	int	Number of GPUs from gpu_array (property)
ram_gb	float | None	System RAM in GB (property, from specs.ram)
price_usd	float | None	On-demand price in USD (property, from price.usd.on_demand_usd)
spot_price_usd	float | None	Spot price in USD (property)
available	bool	Whether the server is not rented (property)
location	str | None	Country code from network specs (property)
specs	ServerSpecs | None	Hardware specs (cpu, ram, disk, gpu, net)
price	ServerPrice | None	Full pricing structure
rented	bool | None	Whether the server is currently rented

---

Order Management

Creating Orders

order = client.create_order(
    server_id=142,
    image="cloreai/ubuntu22.04-cuda12",
    type="on-demand",               # "on-demand" or "spot"
    currency="bitcoin",             # Payment currency
    ssh_password="MySecurePass",    # SSH access
    ports={"22": "tcp", "8888": "http"},  # Port mappings
    env={"HF_TOKEN": "hf_xxx"},    # Environment variables
    command="bash /start.sh",       # Custom startup command
    jupyter_token="my_token"        # Jupyter notebook token
)

print(f"Order ID: {order.id}")
print(f"IP: {order.pub_cluster}")
print(f"Ports: {order.tcp_ports}")

Full create_order Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
server_id	int	✅	Server to rent
image	str	✅	Docker image
type	str	✅	"on-demand" or "spot"
currency	str	✅	Payment currency (e.g., "bitcoin")
ssh_password	str	—	SSH password
ssh_key	str	—	SSH public key
ports	dict	—	Port mappings ({"22": "tcp"})
env	dict	—	Environment variables
jupyter_token	str	—	Jupyter notebook token
command	str	—	Startup command
spot_price	float	—	Spot bid price
required_price	float	—	Required price
autossh_entrypoint	str	—	Auto SSH entrypoint

Listing Orders

# Active orders only
active = client.my_orders()
for o in active:
    print(f"Order {o.id}: type={o.type}, IP={o.pub_cluster}, status={o.status}")

# Include completed orders
all_orders = client.my_orders(include_completed=True)

Order Model Fields

Field	Type	Description
id	int	Order ID
server_id	int | None	Rented server ID
type	str	"on-demand" or "spot"
status	str | None	Order status
image	str | None	Docker image
currency	str | None	Payment currency
price	float | None	Price
pub_cluster	str | None	Public IP / hostname
tcp_ports	dict | None	Port mappings (e.g., {"22": 50022})
created_at	str | None	Creation timestamp

Monitoring Orders

import time

def wait_for_ready(client, order_id, timeout=120):
    """Wait for an order to get a public IP."""
    for _ in range(timeout // 10):
        orders = client.my_orders()
        order = next((o for o in orders if o.id == order_id), None)
        if order and order.pub_cluster:
            return order
        time.sleep(10)
    raise TimeoutError(f"Order {order_id} not ready after {timeout}s")

# Usage
order = client.create_order(server_id=142, image="cloreai/ubuntu22.04-cuda12", type="on-demand", currency="bitcoin")
ready = wait_for_ready(client, order.id)
print(f"SSH: ssh root@{ready.pub_cluster} -p {ready.tcp_ports.get('22', 22)}")

Cancelling Orders

# Cancel with optional reason
client.cancel_order(order_id=38, issue="Job complete")

# Cancel all active orders
orders = client.my_orders()
for order in orders:
    client.cancel_order(order.id, issue="Cleanup")
    print(f"Cancelled order {order.id}")

---

Server Management (for Hosters)

If you host GPUs on Clore, the SDK lets you manage your servers:

List Your Servers

my_servers = client.my_servers()
for s in my_servers:
    print(f"Server {s.id}: {s.gpu_model} — {s.status}")

Get Server Config

config = client.server_config("MyGPU-Rig")
print(f"Name: {config.name}")
print(f"Visibility: {config.visibility}")
print(f"Online: {config.online}")
print(f"Min rental: {config.mrl}h")
print(f"On-demand price: {config.on_demand_price}")
print(f"Spot price: {config.spot_price}")

Update Server Settings

client.set_server_settings(
    name="MyGPU-Rig",
    availability=True,       # Make server available
    mrl=24,                  # Minimum 24h rental
    on_demand=0.0001,        # On-demand price in BTC
    spot=0.00000113          # Spot price in BTC
)
print("Settings updated")

---

Spot Market

Spot orders are 30–50% cheaper but can be interrupted if someone outbids you.

View Spot Offers

offers = client.spot_marketplace(server_id=6)
for offer in offers:
    print(f"Order {offer.get('order_id')}: price={offer.get('price')}")

Create a Spot Order

order = client.create_order(
    server_id=142,
    image="cloreai/ubuntu22.04-cuda12",
    type="spot",
    currency="bitcoin",
    spot_price=0.0001,       # Your bid price
    ssh_password="MyPass"
)
print(f"Spot order {order.id} created")

Adjust Spot Price

# Raise your bid to avoid being outbid
client.set_spot_price(order_id=39, price=0.000003)

Spot Bidding Strategy

from clore_ai import CloreAI

client = CloreAI()

def smart_spot_bid(server_id, premium_pct=5):
    """Bid slightly above the current minimum spot price."""
    offers = client.spot_marketplace(server_id=server_id)
    if not offers:
        print("No spot offers — use on-demand price as baseline")
        return None

    min_price = min(o["price"] for o in offers)
    bid = min_price * (1 + premium_pct / 100)
    print(f"Market min: {min_price}, bidding: {bid:.8f} (+{premium_pct}%)")
    return bid

# Usage
bid = smart_spot_bid(server_id=142, premium_pct=10)
if bid:
    order = client.create_order(
        server_id=142,
        image="cloreai/ubuntu22.04-cuda12",
        type="spot",
        currency="bitcoin",
        spot_price=bid
    )

---

Wallet Operations

Check Balances

wallets = client.wallets()
for w in wallets:
    print(f"{w.name}: {w.balance:.8f}")
    if w.deposit:
        print(f"  Deposit address: {w.deposit}")

Low-Balance Alert

from clore_ai import CloreAI

def check_balance(min_btc=0.001):
    """Alert if BTC balance is below threshold."""
    client = CloreAI()
    wallets = client.wallets()

    for w in wallets:
        if w.name.lower() == "bitcoin" and w.balance < min_btc:
            print(f"⚠️  Low BTC balance: {w.balance:.8f} (minimum: {min_btc})")
            return False

    print("✅ Balances OK")
    return True

check_balance(min_btc=0.001)

---

Error Handling Best Practices

Exception Hierarchy

CloreAPIError (base)
├── DBError           (code 1) — database error
├── InvalidInputError (code 2) — bad input
├── AuthError         (code 3) — invalid API key
├── InvalidEndpointError (code 4) — wrong endpoint
├── RateLimitError    (code 5) — rate limited (auto-retried)
└── FieldError        (code 6) — field-specific error

Basic Error Handling

from clore_ai import CloreAI
from clore_ai.exceptions import (
    CloreAPIError,
    AuthError,
    RateLimitError,
    InvalidInputError
)

client = CloreAI()

try:
    order = client.create_order(
        server_id=999999,
        image="cloreai/ubuntu22.04-cuda12",
        type="on-demand",
        currency="bitcoin"
    )
except AuthError:
    print("Invalid API key — check CLORE_API_KEY")
except InvalidInputError as e:
    print(f"Bad input: {e}")
except RateLimitError:
    print("Rate limited — the SDK retries automatically, but max retries exceeded")
except CloreAPIError as e:
    print(f"API error (code {e.code}): {e}")

Retry Pattern with Backoff

The SDK has built-in retries for rate limits and network errors (max_retries=3). For application-level retries:

import time
from clore_ai import CloreAI
from clore_ai.exceptions import CloreAPIError, RateLimitError

def retry_operation(func, max_attempts=3, base_delay=2.0):
    """Retry a Clore API operation with exponential backoff."""
    for attempt in range(max_attempts):
        try:
            return func()
        except RateLimitError:
            if attempt < max_attempts - 1:
                delay = base_delay * (2 ** attempt)
                print(f"Rate limited, retrying in {delay}s...")
                time.sleep(delay)
            else:
                raise
        except CloreAPIError as e:
            if e.code in (1,):  # DB errors may be transient
                if attempt < max_attempts - 1:
                    time.sleep(base_delay)
                    continue
            raise

# Usage
client = CloreAI()
servers = retry_operation(lambda: client.marketplace(gpu="RTX 4090"))

---

Performance Tips

1. Reuse the Client

# ❌ Bad — creates a new HTTP connection each time
for _ in range(10):
    client = CloreAI()
    client.marketplace()
    client.close()

# ✅ Good — reuses the HTTP connection
client = CloreAI()
for _ in range(10):
    client.marketplace()
client.close()

2. Use Async for Concurrent Operations

import asyncio
from clore_ai import AsyncCloreAI

async def compare_gpus():
    async with AsyncCloreAI() as client:
        # Run 3 searches concurrently
        rtx4090, rtx3090, a100 = await asyncio.gather(
            client.marketplace(gpu="RTX 4090"),
            client.marketplace(gpu="RTX 3090"),
            client.marketplace(gpu="A100"),
        )

        print(f"RTX 4090: {len(rtx4090)} servers")
        print(f"RTX 3090: {len(rtx3090)} servers")
        print(f"A100: {len(a100)} servers")

asyncio.run(compare_gpus())

3. Async Batch Order Creation

import asyncio
from clore_ai import AsyncCloreAI

async def batch_deploy(server_ids):
    async with AsyncCloreAI() as client:
        tasks = [
            client.create_order(
                server_id=sid,
                image="cloreai/ubuntu22.04-cuda12",
                type="on-demand",
                currency="bitcoin",
                ssh_password="BatchPass123",
                ports={"22": "tcp"}
            )
            for sid in server_ids
        ]
        orders = await asyncio.gather(*tasks, return_exceptions=True)

        for sid, result in zip(server_ids, orders):
            if isinstance(result, Exception):
                print(f"Server {sid}: FAILED — {result}")
            else:
                print(f"Server {sid}: Order {result.id} created")

        return orders

# Deploy on 3 servers at once
asyncio.run(batch_deploy([142, 305, 891]))

Note: The SDK enforces a 5-second cooldown between create_order calls. Even in async mode, orders are spaced out to respect rate limits.

4. Close Clients When Done

# Context manager handles this automatically
with CloreAI() as client:
    # work...
    pass  # client.close() called automatically

# Or close manually
client = CloreAI()
try:
    # work...
    pass
finally:
    client.close()

---

Complete Example: Auto-Scale GPU Workers

import asyncio
import time
from clore_ai import AsyncCloreAI
from clore_ai.exceptions import CloreAPIError

async def auto_scale(
    gpu_model="RTX 4090",
    max_price=2.0,
    target_workers=3,
    image="cloreai/ubuntu22.04-cuda12"
):
    """Maintain a pool of GPU workers."""
    async with AsyncCloreAI() as client:
        # 1. Check current orders
        current_orders = await client.my_orders()
        active_count = len(current_orders)
        print(f"Active workers: {active_count}/{target_workers}")

        if active_count >= target_workers:
            print("Already at target. Nothing to do.")
            return

        # 2. Find available servers
        servers = await client.marketplace(gpu=gpu_model, max_price_usd=max_price)
        servers.sort(key=lambda s: s.price_usd or float("inf"))

        needed = target_workers - active_count
        candidates = servers[:needed]

        if len(candidates) < needed:
            print(f"Only {len(candidates)} servers available (need {needed})")

        # 3. Deploy
        for server in candidates:
            try:
                order = await client.create_order(
                    server_id=server.id,
                    image=image,
                    type="on-demand",
                    currency="bitcoin",
                    ssh_password="WorkerPass123",
                    ports={"22": "tcp"}
                )
                print(f"Deployed on server {server.id} → order {order.id}")
            except CloreAPIError as e:
                print(f"Failed to deploy on {server.id}: {e}")

asyncio.run(auto_scale())

---

Next Steps

• CLI Automation — Bash scripts, CI/CD, batch operations

• Batch Processing — Process large workloads on Clore GPUs

• API Integration — Connect AI services to your apps