OpenReview Python Client

The Venue class provides a high-level abstraction for managing conference-style workflows (submissions, reviews, decisions). You can use it to programmatically bootstrap a venue, manage committee matching, and handle bulk decisions.

Key capabilities include:

• Setup: Bootstrapping groups, invitations, and stages (submission, review, decision).
• Committee Management: Recruiting reviewers and setting up matching (affinity scores and conflicts).
• Assignments: Deploying and reverting reviewer assignments.
• Decisions: Bulk-posting decisions from a CSV and sending automated email notifications to authors.
• Lifecycle: Expiring submission invitations and retrieving accepted submissions.

import openreview
from openreview.venue import Venue

client = openreview.api.OpenReviewClient(
    baseurl='https://api2.openreview.net',
    username='pc@example.com',
    password='...'
)

# Initialize the Venue helper
venue = Venue(client, 'Conf25.cc/2025/Conference', 'openreview.net/Support')

# Bootstrap venue groups and invitations
venue.setup(
    program_chair_ids=['pc1@example.com', 'pc2@example.com']
)

# Create stages
venue.create_submission_stage()
venue.create_review_stage()
venue.create_decision_stage()

The Journal class is designed for managing journal-style workflows (e.g., TMLR), which differ from conference workflows by focusing on Action Editors (AEs) and continuous submission cycles.

Key capabilities include:

• Setup: Bootstrapping journal groups, invitations, and editor roles.
• Recruitment: Inviting Action Editors and Reviewers.
• AE Management: Configuring AE matching systems and deploying assignments.
• Reporting: Generating CSV statistics for reviewer and AE performance.
• Archiving: Moving completed submissions to archived slots and cleaning up scoring edges.

from openreview.journal import Journal

journal = Journal(
    client,
    venue_id='TMLR',
    secret_key='your-secret-key',
    contact_info='tmlr@jmlr.org',
    full_name='Transactions on Machine Learning Research',
    short_name='TMLR'
)

# Bootstrap all journal groups, invitations, and group variables
journal.setup(
    support_role='OpenReview.net/Support',
    editors=['~EIC_One1', '~EIC_Two1'],
    assignment_delay=5  # minutes before assignment processes run
)

The easiest way to run integration tests is via Docker Compose. This requires Docker and requires the following sibling repositories to be cloned next to openreview-py:

• openreview-api
• openreview-api-v1
• openreview-web
• openreview-py (this repo)

Setup

1. Navigate to the docker directory.
2. Copy the example config: cp config.example.json config.json.
3. Required: Edit config.json with your local repository paths.

Test Commands

• Run a specific test file: ./run.py tests/test_client.py
• Run a specific test with verbose output: ./run.py tests/test_client.py::TestClient::test_get_groups -v
• Run all tests: ./run.py

Each run starts the infrastructure (MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, web), runs tests, and tears down services automatically.

cd docker
cp config.example.json config.json
# Edit config.json with your repo paths
./run.py tests/test_client.py

To run tests without Docker, you must manually manage the required services and the Selenium driver.

1. Prerequisites

• Clone and configure openreview-api-v1, openreview-api-v2, and openreview-web to run on ports 3000, 3001, and 3030 respectively.
• Install the package with test dependencies: pip install -e ".[test]"
• Download the appropriate Firefox Selenium driver (geckodriver) and place it in openreview-py/tests/drivers/.

2. Start Services

• In openreview-api-v1 directory: npm run cleanStart
• In openreview-api-v2 directory: npm run cleanStart
• In openreview-web directory: SUPER_USER=openreview.net npm run dev

3. Run Tests

• Ensure any existing OpenReview credentials are cleared: unset OPENREVIEW_USERNAME && unset OPENREVIEW_PASSWORD
• Run all tests: pytest
• Run a specific file: pytest tests/test_client.py

pip install -e ".[test]"
# ... start services ...
pytest

To use the recommended v2 API, instantiate openreview.api.OpenReviewClient. You can authenticate using a username and password, or via a bearer token. If using a token, it takes precedence over username/password credentials.

Authentication Methods:

• Username/Password: Pass username and password directly to the constructor.
• Token-based: Pass a token. You can also specify tokenExpiresIn (in seconds, max 1 week) when using username/password to manage session duration.
• Environment Variables: The client can be initialized without arguments if OPENREVIEW_USERNAME, OPENREVIEW_PASSWORD, and OPENREVIEW_API_BASEURL_V2 are set in your environment.
• Guest Access: Initializing the client without credentials provides read-only access to public notes, groups, and profiles.

import openreview

# v2 API (recommended)
client = openreview.api.OpenReviewClient(
    baseurl='https://api2.openreview.net',
    username='user@example.com',
    password='your_password'
)

# Token-based auth
client = openreview.api.OpenReviewClient(
    baseurl='https://api2.openreview.net',
    token='your_bearer_token'
)

# With custom expiration (seconds, max 1 week)
client = openreview.api.OpenReviewClient(
    baseurl='https://api2.openreview.net',
    username='user@example.com',
    password='your_password',
    tokenExpiresIn=86400  # 1 day
)

# Guest access (read-only)
guest = openreview.api.OpenReviewClient(baseurl='https://api2.openreview.net')