Python Automation Cookbook

Build practical automation skills through an expanded third edition featuring new chapters on AI models, MCP, and intelligent agents, guiding you from core Python workflows to modern agentic automation.

Key Features

• Apply proven Python automation recipes to solve real-world tasks
• Integrate AI models and build intelligent agents for business workflows
• Extend automation across systems using MCP and modern integrations

Book Description

Automating repetitive tasks and integrating systems efficiently becomes increasingly complex as workflows scale. This book helps you solve that problem with practical Python recipes that guide you from foundational automation to advanced, AI-powered workflows.

You start by building a strong base in Python automation, exploring tested solutions for file handling, web scraping, APIs, testing, and system operations, and learning how to design reliable automation workflows. The cookbook approach enables you to quickly apply solutions to real problems while building a deeper understanding through hands-on practice.

This third edition expands the scope of automation by introducing AI-powered capabilities. You learn how to call AI models within your scripts, use and implement the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for system integration, and design intelligent agents that automate decision-making processes. New chapters provide real-world examples of AI agents in business automation, helping you move beyond scripts to adaptive systems. This book combines practical knowledge with modern techniques to ensure you stay current with evolving automation practices.

By the end of this book, you will be able to design, build, and extend Python automation workflows, including AI-driven solutions, to handle complex real-world tasks with confidence.

What you will learn

• Automate file, system, and network tasks using Python
• Build robust scripts for web scraping and API integration
• Design scalable automation workflows for real use cases
• Integrate AI models into automation pipelines
• Implement MCP for system-level automation integration
• Develop intelligent agents for business automation
• Apply testing and debugging techniques for automation
• Create real-world AI-driven automation solutions

Who this book is for

Python developers, automation engineers, DevOps professionals, and system administrators who want to streamline workflows and integrate modern AI capabilities into automation. A basic understanding of Python programming is recommended.

Table of Contents

1. Let's Begin Our Automation Journey
2. Automating Tasks Made Easy
3. Building Your First Web Scraping Application
4. Searching and Reading Local Files
5. Generating Fantastic Reports
6. Fun with Spreadsheets
7. Cleaning and Processing Data
8. Developing Stunning Graphs
9. Dealing with Communication Channels
10. Why Not Automate Your Marketing Campaign?
11. Calling AI Models
12. Adding Tools to GenAI
13. Building AI Agents for Business Automation
14. Real-World AI Example
15. Automatic Testing Routines
16. Debugging Techniques

Jaime Buelta is a Software Architect who has been a professional programmer since 2002 and a Python enthusiast since 2010. He has developed software for a variety of fields, focusing, in the last 10 years, on developing web services in Python in the gaming, finance and education industries. He is a strong proponent of automating everything to make computers do most of the heavy lifting, so humans can focus on the important stuff. He published his first book, "Python Automation Cookbook", in 2018 (recently with an extended second edition), followed a year later by "Hands-On Docker for Microservices with Python" describing how to migrate to a microservice architecture. He is currently living in Dublin, Ireland, and is a regular speaker at PyCon Ireland.