UK Fuel Finder Python Library

Python library for accessing the UK Government Fuel Finder API.

⚠️ API Changes (February 17, 2025)

The UK Fuel Finder API has been updated with breaking changes:

Breaking Changes

1. Removed Fields: success and message fields removed from API responses
2. New Field: price_change_effective_timestamp added to fuel price responses
3. Error Codes: Invalid batch numbers now return HTTP 404 (Not Found) instead of previous error codes
4. Data Types: Latitude and longitude values now use double precision

Backward Compatibility

This library includes backward compatibility mode (enabled by default):

# With backward compatibility (default)
client = FuelFinderClient(backward_compatible=True)
prices = client.get_all_pfs_prices()
print(prices[0].success)  # Returns True (for backward compatibility)
print(prices[0].message)  # Returns empty string (for backward compatibility)

# Without backward compatibility
client = FuelFinderClient(backward_compatible=False)
prices = client.get_all_pfs_prices()
# prices[0].success and prices[0].message not available

Environment Variable

Control backward compatibility via environment variable:

export UKFUELFINDER_BACKWARD_COMPATIBLE=0  # Disable backward compatibility

Migration Guide

1. Update to the latest version of this library
2. Test with backward_compatible=True (default)
3. Update your code to remove usage of success and message fields
4. Handle 404 errors for invalid batch numbers
5. Switch to backward_compatible=False when ready
6. Update to use the new price_change_effective_timestamp field

⚠️ API Changes (February 25-26, 2026)

The UK Fuel Finder API has removed additional fields:

Breaking Changes

1. Removed Field: mft_organisation_name removed from all API responses
2. Removed Field: mft.name removed from CSV extracts

Impact

• The mft_organisation_name field in PFS and PFSInfo models is now Optional[str]
• Field will be None for all new API responses
• Existing code accessing this field will receive None instead of a string value

Migration

Check for None before using the field:

pfs = client.get_all_pfs_prices()[0]
if pfs.mft_organisation_name:
    print(f"Organisation: {pfs.mft_organisation_name}")
else:
    print("Organisation name not available")

Features

• OAuth 2.0 Authentication - Automatic token management with refresh support
• Comprehensive Data Access - Fuel prices and forecourt information
• Built-in Caching - Reduces API calls with configurable TTL
• Rate Limiting - Automatic retry with exponential backoff
• Type Hints - Full type annotations for better IDE support
• Extensive Error Handling - Clear exceptions for all error cases
• Batch Pagination - Automatic handling of 500-record batches
• Incremental Updates - Fetch only changed data since a specific date

Installation

pip install ukfuelfinder

Quick Start

from ukfuelfinder import FuelFinderClient

# Initialize client
client = FuelFinderClient(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret",
    environment="production"  # or "test"
)

# Get all fuel prices
prices = client.get_all_pfs_prices()

# Search for stations near a location (returns list of (distance, PFSInfo) tuples)
nearby = client.search_by_location(latitude=51.5074, longitude=-0.1278, radius_km=5.0)
for distance, station in nearby:
    print(f"{distance:.2f}km - {station.trading_name}")

# Get prices for specific fuel type
unleaded_prices = client.get_prices_by_fuel_type("unleaded")

# Get forecourt information
forecourts = client.get_all_pfs_info()

# Get incremental updates since yesterday
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
yesterday = (datetime.now() - timedelta(days=1)).strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
updated_prices = client.get_incremental_price_updates(yesterday)

Environment Variables

Set credentials via environment variables:

export FUEL_FINDER_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"
export FUEL_FINDER_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"
export FUEL_FINDER_ENVIRONMENT="production"

Then initialize without parameters:

client = FuelFinderClient()

Documentation

• Quick Start Guide
• API Reference
• Authentication
• Caching Guide
• Rate Limiting
• Error Handling

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Valid Fuel Finder API credentials from developer.fuel-finder.service.gov.uk

API Coverage

This library provides access to all Information Recipient API endpoints:

• Authentication

  • Generate OAuth access token
  • Refresh access token

• Fuel Prices

  • Fetch all PFS fuel prices (full or incremental)

• Forecourt Information

  • Fetch all PFS information (500 per batch)
  • Fetch incremental PFS information updates

Examples

See the examples/ directory for complete working examples:

• basic_usage.py - Simple getting started example
• error_handling.py - Comprehensive error handling
• fetch_fuel_prices.py - Fetch all fuel prices and save to JSON
• fetch_all_sites.py - Fetch all forecourt sites and save to JSON
• location_search.py - Search for stations near a location

Backward Compatibility Example

# With backward compatibility (default)
client = FuelFinderClient(backward_compatible=True)
prices = client.get_all_pfs_prices()
print(prices[0].success)  # Returns True (for backward compatibility)
print(prices[0].message)  # Returns empty string (for backward compatibility)

# Without backward compatibility
client = FuelFinderClient(backward_compatible=False)
prices = client.get_all_pfs_prices()
# prices[0].success and prices[0].message not available
# Use price_change_effective_timestamp instead
if prices[0].fuel_prices:
    print(prices[0].fuel_prices[0].price_change_effective_timestamp)

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/mretallack/ukfuelfinder.git
cd ukfuelfinder
pip install -e .[dev]

Running Tests

pytest

Code Quality

black ukfuelfinder tests
mypy ukfuelfinder
flake8 ukfuelfinder

Future Enhancements

Potential features for future development:

Smart Fuel Recommendations

• Cost-optimized routing - Calculate total fuel cost including detour distance based on vehicle consumption
• Cheapest fuel finder - Find the most economical option considering current location, fuel prices, and distance
• Route integration - Suggest fuel stops along planned routes with minimal detour

Price Intelligence

• Price alerts - Notify users when prices drop below a threshold in their area
• Price forecasting - Predict price trends based on historical data
• Price comparison - Compare prices across brands, regions, and fuel types

Advanced Filtering

• Multi-criteria search - Filter by amenities (car wash, shop, 24-hour, EV charging)
• Brand preferences - Filter by preferred fuel brands or loyalty programs
• Fuel type availability - Find stations with specific fuel types (HVO, E10, premium diesel)

Journey Planning

• Fuel range calculator - Estimate remaining range and suggest refuel points
• Multi-stop optimization - Plan optimal fuel stops for long journeys
• Emergency fuel finder - Quick search for nearest station when running low

Data Analytics

• Spending tracking - Monitor fuel expenses over time
• Savings calculator - Calculate savings from using cheapest stations
• Regional price analysis - Compare average prices across different areas

Integration Features

• Navigation app integration - Direct routing to selected stations
• Calendar integration - Schedule reminders for regular refueling
• Vehicle integration - Sync with vehicle telematics for automatic consumption data

Contributions implementing these features are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Data provided by the UK Government Fuel Finder service
• API documentation: developer.fuel-finder.service.gov.uk
• Content available under Open Government Licence v3.0

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• API Support: Contact Fuel Finder Team

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for version history.

Release Procedure

To create a new release:

1. Update version in all files:

   • pyproject.toml
   • setup.py
   • ukfuelfinder/__init__.py

2. Update CHANGELOG.md with new version entry

3. Commit and push version updates:

   git add pyproject.toml setup.py ukfuelfinder/__init__.py CHANGELOG.md
   git commit -m "Release: vX.Y.Z"
   git push origin main

4. Create GitHub release:

   • Go to GitHub repository → Releases → Create new release
   • Tag: vX.Y.Z (must match version in files)
   • Title: vX.Y.Z
   • Description: Copy from CHANGELOG.md for the version
   • Publish release

5. Automated publishing:

   • GitHub Actions will automatically build and publish to PyPI
   • Check .github/workflows/publish.yml for details