The Eikon API provides simple access to users who require programmatic access to Refinitiv’s data. In this article, I’ll explain the steps to get up and running within a few minutes. Eikon & python play together nicely! You can find the official documentation at https://developers.refinitiv.com/eikon-apis/eikon-data-api.
Before you start, make sure you have the following:
- Python 3.5+
- Eikon software
- Eikon login credentials
1) Download the Eikon package for Python with pip
If you are using Windows, you can run the following in the “Command Line”. MacOS and Linux users can use the “Terminal”.
pip install eikon
This will download the eikon package from pypi and install it on your computer.
2) Get your AppID” from the “Application ID Generator” in Eikon
The second step is to open Eikon and use the search bar to find the App Key Generator app. You can find it through the search bar. Create a new app key and copy it, because you will need it for the following step.
3) Import and authenticate
Thirdly, open up your favourite editor and get ready to start coding. Make sure that the Eikon software is still running in the background. You only need two lines of code to get going. First import the eikon package, then authenticate with your freshly created app key.
import eikon
eikon.set_app_key('xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx')
4) Use the Eikon command
Now you can use the following command to retrieve news and (time series) data directly with Python.
eikon.get_symbology() eikon.get_news_headlines() eikon.get_news_story() eikon.get_timeseries() eikon.get_data()
The best thing is, you even get the data in pandas DataFrames. Finally, you can enrich the Eikon data with data from other open data sources.
Conclusion: Eikon ❤️ Python
It couldn’t really get any easier to get started with the Eikon Data API. In just a couple lines of code you have access to news, time series and fundamental data. You can find the official documentation at https://developers.refinitiv.com/eikon-apis/eikon-data-api. If you need any help with the Eikon API, I’ve worked at Refinitiv for 4 years, so please feel free to reach out. Happy coding!