[Solved] AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘get’

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This error means you tried to call .get on a string. The str type in Python doesn’t have that method. You probably meant to call .get on a dict instead. To fix this, make sure the variable you’re calling .get on is a dict and not a string.

The dict type in Python has a convenient method called .get that allows you to get items from it without throwing a stack trace if that item isn’t there. Not all types in Python have this method, and if you call it on a str type, you’ll get this error message. Let’s take a look at how to generate this error and then how to solve it.

Problem: the variable you’re calling get on is a str and not a dict

Below is super simple, contrived example. Your situation is probably more complicated, but not impossible to figure out:

my_string = "Hello world!"
my_string.get("foo")
Python

Running this code will cause the following error message:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/user/main.py", line 2, in <module>
    my_string.get("foo")
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'get'

Like it says, str doesn’t have a method called get.

Solution: check the type of the variable before calling get

It’s almost certain you thought this variable was a dict (I hope), so one way to solve this is to do a type check before trying to call that method on it:

my_string = "Hello world!"

def do_something_with_a_dict(maybe_a_dict):
    if type(maybe_a_dict) is dict:
        print(maybe_a_dict.get("foo"))
    else:
        print("Error! That's not a dict!")

do_something_with_a_dict(my_string)
# -> Error! That's not a dict!
Python

This is one easy way to make sure this error never happens. By using Python’s type() function (built-in), you’ll be able to tell what the variable is that you’re working with before you try to do something with it you’re not supposed to.

In all likelihood though, this problem is because of some logic error in your programming. Take a look through your code and make sure the variables pointed to by your stack trace are what you think they are.

Conclusion

The Python error “AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘get'” simply means you tried to call .get() on a string object. Those don’t have that method. dicts do, however, and it’s probable that you were thinking the variable you were working with was a dict. So, take a look through your code, and make sure that’s the case. If all else fails, do a type check with the built-in type() function.