Command line tool to load a json url endpoint into a python datastructure

curljson.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

# Loads json into a python datastructure from a url
# Usage: curljson http://example.com/json_endpoint
# Then the datastructure is accessible via jobj

import json
import sys
from IPython import embed
from subprocess import Popen, PIPE


def load_jobj(*args):
    if len(args) == 1:
        args = args[0].split()

    if args[0] != 'curl':
        args = ['curl'] + args

    if len(args) > 1 and args[1] == 'curl':
        args.pop(1)

    p = Popen(args, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
    stdout, stderr = p.communicate()

    if stderr:
        print
        print stderr

    return json.loads(stdout)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    args = list(sys.argv)
    args[0] = 'curl'

    jobj = load_jobj(*args)

    print "="*50
    print "The json is loaded as 'jobj'. Have at it boss"
    print "="*50
    embed()