Python REST Data Extraction Script

I need a clean, well-documented Python 3.x script that automatically pulls data from one or more REST endpoints, transforms it, and stores the result in a usable format. The script must rely on the requests library for the HTTP calls; beyond that you’re free to bring in pandas or similar tools if they simplify the processing stage.

Here’s what I have in mind:

• The base URL, auth token (if required), and any date or pagination parameters should be read from a config file or command-line arguments so I can point the same code at different environments without editing it.
• Handle common REST patterns such as cursor-based pagination, rate-limit headers, and transient network errors—simple retry logic with exponential back-off is fine.
• Parse the JSON response, normalise or flatten nested structures, apply a few light transformations (renaming fields, converting timestamps, basic filtering), then write out to CSV and optionally to JSON for debugging.
• Include concise logging at INFO level so I can follow the flow when something goes wrong.
• Wrap each logical step in its own function; I should be able to import those functions in a larger pipeline later.

Deliverables
– A single .py file (plus any helper modules) ready to run with python script.py --config config.yaml
– Sample config or .env template illustrating every required setting
– A short README explaining setup, execution, and expected output format

I’ll consider the job complete once the script runs successfully against a public demo API I’ll supply, produces the cleaned CSV, and passes a quick spot-check of the transformed data.