One objective of vectorization is to render unstructured text more machine-usable. Vector embeddings accomplish this by encoding the semantics of text as high-dimensional numeric vectors, which can be employed by advanced search algorithms (normally an approximate nearest neighbor algorithm like Hierarchical Navigable Small World). This not only improves our ability to interact with unstructured text programmatically but makes it searchable by context and by meaning beyond what is captured literally by keyword.

In this article, I aim to demonstrate a couple of methods for easily adding validation to REST APIs on InterSystems IRIS Data Platform. I believe a specification-first approach is an excellent idea for API development. IRIS already has features for generating an implementation stub from a specification and publishing that specification for external developers (use it with iris-web-swagger-ui for the best results). The remaining important thing not yet implemented in the platform is the request validator. Let's fix it!

PEP 578 added Python Audit hooks. A rich variety of events (module load, os interactions and so on) triggers audit events which you can subscribe to.

Here's how to do that. First create an embedded python hook:

Class/// do ##class(User.Python).Audit()ClassMethod

In this example we:

• Terminate the process if numpy starts loading
• Output event and arguments for compile/exec events
• Ignore code events
• Log all other events

All of that will be written to the default STDOUT.

1-command only required for an entire IRIS instance for Data Science projects, and leveraging this to compare query methods' speed (Dynamic SQL, Pandas Query, and Globals).

Before joining InterSystems, I worked in a team of web developers as a data scientist. Most of my day-to-day work involved training and embedding ML models in Python-based backend applications through microservices, mainly built with the Django framework and using Postgres SQL for sourcing the data.

Here are the technology bonuses for the InterSystems Full Stack Contest 2026, which will give you extra points in the voting:

• IRIS Vector Search usage -3
• InterSystems Native SDK for Python or Embedded Python usage -3
• Developer Community Idea implemented - 2
• Docker container usage -2 
• IPM Package Deployment - 2
• Online Demo -2 
• Find and report a bug - 2
• Article on Developer Community - 2
• The second article on Developer Community - 1
• Video on YouTube - 3
• YouTube Short - 1
• First Time Contribution - 3

See the details below.

Embeddedpy-bridge: A Toolkit for Embedded Python

Overview

Embedded Python is a game-changer for InterSystems IRIS, offering access to the vast Python ecosystem directly within the database. However, bridging the gap between ObjectScript and Python can sometimes feel like translating between two different worlds.

To make this transition seamless using embeddedpy-bridge.

This package is a developer-centric utility kit designed to provide high-level ObjectScript wrappers, familiar syntax, and robust error handling for Embedded Python.

Hi developers!
Happy holidays!

In ObjectScript there is neat option to log errors - call Log() method of an exception intance, e.g.:

ClassMethod MyMethod() {

Try {

w 1/0

}

Catch e {

do e.Log() // logging error in the app log

write "the error happened: "_e.DisplayString()

}

}

Is there anything like that for Embedded Python? e.g:

ClassMethod MyMethod() [Language = python] {

 try:

   print(1/0)

 except ZeroDivisionError as e:

   // how can I log e into IRIS App Error Log here?

   print("Caught exception: " + str(e))

}

Any ideas?

Hi,

I am getting below error while using embedded python script.

Want to know how can I change namespace to %SYS to use above mentioned class?

Thanks

I have an Embedded Python method, which is essentially a call to one third-party module.

Most of the time, the method takes <0.1 seconds to execute, but sometimes it takes 30 or 60 seconds.

The server is relatively idle (20-30% CPU load).

How can I debug this issue further? Ideally, I want to know where this library spends the time. The library is mainly Python code (it's boto3, so it's not a Python C API proxy library).

Since the introduction of Embedded Python there has always been doubt about its performance compared to ObjectScript and on more than one occasion I have discussed this with @Guillaume Rongier , well, taking advantage of the fact that I was making a small application to capture data from public competitions in Spain and to be able to perform searches using the capabilities of VectorSearch I saw the opportunity to carry out a small test.

Hi everyone,
I'm getting prepared to take the following certification exam: "InterSystems IRIS Development Professional".

Can you give some advice on how to prepare (aside from the official course page: https://www.intersystems.com/certifications/intersystems-iris-development-professional/)?
Do you have examples of quiz questions that simulate the real exam or any material that helped you getting prepared?

Thanks you in advance,

Arber

Using embedded Python while building your InterSystems-based solution can add very powerful and deep capabilities to your toolbox.

I'd like to share one sample use-case I encountered - enabling a CDC (Change Data Capture) for a mongoDB Collection - capturing those changes, digesting them through an Interoperability flow, and eventually updating an EMR via a REST API.

Hi all,

Let's do some more work about the testing data generation and export the result by REST API.😁

Here, I would like to reuse the datagen.restservice class which built in the pervious article Writing a REST api service for exporting the generated patient data in .csv

This time, we are planning to generate a FHIR bundle include multiple resources for testing the FHIR repository.

Here is some reference for you, if you want to know mare about FHIR The Concept of FHIR: A Healthcare Data Standard Designed for the Future

OK... Let's start😆

1. Create a new utility class datagen.utli.

I am documenting a demo of InterSystems IRIS featuring Embedded Python and Jupyter Notebook deployed on the same container, and an Embedded Python application developed on that Jupyter Notebook IDE.

I have used the Docker container created by @Bob Kuszewski as a development environment to demonstrate how Embedded Python app can be developed in such a setting to push and retrieve data to and from InterSystems IRIS. The benefit of using this container as the development environment is that it is a virtual environment with Jupyter IDE and IRIS connected and running side by side.

I am trying to add Plotly Bar graph in a div to a CSPpage. I am working in IRIS 2022.1. I created persistent class.

I copied relevant code into github repo:

oliverwilms/iris-python-plotly
 

iris-python-plotly/csp/otwPlotly.csp at master · oliverwilms/iris-python-plotly
 

Set tPlotlyDiv = ##class(dc.python.test).PlotlyDiv(trnYear,trnMonth)

ClassMethod PlotlyDiv(pTrnYear = 2025, pTrnMonth = 8) As %String
{
    Set importlib = ##class(%SYS.Python).Import("importlib")
    Set plotdiv = ##class(%SYS.Python).Import("plotdiv")
    Do importlib.reload(plotdiv)
    Set div = plotdiv.

With the rapid adoption of telemedicine, remote consultations, and digital dictation, healthcare professionals are communicating more through voice than ever before. Patients engaging in virtual conversations generate vast amounts of unstructured audio data, so how can clinicians or administrators search and extract information from hours of voice recordings?

Enter IRIS Audio Query - a full-stack application that transforms audio into a searchable knowledge base. With it, you can:

• Upload and store clinical conversations, consultation recordings, or dictations
• Perform natural language queries (e.

Your Mission

Let's pretend for a moment that you're an international action spy who's dedicated your life to keeping the people of the world safe from danger. You recieve the following mission:

Good day, Agent IRIS,

We're sorry for interrupting your vacation in the Bahamas, but we just received word from our London agent that a "time bomb" is set to detonate in a highly populated area in Los Angeles. Our sources say that the "time bomb" is set to trigger at this afternoon.

Hurry, the people are counting on you!

Interoperability on Python (IoP) is a proof-of-concept project designed to showcase the power of the InterSystems IRIS Interoperability Framework when combined with a Python-first approach.IoP leverages Embedded Python (a feature of InterSystems IRIS) to enable developers to write interoperability components in Python, which can seamlessly integrate with the robust IRIS platform. This guide has been crafted for beginners and provides a comprehensive introduction to IoP, its setup, and practical steps to create your first interoperability component. By the end of this article, you will get a clear understanding of how to use IoP to build scalable, Python-based interoperability solutions.

This article is a continuation of the IRIS JSON project and features additional methods and insights.

Let's continue with the instance methods

%GetTypeOf(Key)

This instance method is used to determine the JSON data type of the %DynamicObject or %DynamicArray.

It returns one of the following strings:

USER>Set1

I have a custom Buffer class which is designed to capture written/printed statements to the device, to be able to transform the captured text to string or stream type. I have used this in ObjectScript to capture ObjectScript write statements and return a string. I would like to try to use this with a [ Language = python ] method as follows. This class will be called by a scheduled task.

/// ObjectScript code which initializes buffer to capture statements written in nested method callClassMethodset

When I install the numpy package on Python on my PC using:

pip install numpy

I can use it in python on my machine. If I do:

pip install --target C:\InterSystems\IRIS\mgr\python numpy

I get errors any time I try to import it in embedded python.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "c:\intersystems\iris\mgr\python\numpy\_core\__init__.py", line 23, in <module>
    from . import multiarray
  File "c:\intersystems\iris\mgr\python\numpy\_core\multiarray.py", line 10, in <module>
    from . import overrides
  File "c:\intersystems\iris\mgr\python\numpy\_core\overrides.py", line 8, in <module>
    from numpy._core._multiarray_umath import (
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'numpy._core._multiarray_umath'
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "c:\intersystems\iris\mgr\python\numpy\__init__.py", line 128, in <module>
    from numpy.__config__ import show as show_config
  File "c:\intersystems\iris\mgr\python\numpy\__config__.py", line 4, in <module>
    from numpy._core._multiarray_umath import (
  File "c:\intersystems\iris\mgr\python\numpy\_core\__init__.py", line 49, in <module>
    raise ImportError(msg)
ImportError:
IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THIS FOR ADVICE ON HOW TO SOLVE THIS ISSUE!
Importing the numpy C-extensions failed. This error can happen for
many reasons, often due to issues with your setup or how NumPy was
installed.
We have compiled some common reasons and troubleshooting tips at:
    https://numpy.org/devdocs/user/troubleshooting-importerror.html
Please note and check the following:
  * The Python version is: Python3.9 from "c:\intersystems\iris\bin\IRISDB.EXE"
  * The NumPy version is: "2.1.2"
and make sure that they are the versions you expect.
Please carefully study the documentation linked above for further help.
Original error was: No module named 'numpy._core._multiarray_umath'
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<input>", line 1, in <module>
  File "c:\intersystems\iris\mgr\python\numpy\__init__.py", line 133, in <module>
    raise ImportError(msg) from e
ImportError: Error importing numpy: you should not try to import numpy from
        its source directory; please exit the numpy source tree, and relaunch
        your python interpreter from there.

Are you curious about how to run Python scripts directly in your InterSystems IRIS or Caché terminal? 🤔 Good news it's easy! 😆 IRIS supports Embedded Python, allowing you to use Python interactively within its terminal environment. 

How to access the Python Shell?

To launch the Python shell from the IRIS terminal, simply run the following command:

do##class%SYS.Python

This opens an interactive Python shell inside the IRIS terminal. From here, you can write and run Python code just as you would in a normal Python environment.

I am looking to create a Python virtual environment (venv) so that my imported/installed python packages can be separate on different namespaces in IRIS. I am able to go and create an environment, activate it, and install packages, but I am not sure how to ensure that Embedded Python methods actually point to this virtual environment. 

Is the best solution to just load the virtual environment at runtime, in each method? That seems like a bad solution. Has anyone run into this and found a good solution?

I am writing this post primarily to gather an informal consensus on how developers are using Python in conjunction with IRIS, so please respond to the poll at the end of this article! In the body of the article, I'll give some background on each choice provided, as well as the advantages for each, but feel free to skim over it and just respond to the poll.

As most of you are probably aware, Python is currently the most popular programming language among developers around the world - and for good reason.

I was wondering what best practice was for using macros in Embedded Python, i.e. iris.execute('$$$MACRO()') or something else. Does anyone have insight into this?

1. A Motivating Example

Embedded Python has been around for a while. You probably followed the tutorials and learned about it. However, if you've tried to combine Python and ObjectScript in real development work, you probably ran into situations where you get an error message like this:

USER>Do##class

It's a long string for limited information. All we know from this message is that a Python error occurred where (a) the error type is ZeroDivisionError; and (b)

Two big changes for the TestCoverage open source tool: Embedded Python support, and a new UI 

Embedded Python

Previously, TestCoverage could only track unit test coverage for code written in ObjectScript. It would ignore code written in other languages like Python in the coverage statistics.

As more and more IRIS application code is being written in Embedded Python instead of just ObjectScript, it's critical that TestCoverage can include coverage results for Embedded Python code.

Why I've decided to write this

In my last article I've talked about returning values with Python. But returning them is simple, what can make it harder is what I'm going to talk about today: where the value is treated.
 

Python object in IRIS

Following the example of the last aricle, we have the method:

ClassClassMethodAs

Then, we'll have as a return a Python object, that IRIS interprets as  the class %SYS.Python. So if I call the method with two values, like this:

"Hello"

we'll have as returnValue something like "1@%SYS.Python".