kwargsusessl

kwargsusessl is a term used in some software development contexts to describe a pattern or mechanism that enforces the use of SSL/TLS for network requests by requiring or validating certain keyword arguments (kwargs) in API client calls. The aim is to prevent accidental unencrypted communication and to promote secure defaults in client libraries.

In practice, a library implementing kwargsusessl may wrap request constructors or client call sites so that a required keyword argument—such as use_ssl, ssl, verify, or https—must be provided and evaluated as true. Some implementations raise an error if SSL is not explicitly enabled, while others redirect non-SSL requests to their secure equivalents. The approach can be realized through wrappers, decorators, or client factories that enforce SSL settings consistently across all endpoints.

Adoption of kwargsusessl is not standardized and varies by project. It is typically described as a security pattern or convention rather than a formal protocol. Proponents argue that it reduces the risk of sending data over plaintext connections and helps enforce secure-by-default behavior in client libraries. Critics note that it may introduce compatibility friction with legacy services, require vigilant maintenance to keep endpoints aligned with HTTPS, and depend on the underlying SSL verification configuration of the request layer.

See also: TLS/SSL, secure-by-default, Python kwargs, API client design, crypto and transport security.