26. How to Read APIs, JSON and Zipped CSVs into pandas

26.2 requests Basics: Timeout and Status

By Ravindra Bagale, trainer · LinkedIn · Last updated: 24 October 2026

Why. A hung GET without timeout freezes Jupyter. Ignoring status codes turns an HTML error page into a “JSON parse” mystery.

What.

• requests.get(url, timeout=30) — always set a timeout.
• response.status_code / response.raise_for_status() — fail loud on 404/500.
• Headers may carry an API key — load from environment variables, not from a shared cell.

How.

Worked example A — Local fake JSON file (no network).

import json
from pathlib import Path

Path("data/raw").mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
payload = {
    "generated_at": "2026-10-24T16:00:00+05:30",
    "orders": [
        {"order_id": "BLK-1", "city": "Pune", "status": "Delivered", "amount_inr": 189},
        {"order_id": "BLK-2", "city": "Nashik", "status": "Open", "amount_inr": 95},
        {"order_id": "AMN-3", "city": "Kolhapur", "status": "Delivered", "amount_inr": 210},
    ],
}
path = Path("data/raw/status_sample.json")
path.write_text(json.dumps(payload, indent=2), encoding="utf-8")
print("wrote", path)

Worked example B — requests shape (classroom URL placeholder).

import os
import requests

# Classroom only — replace with a practice URL your trainer gives.
url = os.environ.get("DS_STATUS_URL", "https://httpbin.org/json")
r = requests.get(url, timeout=30)
print("status", r.status_code)
r.raise_for_status()
data = r.json()
print(type(data), list(data)[:5] if isinstance(data, dict) else "list")

Worked example C — Who holds the key (fictional).