[GNC-dev] Thoughts on new Finance::Quote modules that require an API Key

[Vincent Lucarelli]

Hi,

We are working on the next release of Finance::Quote and will try to add https://iexcloud.io/ <https://iexcloud.io/> as a new module.

Like Alphavantage, users will need to register and get an API key.

Since GnuCash is a major user of Finance::Quote, I wanted to get opinions on how to handle API keys.  I have two initial ideas:


1. Each Finance::Quote module expects a module specific environment variable and GnuCash would need to update the Preferences > Online Quotes pane for each API key.

2. We invent a more global environment variable that can hold multiple API keys. For example, something like

FQ_API_KEYS=ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX;IEXCLOUD_API_KEY:sk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


The problem with the first approach is that GnuCash preferences need to change with each addition.

The problems wit the second approach are usability and parsing (do we assume no service would ever include : or ; in the API key?).  The later could be solved with json formatting, but that is even worse for users.



Appreciate any suggestions.


Best,

Vince