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python requests verify false

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 1 min read

Python Requests Verify False

If you are working on web scraping or API calling using Python, then you may have come across a situation where you get an error message saying "SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED". This error occurs because the Python requests library, by default, tries to verify the SSL certificate of the website or API you are accessing. To avoid this error, you can use the "verify=False" parameter with the requests.get() or requests.post() method.

Here is an example code snippet that shows how to use the "verify=False" parameter:


import requests

response = requests.get('https://example.com', verify=False)

print(response.content)

This code will suppress the SSL verification and allow you to access the website or API without any errors.

Why you should be careful while using verify=False

While using "verify=False" can solve the SSL error problem, it can also make your code vulnerable to man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. A MITM attack is an attack where a third-party intercepts the communication between your code and the website or API you are accessing. This can lead to data theft or even modification of the data being sent or received.

Therefore, if you are accessing a sensitive website or API, it is recommended that you avoid using "verify=False" and instead provide a valid SSL certificate.

Alternative ways to handle SSL verification

If you do not want to use "verify=False" and also do not have a valid SSL certificate, there are some alternative ways to handle SSL verification:

  • You can install the SSL certificate of the website or API on your machine. This will allow the requests library to verify the SSL certificate without any errors.
  • You can use the "cert" parameter with the requests.get() or requests.post() method to provide the path of the SSL certificate file. This will also allow the requests library to verify the SSL certificate.

Overall, handling SSL verification is an important aspect of web scraping and API calling with Python. You should always try to use a valid SSL certificate or use alternative ways to handle SSL verification to ensure the security of your code and data.

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