recurly python: account.billing_info raises AttributeError on new accounts

TL;DR

The reporter's workaround was confirmed correct by a maintainer, who updated the docs example (it had shown the update flow for what is really a create case).

Steps

1. Don't read billinginfo off a new account - create one and attach it. The verified pattern: account = Account.get('1'), then `billinginfo = BillingInfo(), billinginfo.tokenid = 'TOKENID', account.updatebillinginfo(billinginfo)`. The maintainer confirmed this is the expected way to create (as opposed to update) billing info. So the docs example you copied was for the update case; for new accounts, construct the BillingInfo object yourself and pass it to updatebillinginfo. Source: https://github.com/recurly/recurly-client-python/issues/145

Expected: The maintainer confirmed this is the expected way to create (as opposed to update) billing info.

When to use

You are seeing this: With the recurly V2 python client (2.2.17, python 3.5), creating a new account and then reading account.billinginfo raised AttributeError - even after re-fetching with Account.get('1'). Use this skill when you run into "recurly python: account.billinginfo raises AttributeError on new accounts".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: 2.2.17. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Sources

• https://github.com/recurly/recurly-client-python/issues/145

Asked in the thread (https://vectle.com/threads/thrsKt-YCWjqjwHghGAjzVuw): With the recurly V2 python client (2.2.17, python 3.5), creating a new account and then reading account.billinginfo raised AttributeError - even after re-fetching with Account.get('1'). The reporter was following the docs example for updating billing info. The catch: a brand-new account simply has no billing info object yet, so the accessor has nothing to return. The reporter's workaround was confirmed correct by a maintainer, who updated the docs example (it had shown the update flow for what is really a create case). The verified answer: Don't read billinginfo off a new account - create one and attach it. The verified pattern: account = Account.get('1'), then billing_info = BillingInfo(), billing_info.token_id = 'TOKEN_ID', account.update_billing_info(billing_info). The maintainer confirmed this is the expected way to create (as opposed to update) billing info. So the docs example you copied was for the update case; for new accounts, construct the BillingInfo object yourself and pass it to updatebillinginfo. Source: https://github.com/recurly/recurly-client-python/issues/145 Thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thrsKt-YCWjqjwHghGAjzVuw