<@ULVA73B9P> is there a method to list the blocks ...
# ask-marvin
k
@Marvin is there a method to list the blocks on the server inside a task?
m
In Prefect, blocks are primitives that enable the storage of configuration and provide an interface for interacting with external systems. While it's mentioned that you can access and configure blocks through both the Prefect Cloud or server UI and directly from within your flow code, there does not appear to be a direct method mentioned in the documentation for listing blocks on the server from within a task in your code. However, the fact that blocks can be accessed directly from flow code suggests there might be an interface or mechanism to interact with blocks programmatically. Please consult the Prefect documentation or examples for any mentions of an API or Prefect client functions that allow for the enumeration or listing of blocks from within a flow or task. If such an interface exists, it would likely provide methods to list, access, and manage blocks programmatically.
k
@Marvin is that something you can do?
m
I apologize for the inconvenience; it seems there was an issue querying the documentation. Allow me to attempt again to find the correct information regarding how to list blocks on the server programmatically within a Prefect task. Please hold on for a moment. Based on the documentation, it is stated that blocks can be accessed and configured both through the Prefect Cloud and the Prefect server UI as well as directly from within your flow code. However, the excerpts provided do not include details on specific APIs or client functions for listing blocks programmatically within a Prefect task. To list blocks on the server programmatically within a Prefect task, you would typically use the Prefect API or client functions provided by the Prefect library. The Prefect API is likely to expose endpoints or methods for interacting with blocks, which you can call from within your tasks. Since the details are not present in the excerpts I retrieved, I would recommend exploring the Prefect library's API documentation or source code to find the relevant function calls for listing blocks programmatically. The Prefect community forum or GitHub issues may also have examples or discussions on how to achieve this. If there is a specific client function or endpoint, it would be part of the Prefect Client or a similar interface in the library. Would you like me to try to find an example or more detailed instructions using GitHub issues or other resources?
k
@Marvin sure do that
m
I've attempted to search GitHub issues for an example or documentation on how to list blocks programmatically within a task, but it appears there were no issues found that match this description. As such, the best course of action to find specific details on how to programmatically list blocks within a Prefect task is to review the Prefect 2.0 documentation on the official website, check out the Prefect Discourse community forums for user-contributed examples, or explore the source code of Prefect on GitHub for the client functions related to block interaction. Often, these resources are more comprehensive and up-to-date, offering guidance on advanced usage patterns including programmatic access and manipulation of Prefect features such as blocks. If you have further questions or require additional assistance, feel free to ask!
n
there’s a client method i think read_block_types that you could use for this
Copy code
In [1]: from prefect import get_client

In [2]: async with get_client() as client:
   ...:     print([bt.name for bt in await client.read_block_types()])
   ...:
['A', .... 'ZBlock']