# A Quick Way to Test Python Lambda Functions Locally

I'm working on a more expansive post on Lambda functions and API Gateway, but I wanted to share a find that I think is useful when testing Lambda functions written in Python. 

The pip package [python-lambda-local](https://pypi.org/project/python-lambda-local/) will help you emulate calling a Lambda function, without having to leave your local machine. 

To install and setup, create a simple py file, add a handler function that takes an event, then call the handler, filename and a sample json payload from file. 

Here's a simple example: 

Install the package. Might be best to use venv, or you can install globally to call it from anywhere on your machine. 
```bash
pip install python-lambda-local
```

app.py
```python
def handler(event, context):
    msg = "Greetings %s from %s!" % (event["name"], event["city"])
    return { 
        'statusCode': 200,
        'isBase64Encoded': False,
        'body': {
            'msg': msg
        },
        'headers': {
            'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        }
    }
```

Create an event file with some json in it
event.json
```json
{
    "name": "Joe",
    "city": "Ohio"
}
```

Run this command to test. 
```bash
python-lambda-local -f handler app.py event.json
```

Check for success or error:
```bash
RESULT:
{'statusCode': 200, 'isBase64Encoded': False, 'body': {'msg': 'Greetings Joe from Ohio. !'}, 'headers': {'Content-Type': 'application/json'}}
```

That's all for today. Short and sweet, but it's all part of a larger post that I didn't have time to finish today. 

AJ