> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://circle-devdocs-test-ai-codegen-component.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started with Smart Contract Platform - Python

Use the Python SDK to interact with Smart Contract Platform APIs, which allow
you interact with smart contracts on the blockchain using the Developer Services
platform.

This page provides short examples of how to install and use the Smart Contract
Platform SDK. For complete examples, see the [Sample Projects](/sample-projects)
page. For more information see the
[Smart Contract Platform documentation](/contracts).

## Prerequisites

* Have Python installed.
* Have an active [Circle Developer Account](https://console.circle.com/).
* [Generate an API key](https://developers.circle.com/w3s/web3-services-api-client-keys-auth)
  to use in requests to the Circle API.
* [Generate an entity secret](https://developers.circle.com/wallets/dev-controlled/register-entity-secret)
  to use in requests with the Smart Contract Platform SDK.

Although not a requirement for using the SDK, Circle recommends that you
[use a virtual environment](https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/guides/installing-using-pip-and-virtual-environments/)
for development. A Python virtual environment is an isolated environment that
you can use to silo your project from the global Python environment.

## Install the SDK

Use the following command to install the SDK with
[pip](https://pypi.org/project/pip/):

```shell Shell theme={null}
pip install circle-smart-contract-platform
```

## Smart Contract Platform client

To start using the SDK, you first need to configure a client and initialize it
with your API key and entity secret.

### Import the client

The following example shows how to import the client and configure it to use
your API key and entity secret:

```python Python theme={null}
from circle.web3 import utils

client = utils.init_smart_contract_platform_client(
  api_key="Your API KEY",
  entity_secret="Your entity secret"
)
```

### Import a smart contract

The following example shows how to import a smart contract using the client:

```python Python theme={null}
from circle.web3 import smart_contract_platform

api_instance = smart_contract_platform.DeployImportApi(client)

# import contract
try:
    request = smart_contract_platform.ImportContractRequest.from_dict({
        "name": "UChildERC20Proxy",
        "address": "0x2791Bca1f2de4661ED88A30C99A7a9449Aa84174",
        "blockchain": "MATIC"
    })
    response = api_instance.import_contract(request)
    print(response)
except smart_contract_platform.ApiException as e:
    print("Exception when calling DeployImportApi->import_contract: %s\n" % e)
```

## Client configuration options

The client for the Smart Contract Platform SDK accepts the following
configuration parameters:

| **Option**      | **Required?** | **Description**                                                                                 |
| --------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `api_key`       | Yes           | The API key used to authenticate requests to the Circle API.                                    |
| `entity_secret` | Yes           | Your configured entity secret.                                                                  |
| `host`          | No            | The base URL that overrides the default API URL of `https://api.circle.com/v1/w3s`.             |
| `user_agent`    | No            | Custom user agent request header. If provided, it's added before the default user agent header. |