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Stack Overflow for Teams Tag Report (so4t_tag_report)

A Python script that uses the Stack Overflow for Teams API to create a CSV report of how well each tag is performing. You can see an example of what the output looks like in the Examples directory (here).

For a detailed list of metrics included in the report, see Metrics in the CSV Report

Table of Contents

Requirements

  • A Stack Overflow for Teams instance (Basic, Business, or Enterprise)
    • If using a version of Stack Overflow Enterprise prior to 2023.3, please use the 2023.2 branch instead
  • Python 3.9 or higher (download)
  • Operating system: Linux, MacOS, or Windows

If using the --web-client argument, there are additional requirements (details in Advanced Usage section)

Setup

Download and unpack the contents of this repository

Installing Dependencies

  • Open a terminal window (or, for Windows, a command prompt)
  • Navigate to the directory where you unpacked the files
  • Install the dependencies: pip3 install -r requirements.txt

API Authentication

You'll need an API token for the basic and business tiers. You'll need to obtain an API key and an API token for Enterprise.

  • For Basic or Business, instructions for creating a personal access token (PAT) can be found in this KB article.
  • For Enterprise, documentation for creating the key and token can be found within your instance at this url: https://[your_site]/api/docs/authentication

Creating an access token for Enterprise can sometimes be tricky for people who haven't done it before. Here are some (hopefully) straightforward instructions:

  • Go to the page where you created your API key. Take note of the "Client ID" associated with your API key.
  • Go to the following URL, replacing the base URL, the client_id, and the base URL of the redirect_uri with your own: https://YOUR.SO-ENTERPRISE.URL/oauth/dialog?client_id=111&redirect_uri=https://YOUR.SO-ENTERPRISE.URL/oauth/login_success
  • You may be prompted to log in to Stack Overflow Enterprise if you're not already. Either way, you'll be redirected to a page that simply says "Authorizing Application"
  • In the URL of that page, you'll find your access token. Example: https://YOUR.SO-ENTERPRISE.URL/oauth/login_success#access_token=YOUR_TOKEN

Basic Usage

In a terminal window, navigate to the directory where you unpacked the script. Run the script using the following format, replacing the URL, token, and/or key with your own:

  • For Basic and Business: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --url "https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/TEAM-NAME" --token "YOUR_TOKEN"
  • For Enterprise: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --url "https://SUBDOMAIN.stackenterprise.co" --key "YOUR_KEY" --token "YOUR_TOKEN"

The script can take several minutes to run, particularly as it gathers data via the API. As it runs, it will update the terminal window with the tasks it performs.

When the script completes, it will indicate that the CSV has been exported, along with the file name. You can see an example of what the output looks like here.

Advanced Usage

As described below, you can add some additional arguments to the command line to customize the script's behavior. All arguments (and instructions) can also be found by running the --help argument: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --help

--no-api and --days

By default, the CSV report aggregates all historical data for the tags. If you'd like to filter this based on a certain amount of history, the --days argument can be used to indicate how many days of history you want to use for the CSV report. If you wanted to pull just the last 90 days worth of data, it would look like this: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --url "https://SUBDOMAIN.stackenterprise.co" --key "YOUR_KEY" --token "YOUR_TOKEN" --days 90

In conjunction with the --days argument, --no-api allows you to leverage preexisting JSON data from previous executions of this script. This is significantly faster than running all the API calls again; in fact, it's nearly instantaneous. If you were looking to generate tag metrics based on a variety of time ranges (via --days), using the —no-api argument significantly speeds up the process.

Example:

  • You generate an initial CSV report via the Basic Usage instructions: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --url "https://SUBDOMAIN.stackenterprise.co" --key "YOUR_KEY" --token "YOUR_TOKEN"
  • an api_data.json file is generated and stored locally as part of collecting data via the API. For subsequent script runs where you're trying to generate the report for different time ranges, you can use the preexisting api_data.json data by leveraging the --no-api argument.
  • To quickly generate a CSV report for the past 30 days: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --no-api --days 30
  • Then, you generate a report for the past 90 days: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --no-api --days 90

Note: when using --no-api, the --url, --key, and --token arguments are unecessary. When you'd like to update the JSON data via fresh API calls, simply remove the no-api argument and add back the required authentication arguments.

--web-client

The --web-client argument allows you to gather additional data from Stack Overflow for Teams, particularly data that is not available via the API (yet).

NOTE: For this specific script feature, you'll need to ensure you have Google Chrome installed on your computer. You'll be prompted with a login window (via Chrome) for your Stack Overflow for Teams instance when the script runs. Once you've logged in, that window will close, and the script will continue to run.

Here are the additional data points that are obtained when scraping is enabled, along with any additional requirements for obtaining those data points:

  • The number of configured webhooks (ChatOps notifications) for each tag [Requirements: admin permissions]
  • The number of communities associated with a tag. If webhooks are configured for a community, the webhook count will be included in the webhook count for the tag. [Requirements: admin permissions]

To use this function, simply append the --web-client argument to the end of the command for running the Python script. Example: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --url "https://SUBDOMAIN.stackenterprise.co" --key "YOUR_KEY" --token "YOUR_TOKEN" --web-client

--proxy

The --proxy argument allows you to use a proxy server to make the API calls. This is useful if you're behind a corporate firewall or if you're running the script on a server that requires a proxy to access the internet.

To use this argument, simply append the --proxy argument to the end of the command for running the Python script, including the proxy server's address in the argument. Example: python3 so4t_tag_report.py --url "https://SUBDOMAIN.stackenterprise.co" --key "YOUR_KEY" --token "YOUR_TOKEN" --proxy "PROXY.EXAMPLE.COM:PORTNUMBER"

Support, security, and legal

If you encounter problems using the script, please open a support issue with Stack Overflow. You can also clone and change the script to suit your needs. It is provided as-is, with no warranty or guarantee of any kind.

All data is handled locally on the device from which the script is run. The script does not transmit data to other parties, such as Stack Overflow. All of the API calls performed are read only, so there is no risk of editing or adding content on your Stack Overflow for Teams instance.