Writing Scripts with the Seal Module

The Seal Platform allows you to write and execute your own custom Python code within the platform, enabling powerful custom solutions and automations.

If this is your first time using Python, then there are great reference materials online such as: https://docs.python.org/3.10/tutorial/

What if I don't know how to code?

Not to worry - Seal comes with a built in AI Copilot to write code for you. Navigate to the 'Copilot' tab on the right hand side, and start chatting with the AI to describe what you need.

The AI agent has access to your current code, so you can ask it to help you debug specific issues or add to the existing code.

Once you're happy with the code, click on 'Accept code' to use it in your Script.

Note that the generated code may not fully be fit for your purpose - we recommend checking over the results.

The Seal Module

The Seal module is a Python package for interacting programatically with the Seal platform.

It is automatically available in every Script's Python environment - you don't need to import it manually.

The Seal module consists of a collection of methods on the seal object:

Getting entities

seal.get_entity(entity_id, ?version)
seal.get_entity(ref={"id: "...", "version": "..."})

Returns the entire json blob of data for that entity. The entity id can be copied from the entity's URL in Seal - it's the final section of the url, after the entity title. Just passing an entity_id returns the latest version or draft of the entity.

The entity id can be copied from the entity's URL in Seal - it's the final section of the url, after the entity title.

To get a specific version of an entity, include the version as a second argument. You can also pass an entity ref object instead.

Since it returns the whole json blob for the entity, you can get the entity's fields via entity["fields"] , or a specific field via entity["fields"]["fieldName"] .

seal.get_containing_entity()

Gets the entity the script card is embedded in.

seal.get_entities_by_title(title)

Gets (non-archived) entities by their title (string). Note that exact titles are matched by default. Since multiple entities can share the same title, this returns an array. You can also search for titles containing the search string with exact=False.

seal.search_entities(query_config)

Gets entities by searching with a query config object (dict). See the API documentation for more details on the query config schema.

Making an entity editable

seal.make_entity_editable(entity_id)

Used to make an entity editable (ie create a new draft). Returns the entire json blob of data for the new draft entity.

Archiving an entity

seal.archive_entity(entity_id, archive)

Archives or unarchives an entity. The archive parameter should be a boolean: True to archive, False to recover. Returns the updated entity data.

Converting an Instance to a Template

seal.convert_instance_to_template(entity_id)

Converts an instance entity into a template entity. The instance must be editable (a draft) to be converted. Returns the entire json blob of data for the new template entity.

Updating the status tag on an entity

seal.update_entity_status_tag(entity_id, status_tag)

Updates the status tag on an entity. The live entity must be in an editable state.

seal.update_upcoming_entity_status_tag(entity_id, status_tag)

Updates the upcoming status tag an entity will have when it is next published. The live entity must be in an editable state.

Getting the upcoming version info of an entity

seal.get_upcoming_version_info(entity_id)

Returns the upcoming version info of an entity. This includes the version and status tag.

Adding an entity to a change set

seal.add_entity_to_change_set(entity_id, change_set_index)

Used to add an entity to a pre-existing change set. The change_set_index can be found in the URL when on a change set page.

Returns information about the change set the given entity now belongs to. This information includes id, index, name, status and description.

Getting tags

seal.get_tags_for_entity(entity_id)

Gets the tags on an entity.

seal.get_tags(tag)

Gets the tags on an entity the script is embedded in. Can only be run from a script card.

Adding tags

seal.add_tag_to_entity(entity_id, tag)

Adds a tag to an entity. If no tag matching the input tag is found in the organisation, a new tag will be created.

seal.add_tag(tag)

Adds a tag to the entity the script is embedded in. Can only be run from a script card.

Getting workflow tasks

seal.get_workflow_tasks(entity_id)

Gets all workflow tasks associated with a workflow entity. Returns a list of dictionaries, each representing a full workflow task object.

seal.get_workflow_tasks_for_containing_entity()

Gets all workflow tasks for the entity that a script is embedded in. Can only be run from a script card.

Getting change sets

seal.get_change_set_for_entity(entity_id, ?version)
seal.get_change_set_for_entity(ref={"id: "...", "version": "..."})

Returns information about the change set the given entity belongs to. This information includes id, index, name, status and description. By default, we find the change set for the latest draft of the entity (if it exists).

To find the change set that a specific version of an entity belongs to, include the version as a second argument. You can also pass an entity ref object instead.

seal.get_change_set_for_containing_entity()

Gets the change set for the entity that a script is embedded in. Can only be run from a script card.

Updating fields

seal.update_field_value(field_name, new_value)

Update a field value in the entity the script is embedded in. Can only be run from a script card.

seal.update_field_value_in_entity(entity_id, field_name, new_value)

Update a field value in any entity.

seal.add_field(field_name, field_type, value, allow_multiple, select_options, multi_line, formula_expression)

Add a new field to the embedded-in entity.

For specific field types, refer to this specific section in the Scripts docs.

seal.add_field_to_entity(entity_id, field_name, field_type, value, allow_multiple, select_options, multi_line, formula_expression)

Add a new field to any entity.

seal.delete_field(field_name)

Remove a field from the embedded-in entity. Note that the field's data will also be removed.

seal.delete_field_in_entity(entity_id, field_name)

Delete field in any entity.

Updating properties

seal.update_entity_title(entity_id, title)

Update the title of any entity.

seal.update_containing_entity_title(title)

Update the title of the entity the script is embedded in. Can only be run from a script card.

Getting out of spec fields

seal.get_out_of_spec_fields(entity_id, ?version)
seal.get_out_of_spec_fields(ref={"id: "...", "version": "..."})

Gets the out of spec fields for the provided entity. By default, the latest version or draft of the entity is used.

To view the out of spec fields from a specific version of an entity, include the version as a second argument. You can also pass an entity ref object instead.

Handling files

seal.download_file(file_entity_id, ?version)

The file is downloaded to the local filesystem of the virtual machine instance. The value returned is the local file path as a string.

seal.upload_file(file_path, file_name, type_title, ?extract_fields_with_ai)

Uploads a file into a new entity. The provided type must have 'File' content type. Returns the id of the new entity.

AI data extraction

seal.extract_data_from_file(file_entity_id, version, ?=prompt)

Extract data from a file entity. See Parameters below:

• file_entity_id: ID of the file entity to extract data from

• version: (Optional) Specific version of the file entity

• prompt: (Optional, keyword-only) Custom prompt to guide the data extraction

Returns: json Example:

data = seal.extract_data_from_file(
    "9351e027-d26c-4769-a395-507f4f148cb4",
     prompt="Extract all temperature readings by day"
)

Submitting Data

seal.submit_to_instance_submission_field(
   "field_name",
   field_values_df=pd.DataFrame([{ "field": "value", "Title": 'title'}]),
   number_of_empty_instances=3
)

Submit instances to a submission field in the surrounding entity.

Submit one or more instances to an instance submission field, with optional initial field values in a dataframe. If a column is called 'title' or 'Title', it will set the instances' titles of setting the values of a field called 'title' or 'Title').

You can optionally specify a number of empty instances to create.

You can also submit data to a submission table in any entity:

seal.submit_to_instance_submission_field_in_entity(entity_id, ...the same)

Creating Instances

seal.create_instance_from_template(
  template_id,
  ?version,
  field_values={ "field": "value", ... },
  title='title'
)
seal.create_instance_from_template(
  ref={"id: "...", "version": "..."},
  field_values={ "field": "value", ... },
  title='title'
)

Create an instance from a template. By default, instances are created from the latest published version of the template.

To create an instance from a specific version of a template, include the version as a second argument. You can also pass an entity ref object instead.

Parameters:

• template_id: ID of the template to create an instance from

• version: (Optional, keyword-only) Specific version of the template

• field_values: (Optional, keyword-only) Initial field values for the instance. The specified fields must exist on the template.

Similarly, you can also create test instances from a template:

seal.create_test_instance_from_template(
  template_id,
  version,
  field_values={ "field": "value", ... },
)

Creating Charts

chart = alt.Chart(data).mark_bar().encode(x="x", y="y")
chart_id = seal.create_chart(chart, title="Sample Chart", type_title="Chart")

Generate a chart from an Altair chart. See parameters below:\

• chart: The Altair chart instance

• title:The name for the chart

• type_title: The name of the type to create a chart from. The content type must be Chart.

Running Scripts

seal.run_script(
  script_id,
  ?version
)
seal.run_script(
  ref={"id: "...", "version": "..."},
)

Run an entity that has content type Script code. By default, the latest version of the entity is run.

To run a specific version of a script entity, include the version as a second argument. You can also pass an entity ref object instead.

Parameters:

• script_id: ID of the script to run

• version: (Optional, keyword-only) Specific version of the script

seal.run_embedded_scripts(
  entity_id,
  ?version,
  ?card_ids=["..."]
)
seal.run_embedded_scripts(
  ref={"id: "...", "version": "..."},
  ?card_ids=["..."]
)

Parameters:

• entity_id: ID of the entity with embedded scripts

• version: (Optional, keyword-only) Specific version of the entity

• card_ids: (Optional, keyword-only) List of specific card ids to run on the page

Run all action buttons and script cards embedded in an entity with page content. You can optionally pass in the card_ids argument to specify which scripts in particular should be run. These IDs can be found in the page content of the entity (see the Entity Schema for more details).

Getting live backlinks

seal.get_live_backlinks(entity_id)

Returns the ids of all entities whose live data includes a reference to any version of the requested entity.

Getting trigger info

seal.get_trigger_info()

If the script is being run as a trigger, this method returns an object containing context about the trigger run: trigger_id and triggered_by_entity_id.

Importing packages

Seal comes with many common Python packages pre-installed. If there are other python packages you regularly require, please contact Seal support.

These packages are automatically imported in every Script, so don't need to be manually imported:

• altair (also aliased as alt)

• Chart (alias of altair.Chart)

• pandas (also aliased as pd)

Available packages to import include:

• altair

• annotated-types

• attrs

• blinker

• cachetools

• certifi

• cffi

• charset-normalizer

• click

• cloudevents

• contourpy

• cryptography

• cycler

• deprecation

• et-xmlfile

• flask

• fonttools

• functions-framework

• gcloud

• google-api-core

• google-auth

• google-cloud-appengine-logging

• google-cloud-audit-log

• google-cloud-core

• google-cloud-error-reporting

• google-cloud-logging

• google-cloud-storage

• google-crc32c

• google-resumable-media

• googleapis-common-protos

• grpc-google-iam-v1

• grpcio

• grpcio-status

• gunicorn

• httplib2

• idna

• itsdangerous

• jinja2

• joblib

• jsonschema

• jsonschema-specifications

• jwcrypto

• kiwisolver

• lxml

• markupsafe

• matplotlib

• numpy

• oauth2client

• openpyxl

• packaging

• pandas

• pillow

• proto-plus

• protobuf

• pyasn1

• pyasn1-modules

• pycorn

• pycparser

• pycryptodome

• pydantic

• pydantic-core

• pyparsing

• pyrebase4

• python-dateutil

• python-docx

• python-jwt

• pytz

• referencing

• requests

• requests-toolbelt

• rpds-py

• rsa

• scikit-learn

• scipy

• setuptools

• six

• tabulate

• threadpoolctl

• toolz

• typing-extensions

• urllib3

• vl-convert-python

• watchdog

• werkzeug

• xlrd

To temporarily install a package when running the script:

import subprocess
subprocess.check_output("pip install {name of package}".split())