netbox.rs

rust client for the netbox 4.x rest api. it was co-evolved using ai. pre-release, but stable and improving.

features

• ergonomic, typed api
• automatic pagination
• query builder for filters
• token auth
• configurable timeouts, retries, ssl
• graphql (read-only) helper
• configurable http hooks and reqwest client customization
• documented examples
• unit tests and smoke tests

install

add to Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
netbox = "0.3.2"
tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["full"] }

version compatibility

current releases are pre-1.0.0 and do not track netbox versions. this client targets netbox 4.x. patch releases include fixes and client improvements.

quick start

use netbox::{Client, ClientConfig};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let config = ClientConfig::new("https://netbox.example.com", "your-api-token");
    let client = Client::new(config)?;

    let devices = client.dcim().devices().list(None).await?;
    for device in devices.results {
        println!("device: {} (id: {})", device.display, device.id);
    }

    Ok(())
}

examples

for a fuller client guide, see crates/netbox/docs/client.md.

for a docs index, see docs/index.md.

for runnable examples, see crates/netbox/examples/README.md.

auth

use netbox::ClientConfig;

let config = ClientConfig::new("https://netbox.example.com", "token")
    .with_timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(60))
    .with_max_retries(5)
    .with_ssl_verification(false);

let client = Client::new(config)?;

http customization

use netbox::{ClientConfig, HttpHooks};
use reqwest::{Method, Request, StatusCode};
use std::time::Duration;

struct MetricsHook;

impl HttpHooks for MetricsHook {
    fn on_request(&self, _method: &Method, _path: &str, request: &mut Request) -> netbox::Result<()> {
        request
            .headers_mut()
            .insert("x-client-hook", "enabled".parse().expect("valid header value"));
        Ok(())
    }

    fn on_response(&self, method: &Method, path: &str, status: StatusCode, duration: Duration) {
        println!("{method} {path} -> {status} in {duration:?}");
    }
}

let prebuilt = reqwest::Client::builder().pool_max_idle_per_host(4).build()?;

let config = ClientConfig::new("https://netbox.example.com", "token")
    .with_http_client(prebuilt) // takes precedence over with_http_client_builder
    .with_http_hooks(MetricsHook);

list with filters

use netbox::QueryBuilder;

let query = QueryBuilder::new()
    .filter("site", "dc1")
    .filter("status", "active")
    .limit(50)
    .order_by("name");

let devices = client.dcim().devices().list(Some(query)).await?;
println!("found {} devices", devices.count);

pagination

let mut paginator = client.dcim().devices().paginate(None)?;

while let Some(page) = paginator.next_page().await? {
    for device in page.results {
        println!("{}", device.display);
    }
}

let all_devices = client
    .dcim()
    .devices()
    .paginate(None)?
    .collect_all()
    .await?;

bulk operations

use netbox::{BulkDelete, BulkUpdate};

let updates = vec![
    BulkUpdate::new(1, serde_json::json!({"status": "offline"})),
    BulkUpdate::new(2, serde_json::json!({"status": "offline"})),
];
client.dcim().devices().bulk_patch(&updates).await?;

let deletes = vec![BulkDelete::new(1), BulkDelete::new(2)];
client.dcim().devices().bulk_delete(&deletes).await?;

status and schema

let status = client.status().status().await?;
println!("netbox version: {:?}", status.get("netbox-version"));

let schema = client.schema().schema(Some("json"), None).await?;
println!("schema keys: {}", schema.len());

graphql (read-only)

let data = client
    .graphql()
    .query("{ devices { name } }", None)
    .await?;
println!("graphql data: {}", data);

connected device lookup

let devices = client
    .dcim()
    .connected_device("leaf-01", "Ethernet1")
    .await?;
println!("found {} devices", devices.len());

branching plugin

let branches = client.plugins().branches().list(None).await?;
println!("branches: {}", branches.count);

error handling

use netbox::Error;

match client.dcim().devices().get(999).await {
    Ok(device) => println!("found: {}", device.display),
    Err(Error::ApiError { status, .. }) if status == 404 => {
        println!("device not found");
    }
    Err(e) if e.is_auth_error() => {
        println!("auth failed: {}", e);
    }
    Err(e) => {
        println!("error: {}", e);
    }
}

cli

netbox-cli is a full-featured cli for the netbox api. it covers standard crud resources and exposes a raw mode for any endpoint.

see crates/netbox-cli/docs/cli.md for a complete guide.

install:

cargo install netbox-cli

quickstart:

netbox-cli --url https://netbox.example.com --token $TOKEN dcim devices list

common commands:

netbox-cli dcim devices list
netbox-cli ipam prefixes list
netbox-cli vpn tunnels list

create or update with json:

netbox-cli circuits circuits create --json '{"cid":"CIR-1001","provider":1,"type":1}'
netbox-cli virtualization virtual-machines update 42 --file vm-update.json

raw requests:

netbox-cli raw --method GET --path dcim/devices/ --query "name=leaf-1" --query "limit=5"
netbox-cli raw --method POST --path ipam/vrfs/ --json '{"name":"blue","rd":"65000:100"}'

output formats and selection:

netbox-cli dcim devices list --output table
netbox-cli dcim devices list --select results.name

dry run for writes:

netbox-cli dcim devices create --json '{"name":"switch-01","device_type":1,"role":1,"site":1}' --dry-run

graphql:

netbox-cli graphql --query '{ devices { name } }'

run netbox-cli --help for all subcommands.

api coverage

all core netbox modules are covered via typed Resource<T> wrappers. additional endpoints include status, schema, connected-device, and netbox-branching plugin resources.

note: paginate returns Result<Paginator<T>>; handle errors before calling next_page.

for endpoints not wrapped yet, use the generated openapi client:

use netbox::{Client, ClientConfig};
use netbox::openapi::apis::dcim_api;

# async fn example() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
let config = ClientConfig::new("https://netbox.example.com", "token");
let client = Client::new(config)?;

let openapi_config = client.openapi_config()?;
let device = dcim_api::dcim_devices_retrieve(&openapi_config, 42).await?;
println!("device: {}", device.display);
# Ok(())
# }

development

prerequisites

• rust 1.85+
• a netbox instance for schema generation and smoke tests

setup

git clone https://github.com/network-auto/netbox.rs
cd netbox.rs
cargo test
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features
cargo fmt --all

docs

RUSTDOCFLAGS="--cfg docsrs" cargo doc --workspace --all-features --no-deps

open target/doc/netbox/index.html for the library docs.

regenerate api bindings

see scripts/README.md for details.

basic flow:

./scripts/fetch_schema.sh http://localhost:8000
./scripts/generate.sh
cargo test

for container setup, follow the netbox-docker instructions: https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox-docker

contributing

see CONTRIBUTING.md.

license

mit. see LICENSE.

resources

• https://docs.netbox.dev/
• https://docs.netbox.dev/en/stable/integrations/rest-api/
• https://docs.rs/netbox