Documentation: https://shellsmith.pages.dev

Shellsmith is a Python SDK and CLI for managing Asset Administration Shells (AAS), Submodels, and Submodel Elements via the Eclipse BaSyx REST API.

It provides full client-side access to AAS resources with a clean Python interface and a powerful typer-based CLI — ideal for scripting, automation, and digital twin integration workflows.

Features

• 🐍 Python SDK for full CRUD access to Shells, Submodels, and Submodel Elements
• ⚡ CLI tool powered by Typer for fast scripting and automation
• ⚙️ Simple .env-based configuration for flexible environment switching
• 🔁 Seamless integration with the Eclipse BaSyx Environment REST API

🚀 Installation

pip install shellsmith

Requires: Python 3.10+

🔧 Configuration

The default AAS environment host is:

http://localhost:8081

You can override it by setting the SHELLSMITH_BASYX_ENV_HOST environment variable, or by creating a .env file in the current working directory or your project root.

SHELLSMITH_BASYX_ENV_HOST=http://your-host:1234

🧠 CLI Usage

Shellsmith provides a powerful command-line interface:

aas --help

Command	Description
info	Display the current Shell tree and identify issues.
upload	Upload a single AAS file or all AAS files from a folder.
nuke	☢️ Delete all Shells and Submodels (irrevocable).
encode	Encode a value (e.g. Shell ID) to Base64.
decode	Decode a Base64-encoded value.
get	Get Shells, Submodels, and Submodel Elements.
delete	Delete Shells, Submodels, or Submodel Elements.
update	Update Shells, Submodels, or Submodel Elements.
create	Create new Shells, Submodels, or Submodel Elements.

ℹ️ Run aas <command> --help to view subcommands and options.

🔎 Get Commands

Command	Description
aas get shells	🔹 Get all available Shells.
aas get shell	🔹 Get a specific Shell by ID.
aas get submodel-refs	🔹 Get all Submodel References of a Shell.
aas get submodels	🔸 Get all Submodels.
aas get submodel	🔸 Get a specific Submodel by ID.
aas get submodel-value	🔸 Get the $value of a Submodel.
aas get submodel-meta	🔸 Get the $metadata of a Submodel.
aas get elements	🔻 Get all Submodel Elements of a Submodel.
aas get element	🔻 Get a specific Submodel Element.
aas get element-value	🔻 Get the $value of a Submodel Element.

🛠️ Create Commands

Command	Description
aas create shell	🔹 Create a new Shell.
aas create submodel-ref	🔹 Add a Submodel Reference to a Shell.
aas create submodel	🔸 Create a new Submodel.
aas create element	🔻 Create a new Submodel Element.
aas create element	🔻 Create an Element at a nested path.

ℹ️ Input can be passed via --data "<json>" or --file <*.json|*.yaml>, but not both

🧬 Update Commands

Command	Description
aas update shell	🔹 Update a Shell (full replacement).
aas update submodel	🔸 Update a Submodel (full replacement).
aas update submodel-value	🔸 Update the $value of a Submodel (partial update).
aas update element	🔻 Update a Submodel Element (full replacement).
aas update element-value	🔻 Update the $value of a Submodel Element (partial update).

ℹ️ All updates are either full replacements (PUT) or partial updates (PATCH)

🧹 Delete Commands

Command	Description
aas delete shell	🔹 Delete a Shell and optionally all referenced Submodels.
aas delete submodel-ref	🔹 Remove a Submodel reference from a Shell.
aas delete submodel	🔸 Delete a Submodel and optionally unlink it from all Shells.
aas delete element	🔻 Delete a Submodel Element.

ℹ️ You can pass --cascade to also remove the Submodels the Shell references

ℹ️ You can pass --remove-refs to also remove all references to that Submodel

🐍 Python API Usage

You can also use shellsmith as a Python client library to interact with the BaSyx Environment REST API.

import shellsmith

# List all AAS Shells
shells = shellsmith.get_shells()

# Fetch a specific Shell by ID
shell = shellsmith.get_shell("https://example.com/shells/my-shell")

# List Submodels or Submodel References of a Shell
submodels = shellsmith.get_submodels()
refs = shellsmith.get_submodel_refs("https://example.com/shells/my-shell")

# Fetch a specific Submodel
submodel = shellsmith.get_submodel("https://example.com/submodels/my-submodel")

# Read and update a Submodel Element's value
value = shellsmith.get_submodel_element_value(submodel["id"], "temperature")
shellsmith.patch_submodel_element_value(submodel["id"], "temperature", "42.0")

# Upload a single AAS file or an entire folder (.aasx / .json / .xml)
shellsmith.upload_aas("MyAsset.aasx")
shellsmith.upload_aas_folder("aas_folder/")

# Delete a Shell or Submodel by ID
shellsmith.delete_shell("https://example.com/aas/my-asset")
shellsmith.delete_submodel("https://example.com/submodels/my-submodel")

ℹ️ shell_id and submodel_id are automatically base64-encoded unless you set encode=False. This is required by the BaSyx API for identifier-based URLs.

The tables below show the mapping between BaSyx AAS REST API endpoints and the implemented client functions.

📚 See Plattform_i40 API reference for endpoint details.

Shells

Method	BaSyx Endpoint	shellsmith Function
GET	/shells	get_shells
POST	/shells	post_shell
GET	/shells/{aasIdentifier}	get_shell
PUT	/shells/{aasIdentifier}	put_shell
DELETE	/shells/{aasIdentifier}	delete_shell
GET	/shells/{aasIdentifier}/submodel-refs	get_submodel_refs
POST	/shells/{aasIdentifier}/submodel-refs	post_submodel_ref
DELETE	/shells/{aasIdentifier}/submodel-refs/{submodelIdentifier}	delete_submodel_ref

Submodels

Method	BaSyx Endpoint	Shellsmith Function
GET	/submodels	get_submodels
POST	/submodels	post_submodel
GET	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}	get_submodel
PUT	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}	put_submodel
DELETE	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}	delete_submodel
GET	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/$value	get_submodel_value
PATCH	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/$value	patch_submodel_value
GET	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/$metadata	get_submodel_metadata

Submodel Elements

Method	BaSyx Endpoint	Shellsmith Function
GET	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements	get_submodel_elements
POST	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements	post_submodel_element
GET	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements/{idShortPath}	get_submodel_element
PUT	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements/{idShortPath}	put_submodel_element
POST	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements/{idShortPath}	post_submodel_element
DELETE	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements/{idShortPath}	delete_submodel_element
GET	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements/{idShortPath}/$value	get_submodel_element_value
PATCH	/submodels/{submodelIdentifier}/submodel-elements/{idShortPath}/$value	patch_submodel_element_value

Upload

Method	BaSyx Endpoint	Shellsmith Function
POST	/upload	upload.upload_aas upload.upload_aas_folder

ℹ️ Upload functions are available under the shellsmith.upload submodule.

⚙️ Development

Clone the repository and set up the virtual environment:

git clone https://github.com/ptrstn/shellsmith
cd shellsmith
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate    # or .venv\Scripts\activate on Windows
pip install -e .[test]

✅ Testing

Start the BaSyx stack (if needed):

docker compose up -d

Run the test suite with coverage:

pytest --cov

Generate an HTML coverage report:

pytest --cov --cov-report=html

Then open htmlcov/index.html in your web browser to explore which lines are covered and which are missing.

🧼 Code Quality

We use Ruff for linting, formatting, and import sorting.

Check code style:

ruff check

Auto-fix issues:

ruff check --fix

Format code:

ruff format

📚 Documentation

Serve the docs locally:

mkdocs serve

Then visit http://127.0.0.1:8000 to preview.

Build the static site:

mkdocs build

Resources

• https://github.com/eclipse-basyx/basyx-java-server-sdk
• https://github.com/admin-shell-io/aas-specs-api
• https://app.swaggerhub.com/apis/Plattform_i40/Entire-API-Collection