https://www.lipsum.com/

lipsum.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import argparse
import requests
import sys


TYPES = {
    'bytes': {
        'param': 'bytes',
        'count': 256
    },
    'lists': {
        'param': 'lists',
        'count': 3,
        'bullet': '  - '
    },
    'paragraphs': {
        'param': 'paras',
        'count': 5
    },
    'words': {
        'param': 'words',
        'count': 15
    }
}


if __name__ == '__main__':
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest='type')

    for k, v in TYPES.items():
        command = subparsers.add_parser(k, help=f'generate {k}')
        command.add_argument('count', type=int, default=v.get('count'), nargs='?',
                             help='the number of items to generate')

        if k == 'lists':
            command.add_argument('bullet', default=v.get('bullet'), nargs='?',
                                 help='a bullet string')
        command.add_argument('-s', '--start',
                             action='store_true',
                             help='start with the text "Lorem ipsum" (default=%(default)s)')

    # nb: sys.argv will never be empty, the first the script name
    if len(sys.argv) > 1:
        args = parser.parse_args(sys.argv[1:])
    else:
        args = parser.parse_args()

    if not args.type:
        parser.print_help()
        sys.exit(0)

    response = requests.get('https://www.lipsum.com/feed/json', {
        'start': 'yes' if args.start else 'no',
        'what': TYPES.get(args.type).get('param'),
        'amount': args.count
    })

    if response.status_code != 200:
        print(response)
        sys.exit(1)

    response = response.json().get('feed')
    generated = response.get('generated')
    text = response.get('lipsum')

    if args.type == 'lists':
        print(generated.replace('paragraph', 'list') + '\n')
        for paragraphs in text.split('\n'):
            for item in paragraphs.split('.'):
                item = item.strip()
                if item:
                    print(f'{args.bullet}{item}.')
            print()
    else:
        print(generated + '\n')
        print(text.replace('\n', '\n\n'))