pjialin/py12306

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 14,896PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((py12306))
    Inputs
      env.py config
      User accounts
      Date and route
    Outputs
      Booked tickets
      Notifications
      Web log page
    Use Cases
      Grab scarce train tickets
      Run distributed cluster
      Send push alerts
    Tech Stack
      Python
      Redis
      Docker

mindmap root((py12306)) Inputs env.py config User accounts Date and route Outputs Booked tickets Notifications Web log page Use Cases Grab scarce train tickets Run distributed cluster Send push alerts Tech Stack Python Redis Docker

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Automate snapping up scarce 12306 train tickets for holiday travel in China

USE CASE 2

Run multiple buying tasks across several accounts and dates in parallel

USE CASE 3

Set up a Redis-backed master-and-child cluster so booking continues if a node crashes

USE CASE 4

Receive ticket-found notifications by email, Telegram, WeChat, or voice phone call

What is it built with?

PythonRedisDocker

How does it compare?

	pjialin/py12306	waditu/tushare	llmware-ai/llmware
Stars	14,896	14,878	14,860
Language	Python	Python	Python
Last pushed	—	—	2026-05-17
Maintenance	—	—	Maintained
Setup difficulty	moderate	easy	moderate
Complexity	3/5	2/5	4/5
Audience	developer	data	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Needs Python 3.6+, a working 12306 account, and the shared captcha service, distributed mode also needs Redis.

Apache 2.0: free to use, modify, and redistribute commercially, with a patent grant and attribution required.

In plain English

py12306 is a ticket-buying helper for 12306, the official online booking site for trains in mainland China. The project is written in Python and is aimed at people who want to grab tickets for popular routes where seats sell out quickly. According to the README, it lets you search for remaining tickets across multiple dates, log in with several accounts at once, run many buying tasks in parallel, and place orders automatically when a seat becomes available. The README lists the features the project supports today. Among them: automatic captcha solving, recovery of user login state, voice phone notifications, email notifications, WeChat push messages via DingTalk, Telegram, ServerChan, and PushBear, querying a single task across multiple stations, and a web management page for viewing users, tasks, and live logs. A proxy pool feature is listed as not yet done. The captcha service currently relies on a free shared platform run by the author. To use it you need Python 3.6 or newer. You clone the repo, install the dependencies from requirements.txt, copy env.py.example to env.py, edit the config, then run python main.py. A -t flag runs a configuration test, and -n adds a notification test. The project also supports running as a distributed cluster, where one master node and several child nodes share work through Redis. If the master crashes, a child node is promoted automatically. A Docker image and a docker-compose example are provided. The project is released under the Apache License.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Set up py12306 with Docker Compose and configure env.py to search Beijing to Shanghai tickets across three dates

Prompt 2

Add Telegram and ServerChan notifications to py12306 so I get a push when a seat is found

Prompt 3

Run py12306 as a master plus two child nodes connected through Redis for failover

Prompt 4

Configure py12306 with multiple 12306 accounts and run python main.py -t to verify the config

Frequently asked questions

What is py12306?

py12306 is a Python tool that automates buying tickets on China Railway's 12306 site by searching across dates, logging in many accounts, and placing orders when seats appear.

What language is py12306 written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, Redis, Docker.

What license does py12306 use?

Apache 2.0: free to use, modify, and redistribute commercially, with a patent grant and attribution required.

How hard is py12306 to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is py12306 for?

Mainly developer.

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