Real-Time Shipping Rate Calculator 📦

This is a command-line application built with Python that helps users find the cheapest shipping rates for a package in real-time. It uses the Shippo API to fetch rates from multiple carriers and provides a clean, interactive terminal interface for the user.

Features

• Interactive CLI: A user-friendly command-line interface guides the user through the process.
• Real-Time Rates: Connects to the Shippo API to get up-to-the-minute shipping costs from major carriers.
• Rate Comparison: Displays all available shipping options and highlights the most affordable one.
• Error Handling: Validates user input to ensure that dimensional data is numeric, preventing application crashes.
• Secure API Key Management: Uses a .env file to securely store and access the Shippo API key, keeping it out of the source code.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Python 3.x
• A free Shippo API Key

Getting Started

There are two ways to use this application: downloading the pre-built version (recommended for most users) or running it from the source code (for developers).

For Users (Recommended)

The easiest way to get started is to download the latest pre-built application.

This release is currently only designed for Mac with ARM architecture, if you want to create a standalone, use the Source code along with Pyinstaller

1. Navigate to the Releases Page for this repository.
2. Under the latest release, download the .zip asset (e.g., shipping-calculator-v1.0.zip).
3. Run the application. The first time you run it, the app will prompt you to enter your personal Shippo API key, which it will save for future use.

For Developers (Running from Source)

If you wish to run or modify the source code directly:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [URL_TO_YOUR_GITHUB_REPOSITORY]
   cd [REPOSITORY_FOLDER_NAME]

2. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Set Up Your Environment File The application requires a Shippo API key to function.

• Create a new file in the root of the project directory named .env.
• Open the .env file and add your Shippo API key in the following format:

  SHIPPO_API_KEY="your_actual_shippo_api_key_goes_here"
  

4. Run the application:

   python main.py

Author

• Steven Vandegrift