Python quickstart

Python httpx wrapper around the MCP gateway. python src/main.py — parsed receipt in stdout in under 10 minutes.

This recipe is a minimal Python project that authenticates against the Glide MCP gateway using httpx and python-jose, calls accounts.balance, and initiates a payment. Audience: Python engineers who want a typed, runnable baseline before wiring Glide into an existing agent or automation pipeline.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+.
• pip or a virtualenv manager (uv recommended).
• Glide running locally per the main quickstart, or access to a hosted instance.
• MCP_TOKEN_VERIFIER_DEV_SECRET set in your shell or .env.

Steps

1. Clone the example

git clone https://github.com/darshanbathija/axtior-neobank.git
cd axtior-neobank/examples/python-quickstart

2. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

requirements.txt:

httpx==0.27.0
python-jose[cryptography]==3.3.0
pydantic==2.7.1
python-dotenv==1.0.1

3. Set environment variables

cp .env.example .env

# .env
GLIDE_MCP_URL=http://localhost:8787
GLIDE_DEV_SECRET=your_32_byte_hex_secret_here
GLIDE_AGENT_ID=agent_py_demo
GLIDE_ACCOUNT_ID=acc_demo_01

4. Review the auth module

src/auth.py mints a short-lived HS256 JWT for dev. In production, replace it with an httpx client_credentials call against your Ory Hydra endpoint.

# src/auth.py
import time, os
from jose import jwt

def get_token() -> str:
    secret = os.environ["GLIDE_DEV_SECRET"]
    now = int(time.time())
    payload = {
        "sub": os.environ["GLIDE_AGENT_ID"],
        "aud": "glide-mcp",
        "iat": now,
        "exp": now + 300,
    }
    return jwt.encode(payload, secret, algorithm="HS256")

5. Review the RPC client

src/rpc.py wraps a single synchronous httpx.post call. It raises GlideRPCError on JSON-RPC errors, preserving the code and data fields so callers can distinguish policy rejections (-32003) from 5xx errors.

# src/rpc.py (excerpt)
import httpx, os, uuid
from dataclasses import dataclass
from auth import get_token

@dataclass
class GlideRPCError(Exception):
    message: str
    code: int
    data: dict | None = None

def call(endpoint: str, method: str, arguments: dict) -> dict:
    token = get_token()
    url = f"{os.environ['GLIDE_MCP_URL']}/mcp/{endpoint}"
    body = {
        "jsonrpc": "2.0",
        "id": str(uuid.uuid4()),
        "method": "tools/call",
        "params": {"name": method, "arguments": arguments},
    }
    r = httpx.post(url, json=body, headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"}, timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    resp = r.json()
    if "error" in resp:
        raise GlideRPCError(
            message=resp["error"]["message"],
            code=resp["error"]["code"],
            data=resp["error"].get("data"),
        )
    return resp["result"]

6. Run the example

python src/main.py

src/main.py checks the gateway health, calls accounts.balance, then calls payments.initiate with a $2.00 test payment:

# src/main.py (excerpt)
from rpc import call, GlideRPCError
import os

balance = call("read", "accounts.balance", {"accountId": os.environ["GLIDE_ACCOUNT_ID"]})
print(f"balance: {balance['availableUsdc']} USDC")

try:
    receipt = call("write", "payments.initiate", {
        "fromAccountId": os.environ["GLIDE_ACCOUNT_ID"],
        "toAddress": "0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b8D4C9C5E9F2b4D6A1",
        "amountUsdc": "2.00",
        "memo": "py-quickstart test",
        "idempotencyKey": "py-demo-001",
    })
    print(f"receipt: {receipt['receiptId']} status={receipt['status']}")
except GlideRPCError as e:
    print(f"rpc error {e.code}: {e.message}")

Run it

python src/main.py

Expected output:

[glide-py] gateway ok
[glide-py] balance: 1000.00 USDC (acc_demo_01)
[glide-py] receipt: rcpt_01hwzk4n3mbt6c9a5vzd7qp2xr status=completed
[glide-py] txHash: 0xabc...def chain=base

Extend it

• Wrap main.py in a FastAPI route for a payment-initiation microservice.
• Replace the dev HMAC token with a production Ory client_credentials grant by editing src/auth.py.
• Add pydantic models for Receipt and validate the response to catch schema drift early.
• Wire audit.stream into a Kafka producer to feed a downstream event bus.
• Use httpx.AsyncClient and asyncio for concurrent multi-account balance checks.

Source

github.com/darshanbathija/axtior-neobank/tree/main/examples/python-quickstart

Reading list

• Agent platform quickstart — full apps/mcp bring-up and three endpoint scopes.
• OAuth flow — production JWT issuance via Ory Hydra.
• Receipt schema — every field and its semantics.
• Money-safety contracts — the F-rules every payment path enforces.