Access a site with client certificate authentication with Requests

The Session object has an attribute called cert, so you can pass the file path there as a string.

client_auth.py

from requests import Session


def main():
    s = Session()
    s.cert = 'cert_for_requests.txt'
    r = s.get('https://localhost')
    print(r.status_code)
    print(r.text)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

cert_for_requests.txt needs to have the key and certificate written in plain text like this (both work first), so please manage it properly so that it will not be leaked to a third party.

The key below is, of course, a dummy string.

cert_for_requests.txt

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----                                                                     
MIICXQIBAAKBgQDDOKpQZexZtGMqb7F1OMwdcFpcQ/pqtCoOVCGIAUxT3uP0hOw8                                    
CZNjLT2LoG4Tdl7Cl6t66SNzMVyUeFUrk5rkfnCJ+W9RIPkht3mv5A8yespeH27x                                    
FjGVbyQ/3DvDOp9Hc2AOPbYDUMRmVa1amawxwqAFPBp9UZ3/vfU8nxwExwIDAQAB                                    
AoGBAMCvt3svfr9zysViBTf8XYtZD/ctqYeUWEZYR9hj36CQyVLZuAnyMaWcS7j7                                    
GmrfVNygs0LXxoO2Xvi0ZOxj/mZ6EcZd8n37LxTo0GcWvAE4JjPr7I4MR2OvGYa/                                    
1696e82xwEnUdpyBv9z3ebleowQ1UWP88iq40oZYukUeignRAkEA9c7MABi5OJUq                                    
hf9gwm/IBie63wHQbB2wVgB3UuCYEa4Zd5zcvJIKz7NfhsZKKcZJ6CBVxwUd84aQ                                    
Aue2DRwYQwJBAMtQ5yBA8howP2FDqcl9sovYR0jw7Etb9mwsRNzJwQRYYnqCC5yS                                    
nOaNn8uHKzBcjvkNiSOEZFGKhKtSrlc9qy0CQQDfNMzMHac7uUAm85JynTyeUj9/                                    
t88CDieMwNmZuXZ9P4HCuv86gMcueex5nt/DdVqxXYNmuL/M3lkxOiV3XBavAkAA                                    
xow7KURDKU/0lQd+x0X5FpgfBRxBpVYpT3nrxbFAzP2DLh/RNxX2IzAq3JcjlhbN                                    
iGmvgv/G99pNtQEJQCj5AkAJcOvGM8+Qhg2xM0yXK0M79gxgPh2KEjppwhUmKEv9                                    
o9agBLWNU3EH9a6oOfsZZcapvUbWIw+OCx5MlxSFDamg                                                        
-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----                                                                    
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----                                                                         
MIIDfjCCAuegAwIBAgIJAOYJ/e6lsjrUMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAMIGHMQswCQYD                                    
VQQGEwJVUzELMAkGA1UECBMCRkwxDjAMBgNVBAcTBVRhbXBhMRQwEgYDVQQKEwtG                                    
b29iYXIgSW5jLjEQMA4GA1UECxMHTnV0IEh1dDEXMBUGA1UEAxMOd3d3LmZvb2Jh                                    
ci5jb20xGjAYBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWC2Zvb0BiYXIuY29tMB4XDTExMDUwNTE0MDk0                                    
N1oXDTEyMDUwNDE0MDk0N1owgYcxCzAJBgNVBAYTAlVTMQswCQYDVQQIEwJGTDEO                                    
MAwGA1UEBxMFVGFtcGExFDASBgNVBAoTC0Zvb2JhciBJbmMuMRAwDgYDVQQLEwdO                                    
dXQgSHV0MRcwFQYDVQQDEw53d3cuZm9vYmFyLmNvbTEaMBgGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYL                                    
Zm9vQGJhci5jb20wgZ8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADgY0AMIGJAoGBAMM4qlBl7Fm0                                    
YypvsXU4zB1wWlxD+mq0Kg5UIYgBTFPe4/SE7DwJk2MtPYugbhN2XsKXq3rpI3Mx                                    
XJR4VSuTmuR+cIn5b1Eg+SG3ea/kDzJ6yl4fbvEWMZVvJD/cO8M6n0dzYA49tgNQ                                    
xGZVrVqZrDHCoAU8Gn1Rnf+99TyfHATHAgMBAAGjge8wgewwHQYDVR0OBBYEFHZ+                                    
CPLqn8jlT9Fmq7wy/kDSN8STMIG8BgNVHSMEgbQwgbGAFHZ+CPLqn8jlT9Fmq7wy                                    
/kDSN8SToYGNpIGKMIGHMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzELMAkGA1UECBMCRkwxDjAMBgNV                                    
BAcTBVRhbXBhMRQwEgYDVQQKEwtGb29iYXIgSW5jLjEQMA4GA1UECxMHTnV0IEh1                                    
dDEXMBUGA1UEAxMOd3d3LmZvb2Jhci5jb20xGjAYBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWC2Zvb0Bi                                    
YXIuY29tggkA5gn97qWyOtQwDAYDVR0TBAUwAwEB/zANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFAAOB                                    
gQAv13ewjgrIsm3Yo8tyqTUHCr/lLekWcucClaDgcHlCAH+WU8+fGY8cyLrFFRdk                                    
4U5sD+P313Adg4VDyoocTO6enA9Vf1Ar5XMZ3l6k5yARjZNIbGO50IZfC/iblIZD                                    
UpR2T7J/ggfq830ACfpOQF/+7K+LgFLekJ5dIRuD1KKyFg==                                                    
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

When you do this,

$ python client_auth.py
200
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Welcome to nginx!</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>You are authenticated by client certificate.</h1>
</body>
</html>

Yes, it's done.

reference

• Developer Interface — Requests 2.7.0 documentation
• python - HTTPS connection using PEM Certificate - Stack Overflow
• python - Error using httlib's HTTPSConnection with PKCS#12 certificate - Stack Overflow