diff --git a/.docker/Dockerfile b/.docker/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..97b8fdf2b5ae43dc96726e16ea21a2c6a1883fdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+FROM debian:bookworm
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install \
+    curl \
+    git \
+    openjdk-17-jdk-headless \
+    python3-autopep8 \
+    python3-pip \
+    python3-pytest \
+    python3-sphinx \
+    -y
+RUN pip3 install --break-system-packages pylint recommonmark sphinx-rtd-theme tox
+COPY .docker/wait-for-it.sh /wait-for-it.sh
+ARG PYLIB
+ADD https://gitlab.indiscale.com/api/v4/projects/97/repository/commits/${PYLIB} \
+    pylib_version.json
+RUN git clone https://gitlab.indiscale.com/caosdb/src/caosdb-pylib.git && \
+    cd caosdb-pylib && git checkout ${PYLIB} && pip3 install --break-system-packages .
+ARG ADVANCED
+ADD https://gitlab.indiscale.com/api/v4/projects/104/repository/commits/${ADVANCED} \
+    advanced_version.json
+RUN git clone https://gitlab.indiscale.com/caosdb/src/caosdb-advanced-user-tools.git && \
+    cd caosdb-advanced-user-tools && git checkout ${ADVANCED} && pip3 install --break-system-packages .[h5-crawler]
+COPY . /git
+
+# Delete .git because it is huge.
+RUN rm -r /git/.git
+
+RUN cd /git/ && pip3 install --break-system-packages .
+
+WORKDIR /git/integrationtests
+# wait for server,
+CMD /wait-for-it.sh caosdb-server:10443 -t 500 -- \
+    # ... install pycaosdb.ini the server-side scripts
+    cp /git/.docker/sss_pycaosdb.ini /scripting/home/.pycaosdb.ini && \
+    # ... and run tests
+    pytest-3 .
diff --git a/.docker/cert.sh b/.docker/cert.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..628ba8dd9cc19f85a515a75cebd03b8981337bfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/cert.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# ** header v3.0
+# This file is a part of the CaosDB Project.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2019 Daniel Hornung, Göttingen
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+# ** end header
+
+
+# Creates a directory `cert` and certificates in this directory.
+#
+# The hostname for which the certificate is created can be changed by setting
+# the environment variable CAOSHOSTNAME.
+#
+# ## Overview of variables ##
+#
+# - CAOSHOSTNAME :: Hostname for the key (localhost)
+# - KEYPW :: Password for the key (default ist CaosDBSecret)
+# - KEYSTOREPW :: Password for the key store (same as KEYPW)
+function cert() {
+    mkdir -p cert
+    cd cert
+    KEYPW="${KEYPW:-CaosDBSecret}"
+    CAOSHOSTNAME="${CAOSHOSTNAME:-localhost}"
+    KEYSTOREPW="${KEYPW:-}"
+    # NOTE: KEYPW and KEYSTOREPW are the same, due to Java limitations.
+    KEYPW="${KEYPW}" openssl genrsa -aes256 -out caosdb.key.pem \
+         -passout env:KEYPW 2048
+    # Certificate is for localhost
+    KEYPW="${KEYPW}" openssl req -new -x509 -key caosdb.key.pem \
+         -out caosdb.cert.pem -passin env:KEYPW \
+         -subj "/C=/ST=/L=/O=example/OU=example/CN=${CAOSHOSTNAME}" \
+         -days 365 \
+         -addext "subjectAltName = DNS:${CAOSHOSTNAME}" \
+         -addext "certificatePolicies = 1.2.3.4"
+    KEYPW="${KEYPW}" KEYSTOREPW="$KEYSTOREPW" openssl pkcs12 -export \
+         -inkey caosdb.key.pem -in caosdb.cert.pem -out all-certs.pkcs12 \
+         -passin env:KEYPW -passout env:KEYPW
+
+    keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore all-certs.pkcs12 -srcstoretype PKCS12 \
+            -deststoretype pkcs12 -destkeystore caosdb.jks \
+            -srcstorepass "${KEYPW}" \
+            -destkeypass "${KEYPW}" -deststorepass "$KEYSTOREPW"
+    echo "Certificates successfuly created."
+}
+
+cert
diff --git a/.docker/docker-compose.yml b/.docker/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..02ccac5c48e039a3374a0d169f3b355f897e45fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+version: '3.7'
+services:
+  sqldb:
+    image: mariadb:10.4
+    environment:
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: caosdb1234
+    networks:
+      - caosnet
+  caosdb-server:
+    image: "$CI_REGISTRY/caosdb/src/caosdb-deploy:$CAOSDB_TAG"
+    user: 999:999
+    depends_on:
+      - sqldb
+    networks:
+      - caosnet
+    volumes:
+      - type: bind
+        source: ./cert
+        target: /opt/caosdb/cert
+      - type: bind
+        source: "../integrationtests/test_data/extroot"
+        target: /opt/caosdb/mnt/extroot
+      - type: volume
+        source: scripting
+        target: /opt/caosdb/git/caosdb-server/scripting
+      - type: volume
+        source: authtoken
+        target: /opt/caosdb/git/caosdb-server/authtoken
+    ports:
+      # - "from_outside:from_inside"
+      - "10443:10443"
+      - "10080:10080"
+    environment:
+      DEBUG: 1
+      CAOSDB_CONFIG_AUTHTOKEN_CONFIG: "conf/core/authtoken.example.yaml"
+      CAOSDB_CONFIG_TRANSACTION_BENCHMARK_ENABLED: "TRUE"
+      CAOSDB_CONFIG__CAOSDB_INTEGRATION_TEST_SUITE_KEY: 10b128cf8a1372f30aa3697466bb55e76974e0c16a599bb44ace88f19c8f61e2
+volumes:
+  scripting:
+  authtoken:
+networks:
+  caosnet:
+    driver: bridge
diff --git a/.docker/run.sh b/.docker/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b0e1a716f28516b83043fb3fdb6594515a0bafd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+docker-compose -f tester.yml run tester
+rv=$?
+echo $rv > result
diff --git a/.docker/sss_pycaosdb.ini b/.docker/sss_pycaosdb.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..de2867f8dc66b3e81f10f35e40c36f9cb8591604
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/sss_pycaosdb.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+; this is the pycaosdb.ini for the server-side-scripting home.
+[Connection]
+url = https://caosdb-server:10443
+cacert = /opt/caosdb/cert/caosdb.cert.pem
+debug = 0
+timeout = 5000
+
+[Misc]
+sendmail = /usr/local/bin/sendmail_to_file
diff --git a/.docker/tester.yml b/.docker/tester.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..83db879c6072bfdea7b3212c833116b96bb54d0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/tester.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+version: '3.7'
+services:
+  tester:
+    image: "$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE"
+    networks:
+      - docker_caosnet
+    volumes:
+      - type: bind
+        source: ./cert
+        target: /cert
+      - type: volume
+        source: extroot
+        target: /extroot
+      - type: volume
+        source: scripting
+        target: /scripting
+      - type: volume
+        source: authtoken
+        target: /authtoken
+networks:
+  docker_caosnet:
+    external: true
+volumes:
+  scripting:
+  extroot:
+  authtoken:
diff --git a/.docker/tester_pycaosdb.ini b/.docker/tester_pycaosdb.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2159dec250b3dcb2f16043d12bdbe73675e4d75c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/tester_pycaosdb.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+; pycaosdb.ini for pytest test suites.
+
+[IntegrationTests]
+; location of the scripting bin dir which is used for the test scripts from the
+; server's perspective.
+test_server_side_scripting.bin_dir.server = scripting/bin-debug/
+; location of the scripting bin dir which is used for the test scripts from the
+; pyinttest's perspective.
+test_server_side_scripting.bin_dir.local = /scripting/bin-debug/
+
+; location of the files from the pyinttest perspective
+test_files.test_insert_files_in_dir.local = /extroot/test_insert_files_in_dir/
+; location of the files from the caosdb_servers perspective
+test_files.test_insert_files_in_dir.server = /opt/caosdb/mnt/extroot/test_insert_files_in_dir/
+
+; location of the one-time tokens from the pyinttest's perspective
+test_authentication.admin_token_crud = /authtoken/admin_token_crud.txt
+test_authentication.admin_token_expired = /authtoken/admin_token_expired.txt
+test_authentication.admin_token_3_attempts = /authtoken/admin_token_3_attempts.txt
+
+
+[Connection]
+url = https://caosdb-server:10443/
+username = admin
+cacert = /cert/caosdb.cert.pem
+debug = 0
+
+password_method = plain
+password = caosdb
+
+timeout = 500
diff --git a/.docker/wait-for-it.sh b/.docker/wait-for-it.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d69e99f1f13257b559dce2433de0515379663efa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.docker/wait-for-it.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# License: 
+# From https://github.com/vishnubob/wait-for-it
+# The MIT License (MIT)
+# Use this script to test if a given TCP host/port are available
+
+WAITFORIT_cmdname=${0##*/}
+
+echoerr() { if [[ $WAITFORIT_QUIET -ne 1 ]]; then echo "$@" 1>&2; fi }
+
+usage()
+{
+    cat << USAGE >&2
+Usage:
+    $WAITFORIT_cmdname host:port [-s] [-t timeout] [-- command args]
+    -h HOST | --host=HOST       Host or IP under test
+    -p PORT | --port=PORT       TCP port under test
+                                Alternatively, you specify the host and port as host:port
+    -s | --strict               Only execute subcommand if the test succeeds
+    -q | --quiet                Don't output any status messages
+    -t TIMEOUT | --timeout=TIMEOUT
+                                Timeout in seconds, zero for no timeout
+    -- COMMAND ARGS             Execute command with args after the test finishes
+USAGE
+    exit 1
+}
+
+wait_for()
+{
+    if [[ $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT -gt 0 ]]; then
+        echoerr "$WAITFORIT_cmdname: waiting $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT seconds for $WAITFORIT_HOST:$WAITFORIT_PORT"
+    else
+        echoerr "$WAITFORIT_cmdname: waiting for $WAITFORIT_HOST:$WAITFORIT_PORT without a timeout"
+    fi
+    WAITFORIT_start_ts=$(date +%s)
+    while :
+    do
+        if [[ $WAITFORIT_ISBUSY -eq 1 ]]; then
+            nc -z $WAITFORIT_HOST $WAITFORIT_PORT
+            WAITFORIT_result=$?
+        else
+            (echo > /dev/tcp/$WAITFORIT_HOST/$WAITFORIT_PORT) >/dev/null 2>&1
+            WAITFORIT_result=$?
+        fi
+        if [[ $WAITFORIT_result -eq 0 ]]; then
+            WAITFORIT_end_ts=$(date +%s)
+            echoerr "$WAITFORIT_cmdname: $WAITFORIT_HOST:$WAITFORIT_PORT is available after $((WAITFORIT_end_ts - WAITFORIT_start_ts)) seconds"
+            break
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+    done
+    return $WAITFORIT_result
+}
+
+wait_for_wrapper()
+{
+    # In order to support SIGINT during timeout: http://unix.stackexchange.com/a/57692
+    if [[ $WAITFORIT_QUIET -eq 1 ]]; then
+        timeout $WAITFORIT_BUSYTIMEFLAG $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT $0 --quiet --child --host=$WAITFORIT_HOST --port=$WAITFORIT_PORT --timeout=$WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT &
+    else
+        timeout $WAITFORIT_BUSYTIMEFLAG $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT $0 --child --host=$WAITFORIT_HOST --port=$WAITFORIT_PORT --timeout=$WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT &
+    fi
+    WAITFORIT_PID=$!
+    trap "kill -INT -$WAITFORIT_PID" INT
+    wait $WAITFORIT_PID
+    WAITFORIT_RESULT=$?
+    if [[ $WAITFORIT_RESULT -ne 0 ]]; then
+        echoerr "$WAITFORIT_cmdname: timeout occurred after waiting $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT seconds for $WAITFORIT_HOST:$WAITFORIT_PORT"
+    fi
+    return $WAITFORIT_RESULT
+}
+
+# process arguments
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]
+do
+    case "$1" in
+        *:* )
+        WAITFORIT_hostport=(${1//:/ })
+        WAITFORIT_HOST=${WAITFORIT_hostport[0]}
+        WAITFORIT_PORT=${WAITFORIT_hostport[1]}
+        shift 1
+        ;;
+        --child)
+        WAITFORIT_CHILD=1
+        shift 1
+        ;;
+        -q | --quiet)
+        WAITFORIT_QUIET=1
+        shift 1
+        ;;
+        -s | --strict)
+        WAITFORIT_STRICT=1
+        shift 1
+        ;;
+        -h)
+        WAITFORIT_HOST="$2"
+        if [[ $WAITFORIT_HOST == "" ]]; then break; fi
+        shift 2
+        ;;
+        --host=*)
+        WAITFORIT_HOST="${1#*=}"
+        shift 1
+        ;;
+        -p)
+        WAITFORIT_PORT="$2"
+        if [[ $WAITFORIT_PORT == "" ]]; then break; fi
+        shift 2
+        ;;
+        --port=*)
+        WAITFORIT_PORT="${1#*=}"
+        shift 1
+        ;;
+        -t)
+        WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT="$2"
+        if [[ $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT == "" ]]; then break; fi
+        shift 2
+        ;;
+        --timeout=*)
+        WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT="${1#*=}"
+        shift 1
+        ;;
+        --)
+        shift
+        WAITFORIT_CLI=("$@")
+        break
+        ;;
+        --help)
+        usage
+        ;;
+        *)
+        echoerr "Unknown argument: $1"
+        usage
+        ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+if [[ "$WAITFORIT_HOST" == "" || "$WAITFORIT_PORT" == "" ]]; then
+    echoerr "Error: you need to provide a host and port to test."
+    usage
+fi
+
+WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT=${WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT:-15}
+WAITFORIT_STRICT=${WAITFORIT_STRICT:-0}
+WAITFORIT_CHILD=${WAITFORIT_CHILD:-0}
+WAITFORIT_QUIET=${WAITFORIT_QUIET:-0}
+
+# check to see if timeout is from busybox?
+WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT_PATH=$(type -p timeout)
+WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT_PATH=$(realpath $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT_PATH 2>/dev/null || readlink -f $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT_PATH)
+if [[ $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT_PATH =~ "busybox" ]]; then
+        WAITFORIT_ISBUSY=1
+        WAITFORIT_BUSYTIMEFLAG="-t"
+
+else
+        WAITFORIT_ISBUSY=0
+        WAITFORIT_BUSYTIMEFLAG=""
+fi
+
+if [[ $WAITFORIT_CHILD -gt 0 ]]; then
+    wait_for
+    WAITFORIT_RESULT=$?
+    exit $WAITFORIT_RESULT
+else
+    if [[ $WAITFORIT_TIMEOUT -gt 0 ]]; then
+        wait_for_wrapper
+        WAITFORIT_RESULT=$?
+    else
+        wait_for
+        WAITFORIT_RESULT=$?
+    fi
+fi
+
+if [[ $WAITFORIT_CLI != "" ]]; then
+    if [[ $WAITFORIT_RESULT -ne 0 && $WAITFORIT_STRICT -eq 1 ]]; then
+        echoerr "$WAITFORIT_cmdname: strict mode, refusing to execute subprocess"
+        exit $WAITFORIT_RESULT
+    fi
+    exec "${WAITFORIT_CLI[@]}"
+else
+    exit $WAITFORIT_RESULT
+fi
+
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..43301651fac17dc7a71dd736f9f54259bd56cafc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+*~
+.coverage
+__pycache__
+.tox
+*.egg-info
+venv/
+build
+/.env/
+/src/doc/_apidoc/
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1944b7062da4fab02dffe185215115e039514d92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,216 @@
+#
+# This file is a part of the CaosDB Project.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2018 Research Group Biomedical Physics,
+# Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Göttingen
+# Copyright (C) 2019 Henrik tom Wörden
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+variables:
+   CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY/caosdb/src/linkahead-python-package-template/testenv:$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME
+   CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE_BASE: $CI_REGISTRY/caosdb/src/caosdb-pyinttest/base:latest
+
+stages:
+  - info
+  - setup
+  - cert
+  - style
+  - test
+  - deploy
+
+.env: &env
+  - echo "Pipeline triggered by $TRIGGERED_BY_REPO@$TRIGGERED_BY_REF ($TRIGGERED_BY_HASH)"
+  - echo "CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE_BASE = $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE_BASE"
+  - echo "CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE = $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE"
+  - echo "CAOSDB_TAG = $CAOSDB_TAG"
+  - echo "REFTAG = $REFTAG"
+  - echo "F_BRANCH = $F_BRANCH"
+  - echo "CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME = $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME"
+  - ls -lah /image-cache/
+
+  - F_BRANCH=${F_BRANCH:-$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}
+  - echo $F_BRANCH
+  - if [[ "$REFTAG" == "" ]] ; then
+      if [[ "$F_BRANCH" == "dev" ]] ; then
+        REFTAG=dev;
+      fi;
+    fi
+  - REFTAG=${REFTAG:-dev_F_${F_BRANCH}}
+
+  - echo $F_BRANCH
+
+  - if [[ "$CAOSDB_TAG" == "" ]]; then
+      CAOSDB_TAG=${REFTAG};
+    fi
+  - echo $CAOSDB_TAG
+
+info:
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  image: docker:20.10
+  stage: info
+  needs: []
+  script:
+    - *env
+
+unittest_py3.11:
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  stage: test
+  image: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE
+  script:
+    - python3 -c "import sys; assert sys.version.startswith('3.11')"
+    - tox
+
+unittest_py3.8:
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  stage: test
+  image: python:3.8
+  script: &python_test_script
+    # install dependencies
+    - pip install pytest pytest-cov
+    - pip install .
+    # actual test
+    - pytest --cov=linkahead_python_package_template -vv ./unittests
+
+unittest_py3.9:
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  stage: test
+  image: python:3.11
+  script: *python_test_script
+
+unittest_py3.10:
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  stage: test
+  image: python:3.10
+  script: *python_test_script
+
+unittest_py3.12:
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  stage: test
+  image: python:3.12
+  script: *python_test_script
+
+unittest_py3.13:
+  allow_failure: true
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  stage: test
+  image: python:3.13-rc
+  script: *python_test_script
+
+build-testenv:
+  tags: [cached-dind]
+  image: docker:20.10
+  stage: setup
+  timeout: 2h
+  only:
+    - schedules
+    - web
+    - pushes
+  needs: []
+  script:
+      - df -h
+      - command -v wget
+      - if [ -z "$PYLIB" ]; then
+          if echo "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" | grep -c "^f-" ; then
+            echo "Check if pylib has branch $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" ;
+            if wget https://gitlab.indiscale.com/api/v4/projects/97/repository/branches/${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME} ; then
+              PYLIB=$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME ;
+            fi;
+          fi;
+        fi;
+      - PYLIB=${PYLIB:-dev}
+      - echo $PYLIB
+
+      - if [ -z "$ADVANCED" ]; then
+          if echo "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" | grep -c "^f-" ; then
+            echo "Check if advanced user tools have branch $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" ;
+            if wget https://gitlab.indiscale.com/api/v4/projects/104/repository/branches/${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME} ; then
+              ADVANCED=$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME ;
+            fi;
+          fi;
+        fi;
+      - ADVANCED=${ADVANCED:-dev}
+      - echo $ADVANCED
+
+      - docker login -u gitlab-ci-token -p $CI_JOB_TOKEN $CI_REGISTRY
+        # use here general latest or specific branch latest...
+      - docker build
+        --build-arg PYLIB=${PYLIB}
+        --build-arg ADVANCED=${ADVANCED:dev}
+        --file .docker/Dockerfile
+        -t $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE .
+      - docker push $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE
+      - docker save $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE > /image-cache/linkahead-python-package-template-testenv-${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}.tar
+
+cert:
+  tags: [docker]
+  stage: cert
+  image: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE
+  needs:
+    - job: build-testenv
+      optional: true
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - .docker/cert/
+    expire_in: 1 week
+  script:
+      - cd .docker
+      - CAOSHOSTNAME=caosdb-server ./cert.sh
+
+code-style:
+  tags: [docker]
+  stage: style
+  image: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE
+  needs:
+    - job: build-testenv
+      optional: true
+  script:
+      - autopep8 -r --diff --exit-code .
+  allow_failure: true
+
+pylint:
+  tags: [docker]
+  stage: style
+  image: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE
+  needs:
+    - job: build-testenv
+      optional: true
+  allow_failure: true
+  script:
+    - pylint --unsafe-load-any-extension=y -d all -e E,F src/linkahead_python_package_template
+
+# Build the sphinx documentation and make it ready for deployment by Gitlab Pages
+# Special job for serving a static website. See https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/README.html#pages
+# Based on: https://gitlab.indiscale.com/caosdb/src/caosdb-pylib/-/ci/editor?branch_name=main
+pages_prepare: &pages_prepare
+  tags: [ cached-dind ]
+  stage: deploy
+  needs:
+    - job: build-testenv
+  image: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE
+  only:
+    refs:
+      - /^release-.*$/i
+  script:
+    - echo "Deploying documentation"
+    - make doc
+    - cp -r build/doc/html public
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - public
+pages:
+  <<: *pages_prepare
+  only:
+    refs:
+      - main
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9134834df5f52e225585d15da6736246dfa8cd6b..c37d2e63b2ad4e65ba5524a3fed7116f011e6c39 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -3,3 +3,24 @@
 This repo contains all the custom code related to the loan management in LinkAhead.
 It is to be checked out as a custom-directory and needs to be
 specified in your profile.yml.
+
+## Usage
+Mount the custom folder by adding it to the `profile.yml`. E.g.
+```
+  custom:
+    # Customizations for the demo server are stored here; e.g. the tour
+    - "./custom"  # typical folder for instance specific customization
+    - "./loan/loan-custom"  # adds the loan module
+```
+
+Also, you need to add the python package to the scripting interface in the
+profile:
+```
+TODO
+```
+
+
+
+## Integration tests
+Run `pytest .` in the integration tests folder
+
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/box_loan.py b/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/box_loan.py
deleted file mode 120000
index 034b4c7dfca3b7d5c0e6ac80ad830c176658934a..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/box_loan.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../loan_management/box_loan.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/manual_return.py b/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/manual_return.py
deleted file mode 120000
index f0eab4f92842389daf8a57e71480f8238d93e421..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/manual_return.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../loan_management/manual_return.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_loan.py b/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_loan.py
deleted file mode 120000
index 0c060509fbb552f9e92d8b890acbbdb1db3e2e7c..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_loan.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../loan_management/request_loan.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_return.py b/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_return.py
deleted file mode 120000
index b080e7193350a231c118aa9d493966ca5ffe45d8..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_return.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../loan_management/request_return.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_box_loan.py b/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_box_loan.py
deleted file mode 100644
index a1b17f253e8014b855a9462d3e8d3dc30cc7e1dc..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_box_loan.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,99 +0,0 @@
-from os.path import abspath, dirname, join
-from pytest import raises
-from caosdb import get_connection, configure_connection
-from caosdb.connection.mockup import (MockUpServerConnection, MockUpResponse)
-from box_loan import (_caller, create_person, query_person, get_person,
-                         EMAIL, FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, PERSON,
-                         assert_date_in_future, DataError, EmailPatternError,
-                         assert_email_pattern)
-
-
-def setup():
-    configure_connection(url="unittests", username="testuser",
-                         password_method="plain",
-                         password="testpassword", timeout=200,
-                         implementation=MockUpServerConnection)
-
-
-def get_data_example():
-    return abspath(join(dirname(__file__), "request_loan_form.json"))
-
-
-def test_caller():
-    args = [get_data_example()]
-
-    def test_func(data):
-        assert data["box"] == 2345, "should contain the data from json"
-        return 1337
-
-    assert _caller(test_func, args) == 1337
-
-
-def test_create_person():
-    p = create_person("anna", "lytik", "a@b.com")
-    assert p.get_parents()[0].name == PERSON.name
-    assert p.get_property(FIRST_NAME.name).value == "anna"
-    assert p.get_property(LAST_NAME.name).value == "lytik"
-    assert p.get_property(EMAIL.name).value == "a@b.com"
-
-
-def test_query_person():
-    connection = get_connection()
-    entities = ('<Response><Query results="1"/>'
-                '<RecordType id="1234"/></Response>')
-
-    def query_resource(**kwargs):
-        query = kwargs["path"].split("query=")[1]
-        assert query.startswith("FIND%20RECORD%20" + PERSON.name)
-        return MockUpResponse(200, {}, entities)
-    connection._delegate_connection.resources.append(query_resource)
-
-    p = query_person("petri", "schale", "c@d.com")
-    assert p.id == 1234
-
-
-def test_get_person_with_update():
-    connection = get_connection()
-    person_xml = (
-        '<Response>{query}'
-        '<Record id="1234">'
-        '<Property name="email">{email}</Property>'
-        '</Record>'
-        '</Response>')
-
-    def query_resource(**kwargs):
-        if kwargs["method"] == "GET":
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {},
-                                  person_xml.format(
-                                      query='<Query results="1"/>',
-                                      email="old@email"))
-        else:
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {},
-                                  person_xml.format(
-                                      query='',
-                                      email="new@email"))
-    connection._delegate_connection.resources.append(query_resource)
-
-    p = get_person("firstname", None, "old@email")
-    assert p.get_property(EMAIL.name).value == "new@email"
-
-
-def test_create_person_with_wrong_email_pattern():
-    with raises(EmailPatternError):
-        assert_email_pattern("@asdf")
-    with raises(EmailPatternError):
-        assert_email_pattern("asdf")
-    with raises(EmailPatternError):
-        assert_email_pattern("asdfa.de")
-    with raises(EmailPatternError):
-        assert_email_pattern("sdfg@sdfg")
-
-    # the following shoudl be ok
-    assert_email_pattern("a@b.da")
-    assert_email_pattern("\"#\"@ö.de")
-
-
-def test_assert_date_in_future():
-    assert assert_date_in_future("2050-01-01") is None
-    with raises(DataError):
-        assert_date_in_future("1971-01-01")
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_request_loan.py b/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_request_loan.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d13537bd954ed4aa9d21be36785ee7d27ab235a7..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_request_loan.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,102 +0,0 @@
-from os.path import abspath, dirname, join
-from pytest import raises
-from caosdb import get_connection, configure_connection, Record
-from caosdb.connection.mockup import (MockUpServerConnection, MockUpResponse)
-from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_data
-from box_loan import (PERSON, FIRST_NAME, EMAIL, BOX, BORROWER,
-                         EXPECTED_RETURN, EXHAUST_CONTENTS, COMMENT,
-                         DESTINATION, F_FIRST_NAME, F_EMAIL,
-                         F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE, DataError, BOX_NUMBER)
-from request_loan import (create_loan, _issue_loan_request)
-
-
-def setup():
-    configure_connection(url="unittests", username="testuser",
-                         password_method="plain",
-                         password="testpassword", timeout=200,
-                         implementation=MockUpServerConnection)
-
-
-def get_data_example():
-    return abspath(join(dirname(__file__), "request_loan_form.json"))
-
-
-def test_issue_loan_request_with_wrong_return_date():
-    data = get_data(get_data_example())
-    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = "1983-02-03"
-    with raises(DataError):
-        _issue_loan_request(data)
-
-
-def test_create_loan():
-    borrower = Record(name="Person1")
-    l = create_loan(1234,
-                    borrower,
-                    "2020-03-23",
-                    False,
-                    "blablabla",
-                    "my office")
-    assert l.get_property(BOX.name).value == 1234
-    assert l.get_property(BORROWER.name).value == borrower
-    assert l.get_property(EXPECTED_RETURN.name).value == "2020-03-23"
-    assert l.get_property(EXHAUST_CONTENTS.name).value == False
-    assert l.get_property(COMMENT.name).value == "blablabla"
-    assert l.get_property(DESTINATION.name).value == "my office"
-
-
-def test_issue_loan_request():
-    data = get_data(get_data_example())
-    person_xml = (
-        '<Response>{{query}}'
-        '<Record id="1234">'
-        '<Property name="{FN}">{FIRST_NAME}</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{EMAIL}">{{email}}</Property>'
-        '</Record>'
-        '</Response>').format(FN=FIRST_NAME.name, EMAIL=EMAIL.name,
-                              FIRST_NAME=data[F_FIRST_NAME])
-    box_xml = (
-        '<Response>{{query}}'
-        '<Record id="2345">'
-        '<Property name="{BN}">{BOXNUM}</Property>'
-        '</Record>'
-        '</Response>').format(BN=BOX_NUMBER.name, BOXNUM="0815")
-
-    def query_resource(**kwargs):
-        if kwargs["method"] == "GET" and BOX.name in kwargs["path"]:
-            query = kwargs["path"].split("query=")[1]
-            assert query.startswith("FIND%20RECORD%20" + BOX.name)
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {},
-                                  box_xml.format(
-                                      query='<Query results="1"/>'))
-        if kwargs["method"] == "GET" and PERSON.name in kwargs["path"]:
-            query = kwargs["path"].split("query=")[1]
-            assert query.startswith("FIND%20RECORD%20" + PERSON.name)
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {},
-                                  person_xml.format(
-                                      query='<Query results="1"/>',
-                                      email="old@email"))
-        elif kwargs["method"] == "PUT":
-            assert data[F_EMAIL] in kwargs["body"].decode("utf-8")
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {},
-                                  person_xml.format(
-                                      query='',
-                                      email=data[F_EMAIL]))
-        else:
-            assert "" in kwargs["body"].decode("utf-8")
-            body = kwargs["body"].decode(
-                "utf-8").replace('"-1"', '"4567"').replace("Insert", "Response")
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {}, body)
-
-    connection = get_connection()
-    connection._delegate_connection.resources.append(query_resource)
-
-    borrower, loan, box = _issue_loan_request(data)
-
-    assert str(loan.id) == "4567"
-    assert str(loan.get_property(BOX).value) == "2345"
-    assert str(loan.get_property(BORROWER).value) == str(borrower.id)
-    assert str(borrower.id) == "1234"
-    assert borrower.get_property(EMAIL).value == data[F_EMAIL]
-    assert borrower.get_property(FIRST_NAME).value == data[F_FIRST_NAME]
-    assert str(box.id) == "2345"
-    assert box.get_property(BOX_NUMBER).value == "0815"
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_request_return.py b/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_request_return.py
deleted file mode 100644
index fa7f52c7379ec9e8066740573ecdb0289413af82..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_request_return.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,134 +0,0 @@
-from os.path import abspath, dirname, join
-from pytest import raises
-from caosdb import get_connection, configure_connection
-from caosdb.connection.mockup import (MockUpServerConnection, MockUpResponse)
-from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_data
-from box_loan import (FIRST_NAME, EMAIL, LAST_NAME, F_FIRST_NAME,
-                         F_LAST_NAME, F_EMAIL, EXPECTED_RETURN, LENT,
-                         RETURN_REQUESTED, PERSON, BORROWER, BOX,
-                         LOAN_REQUESTED, StateError, F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE,
-                         DataError, LOAN)
-from request_return import get_loan, _issue_return_request
-
-
-def setup():
-    configure_connection(url="unittests", username="testuser",
-                         password_method="plain",
-                         password="testpassword", timeout=200,
-                         implementation=MockUpServerConnection)
-
-
-def get_data_example():
-    return abspath(join(dirname(__file__), "request_loan_form.json"))
-
-
-def append_resource(resource):
-    connection = get_connection()
-    connection._delegate_connection.resources.append(resource)
-
-
-def test_get_loan():
-    entities = '<Response><Query results="1"/><Record id="1234"/></Response>'
-
-    def resource(**kwargs):
-        assert "RECORD%20Loan%20WITH%20ID%20%3D%201234" in kwargs["path"]
-        return MockUpResponse(200, {}, entities)
-    append_resource(resource)
-
-    loan = get_loan(1234)
-    assert loan.id == 1234
-
-
-def test_return_request_with_wrong_return_date():
-    data = get_data(get_data_example())
-    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = "1983-02-03"
-    with raises(DataError):
-        _issue_return_request(data)
-
-    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = "asdf"
-    with raises(DataError):
-        _issue_return_request(data)
-
-    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = ""
-    with raises(DataError):
-        _issue_return_request(data)
-
-    del data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE]
-    with raises(DataError):
-        _issue_return_request(data)
-
-
-def test_return_request_with_wrong_loan_states():
-    data = get_data(get_data_example())
-    loan_xml = (
-        '<Response><Query results="1"/><Record id="12345">'
-        '<Parent name="{LO}"/>'
-        '<Property name="{ER}">1985-05-21</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{BOX}">2345</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{BOR}">1234</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{L_REQ}">2020-03-02</Property>'
-        '</Record></Response>').format(ER=EXPECTED_RETURN.name,
-                                       BOX=BOX.name, BOR=BORROWER.name,
-                                       L_REQ=LOAN_REQUESTED.name,
-                                       LO=LOAN.name)
-
-    def resource(**kwargs):
-        return MockUpResponse(200, {}, loan_xml)
-    append_resource(resource)
-
-    with raises(StateError):
-        _issue_return_request(data)
-
-
-def test_issue_return_request():
-    data = get_data(get_data_example())
-    person_xml = (
-        '<Response><Query results="1"/>'
-        '<Record id="1234">'
-        '<Property name="{FN}">{FIRST_NAME}</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{LN}">{LAST_NAME}</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{EM}">{EMAIL}</Property>'
-        '</Record>'
-        '</Response>').format(FN=FIRST_NAME.name, EM=EMAIL.name,
-                              LN=LAST_NAME.name, FIRST_NAME=data[F_FIRST_NAME],
-                              LAST_NAME=data[F_LAST_NAME], EMAIL=data[F_EMAIL])
-    loan_xml = (
-        '<Response><Query results="1"/><Record id="12345">'
-        '<Parent name="{LO}"/>'
-        '<Property name="{ER}">1985-05-21</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{BOX}">2345</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{BOR}">1234</Property>'
-        '<Property name="{LENT}">2020-03-02</Property>'
-        '{{RR}}'
-        '</Record></Response>').format(ER=EXPECTED_RETURN.name, BOX=BOX.name,
-                                       BOR=BORROWER.name, LENT=LENT.name,
-                                       LO=LOAN.name)
-
-    def resource(**kwargs):
-        if kwargs["method"] == "GET":
-            if "12345" in kwargs["path"]:
-                # retrieve loan
-                return MockUpResponse(200, {},
-                                      loan_xml.format(RR=""))
-
-            query = kwargs["path"].split("query=")[1]
-            assert query.startswith("FIND%20RECORD%20" + PERSON.name)
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {}, person_xml)
-        elif kwargs["method"] == "PUT":
-            assert RETURN_REQUESTED.name in kwargs["body"].decode("utf-8")
-            p = '<Property name="{RR}">asdf</Property>'.format(
-                RR=RETURN_REQUESTED.name)
-            return MockUpResponse(200, {}, loan_xml.format(RR=p))
-
-    append_resource(resource)
-
-    returner, loan = _issue_return_request(data)
-
-    assert loan.id == 12345
-    assert loan.get_property(BOX.name).value == "2345"
-    assert loan.get_property(BORROWER.name).value == str(returner.id)
-    assert loan.get_property(RETURN_REQUESTED.name).value == "asdf"
-
-    assert returner.id == 1234
-    assert returner.get_property(EMAIL.name).value == data[F_EMAIL]
-    assert returner.get_property(EMAIL.name).value == data[F_EMAIL]
diff --git a/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/borrow_checkout.html b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/borrow_checkout.html
similarity index 100%
rename from caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/borrow_checkout.html
rename to loan-custom/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/borrow_checkout.html
diff --git a/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/return_box.html b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/return_box.html
similarity index 100%
rename from caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/return_box.html
rename to loan-custom/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/html/forms/loan-forms/return_box.html
diff --git a/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/js/box_loan.js b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/js/box_loan.js
similarity index 96%
rename from caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/js/box_loan.js
rename to loan-custom/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/js/box_loan.js
index 4f567a92a993e7343aabcdf98a157417b2c780b8..de85db38d1f34c17303cc111e2ac42a4cf45dac7 100644
--- a/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/js/box_loan.js
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/caosdb-webui/src/ext/js/box_loan.js
@@ -1,3 +1,24 @@
+/*
+ * This file is a part of the LinkAhead Project.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2020-2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+ * Copyright (C) 2020-2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ */
+
 /**
  * Return the formatted date of today.
  */
diff --git a/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_loan_request.py b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_loan_request.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..55678576e624bc31bef164a23695ccad47195ad1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_loan_request.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Timm Fitschen <t.fitschen@indiscale.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+# Copyright (C) 2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+"""
+Accept a loan request.
+"""
+from loan.box_loan import main
+from loan.accept_loan_request import accept_loan_request
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(accept_loan_request)
diff --git a/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_return_request.py b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_return_request.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e3f2826baa63733d72ec2547a9df93b2ef6d04d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_return_request.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Timm Fitschen <t.fitschen@indiscale.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+# Copyright (C) 2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+"""
+Accept a return request.
+"""
+from loan.box_loan import main
+from loan.accept_return_request import accept_return_request
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(accept_return_request)
diff --git a/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/confirm_loan.py b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/confirm_loan.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae4c05176027115f21f59b413cffe479f5475f0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/confirm_loan.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Timm Fitschen <t.fitschen@indiscale.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+# Copyright (C) 2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+"""
+Confirm a loan.
+"""
+from loan.box_loan import main
+from loan.confirm_loan import confirm_loan
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(confirm_loan)
diff --git a/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/manual_return.py b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/manual_return.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f1ed64b7a5cd66e83b4d1871ac6c25f9f643d00c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/manual_return.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Timm Fitschen <t.fitschen@indiscale.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+# Copyright (C) 2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+"""
+Manually return a box.
+"""
+from loan.box_loan import main
+from loan.manual_return import manual_return
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(manual_return)
diff --git a/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/reject_return_request.py b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/reject_return_request.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fc7ac40c822b6bd3b7c2c307fdf4a574658506ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/reject_return_request.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Timm Fitschen <t.fitschen@indiscale.com>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+"""
+Reject a return request.
+"""
+from loan.box_loan import main
+from loan.reject_return_request import reject_return_request
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(reject_return_request)
diff --git a/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_loan.py b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_loan.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1457a15599d7796a21f6f5b83fcbb19d6834f343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_loan.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Timm Fitschen <t.fitschen@indiscale.com>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+"""
+Creates a loan request using information provided by a web formular.
+"""
+from loan.box_loan import main
+from loan.request_loan import issue_loan_request
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(issue_loan_request)
diff --git a/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_return.py b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_return.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..55bccb08508d85fe180eb7b4350d03fe13c81e8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loan-custom/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_return.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# encoding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Timm Fitschen <t.fitschen@indiscale.com>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
+"""
+Creates a return request using information provided by a web formular.
+
+A return request is a loan record with a returnRequested property.
+"""
+from loan.box_loan import main
+from loan.request_return import issue_return_request
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main(issue_return_request)
diff --git a/loanpy/CHANGELOG.md b/loanpy/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dd4609543d8988a0a2bf0f35846a1cc80beb55f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Changelog
+
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
+
+The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
+and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
+
+## [Unreleased] ##
+
+### Added ###
+
+### Changed ###
+
+### Deprecated ###
+
+### Removed ###
+
+### Fixed ###
+
+### Security ###
+
+### Documentation ###
diff --git a/loanpy/LICENSE b/loanpy/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ce8d9f20bb5ddc2a66a21364acadb90e1c5abcea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,661 @@
+                    GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
+                       Version 3, 19 November 2007
+
+ Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <http://fsf.org/>
+ Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
+ of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
+
+                            Preamble
+
+  The GNU Affero General Public License is a free, copyleft license for
+software and other kinds of works, specifically designed to ensure
+cooperation with the community in the case of network server software.
+
+  The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed
+to take away your freedom to share and change the works.  By contrast,
+our General Public Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to
+share and change all versions of a program--to make sure it remains free
+software for all its users.
+
+  When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
+price.  Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
+have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
+them if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you
+want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new
+free programs, and that you know you can do these things.
+
+  Developers that use our General Public Licenses protect your rights
+with two steps: (1) assert copyright on the software, and (2) offer
+you this License which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute
+and/or modify the software.
+
+  A secondary benefit of defending all users' freedom is that
+improvements made in alternate versions of the program, if they
+receive widespread use, become available for other developers to
+incorporate.  Many developers of free software are heartened and
+encouraged by the resulting cooperation.  However, in the case of
+software used on network servers, this result may fail to come about.
+The GNU General Public License permits making a modified version and
+letting the public access it on a server without ever releasing its
+source code to the public.
+
+  The GNU Affero General Public License is designed specifically to
+ensure that, in such cases, the modified source code becomes available
+to the community.  It requires the operator of a network server to
+provide the source code of the modified version running there to the
+users of that server.  Therefore, public use of a modified version, on
+a publicly accessible server, gives the public access to the source
+code of the modified version.
+
+  An older license, called the Affero General Public License and
+published by Affero, was designed to accomplish similar goals.  This is
+a different license, not a version of the Affero GPL, but Affero has
+released a new version of the Affero GPL which permits relicensing under
+this license.
+
+  The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
+modification follow.
+
+                       TERMS AND CONDITIONS
+
+  0. Definitions.
+
+  "This License" refers to version 3 of the GNU Affero General Public License.
+
+  "Copyright" also means copyright-like laws that apply to other kinds of
+works, such as semiconductor masks.
+
+  "The Program" refers to any copyrightable work licensed under this
+License.  Each licensee is addressed as "you".  "Licensees" and
+"recipients" may be individuals or organizations.
+
+  To "modify" a work means to copy from or adapt all or part of the work
+in a fashion requiring copyright permission, other than the making of an
+exact copy.  The resulting work is called a "modified version" of the
+earlier work or a work "based on" the earlier work.
+
+  A "covered work" means either the unmodified Program or a work based
+on the Program.
+
+  To "propagate" a work means to do anything with it that, without
+permission, would make you directly or secondarily liable for
+infringement under applicable copyright law, except executing it on a
+computer or modifying a private copy.  Propagation includes copying,
+distribution (with or without modification), making available to the
+public, and in some countries other activities as well.
+
+  To "convey" a work means any kind of propagation that enables other
+parties to make or receive copies.  Mere interaction with a user through
+a computer network, with no transfer of a copy, is not conveying.
+
+  An interactive user interface displays "Appropriate Legal Notices"
+to the extent that it includes a convenient and prominently visible
+feature that (1) displays an appropriate copyright notice, and (2)
+tells the user that there is no warranty for the work (except to the
+extent that warranties are provided), that licensees may convey the
+work under this License, and how to view a copy of this License.  If
+the interface presents a list of user commands or options, such as a
+menu, a prominent item in the list meets this criterion.
+
+  1. Source Code.
+
+  The "source code" for a work means the preferred form of the work
+for making modifications to it.  "Object code" means any non-source
+form of a work.
+
+  A "Standard Interface" means an interface that either is an official
+standard defined by a recognized standards body, or, in the case of
+interfaces specified for a particular programming language, one that
+is widely used among developers working in that language.
+
+  The "System Libraries" of an executable work include anything, other
+than the work as a whole, that (a) is included in the normal form of
+packaging a Major Component, but which is not part of that Major
+Component, and (b) serves only to enable use of the work with that
+Major Component, or to implement a Standard Interface for which an
+implementation is available to the public in source code form.  A
+"Major Component", in this context, means a major essential component
+(kernel, window system, and so on) of the specific operating system
+(if any) on which the executable work runs, or a compiler used to
+produce the work, or an object code interpreter used to run it.
+
+  The "Corresponding Source" for a work in object code form means all
+the source code needed to generate, install, and (for an executable
+work) run the object code and to modify the work, including scripts to
+control those activities.  However, it does not include the work's
+System Libraries, or general-purpose tools or generally available free
+programs which are used unmodified in performing those activities but
+which are not part of the work.  For example, Corresponding Source
+includes interface definition files associated with source files for
+the work, and the source code for shared libraries and dynamically
+linked subprograms that the work is specifically designed to require,
+such as by intimate data communication or control flow between those
+subprograms and other parts of the work.
+
+  The Corresponding Source need not include anything that users
+can regenerate automatically from other parts of the Corresponding
+Source.
+
+  The Corresponding Source for a work in source code form is that
+same work.
+
+  2. Basic Permissions.
+
+  All rights granted under this License are granted for the term of
+copyright on the Program, and are irrevocable provided the stated
+conditions are met.  This License explicitly affirms your unlimited
+permission to run the unmodified Program.  The output from running a
+covered work is covered by this License only if the output, given its
+content, constitutes a covered work.  This License acknowledges your
+rights of fair use or other equivalent, as provided by copyright law.
+
+  You may make, run and propagate covered works that you do not
+convey, without conditions so long as your license otherwise remains
+in force.  You may convey covered works to others for the sole purpose
+of having them make modifications exclusively for you, or provide you
+with facilities for running those works, provided that you comply with
+the terms of this License in conveying all material for which you do
+not control copyright.  Those thus making or running the covered works
+for you must do so exclusively on your behalf, under your direction
+and control, on terms that prohibit them from making any copies of
+your copyrighted material outside their relationship with you.
+
+  Conveying under any other circumstances is permitted solely under
+the conditions stated below.  Sublicensing is not allowed; section 10
+makes it unnecessary.
+
+  3. Protecting Users' Legal Rights From Anti-Circumvention Law.
+
+  No covered work shall be deemed part of an effective technological
+measure under any applicable law fulfilling obligations under article
+11 of the WIPO copyright treaty adopted on 20 December 1996, or
+similar laws prohibiting or restricting circumvention of such
+measures.
+
+  When you convey a covered work, you waive any legal power to forbid
+circumvention of technological measures to the extent such circumvention
+is effected by exercising rights under this License with respect to
+the covered work, and you disclaim any intention to limit operation or
+modification of the work as a means of enforcing, against the work's
+users, your or third parties' legal rights to forbid circumvention of
+technological measures.
+
+  4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.
+
+  You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you
+receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and
+appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice;
+keep intact all notices stating that this License and any
+non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code;
+keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all
+recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.
+
+  You may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey,
+and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee.
+
+  5. Conveying Modified Source Versions.
+
+  You may convey a work based on the Program, or the modifications to
+produce it from the Program, in the form of source code under the
+terms of section 4, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
+
+    a) The work must carry prominent notices stating that you modified
+    it, and giving a relevant date.
+
+    b) The work must carry prominent notices stating that it is
+    released under this License and any conditions added under section
+    7.  This requirement modifies the requirement in section 4 to
+    "keep intact all notices".
+
+    c) You must license the entire work, as a whole, under this
+    License to anyone who comes into possession of a copy.  This
+    License will therefore apply, along with any applicable section 7
+    additional terms, to the whole of the work, and all its parts,
+    regardless of how they are packaged.  This License gives no
+    permission to license the work in any other way, but it does not
+    invalidate such permission if you have separately received it.
+
+    d) If the work has interactive user interfaces, each must display
+    Appropriate Legal Notices; however, if the Program has interactive
+    interfaces that do not display Appropriate Legal Notices, your
+    work need not make them do so.
+
+  A compilation of a covered work with other separate and independent
+works, which are not by their nature extensions of the covered work,
+and which are not combined with it such as to form a larger program,
+in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an
+"aggregate" if the compilation and its resulting copyright are not
+used to limit the access or legal rights of the compilation's users
+beyond what the individual works permit.  Inclusion of a covered work
+in an aggregate does not cause this License to apply to the other
+parts of the aggregate.
+
+  6. Conveying Non-Source Forms.
+
+  You may convey a covered work in object code form under the terms
+of sections 4 and 5, provided that you also convey the
+machine-readable Corresponding Source under the terms of this License,
+in one of these ways:
+
+    a) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product
+    (including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by the
+    Corresponding Source fixed on a durable physical medium
+    customarily used for software interchange.
+
+    b) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product
+    (including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by a
+    written offer, valid for at least three years and valid for as
+    long as you offer spare parts or customer support for that product
+    model, to give anyone who possesses the object code either (1) a
+    copy of the Corresponding Source for all the software in the
+    product that is covered by this License, on a durable physical
+    medium customarily used for software interchange, for a price no
+    more than your reasonable cost of physically performing this
+    conveying of source, or (2) access to copy the
+    Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge.
+
+    c) Convey individual copies of the object code with a copy of the
+    written offer to provide the Corresponding Source.  This
+    alternative is allowed only occasionally and noncommercially, and
+    only if you received the object code with such an offer, in accord
+    with subsection 6b.
+
+    d) Convey the object code by offering access from a designated
+    place (gratis or for a charge), and offer equivalent access to the
+    Corresponding Source in the same way through the same place at no
+    further charge.  You need not require recipients to copy the
+    Corresponding Source along with the object code.  If the place to
+    copy the object code is a network server, the Corresponding Source
+    may be on a different server (operated by you or a third party)
+    that supports equivalent copying facilities, provided you maintain
+    clear directions next to the object code saying where to find the
+    Corresponding Source.  Regardless of what server hosts the
+    Corresponding Source, you remain obligated to ensure that it is
+    available for as long as needed to satisfy these requirements.
+
+    e) Convey the object code using peer-to-peer transmission, provided
+    you inform other peers where the object code and Corresponding
+    Source of the work are being offered to the general public at no
+    charge under subsection 6d.
+
+  A separable portion of the object code, whose source code is excluded
+from the Corresponding Source as a System Library, need not be
+included in conveying the object code work.
+
+  A "User Product" is either (1) a "consumer product", which means any
+tangible personal property which is normally used for personal, family,
+or household purposes, or (2) anything designed or sold for incorporation
+into a dwelling.  In determining whether a product is a consumer product,
+doubtful cases shall be resolved in favor of coverage.  For a particular
+product received by a particular user, "normally used" refers to a
+typical or common use of that class of product, regardless of the status
+of the particular user or of the way in which the particular user
+actually uses, or expects or is expected to use, the product.  A product
+is a consumer product regardless of whether the product has substantial
+commercial, industrial or non-consumer uses, unless such uses represent
+the only significant mode of use of the product.
+
+  "Installation Information" for a User Product means any methods,
+procedures, authorization keys, or other information required to install
+and execute modified versions of a covered work in that User Product from
+a modified version of its Corresponding Source.  The information must
+suffice to ensure that the continued functioning of the modified object
+code is in no case prevented or interfered with solely because
+modification has been made.
+
+  If you convey an object code work under this section in, or with, or
+specifically for use in, a User Product, and the conveying occurs as
+part of a transaction in which the right of possession and use of the
+User Product is transferred to the recipient in perpetuity or for a
+fixed term (regardless of how the transaction is characterized), the
+Corresponding Source conveyed under this section must be accompanied
+by the Installation Information.  But this requirement does not apply
+if neither you nor any third party retains the ability to install
+modified object code on the User Product (for example, the work has
+been installed in ROM).
+
+  The requirement to provide Installation Information does not include a
+requirement to continue to provide support service, warranty, or updates
+for a work that has been modified or installed by the recipient, or for
+the User Product in which it has been modified or installed.  Access to a
+network may be denied when the modification itself materially and
+adversely affects the operation of the network or violates the rules and
+protocols for communication across the network.
+
+  Corresponding Source conveyed, and Installation Information provided,
+in accord with this section must be in a format that is publicly
+documented (and with an implementation available to the public in
+source code form), and must require no special password or key for
+unpacking, reading or copying.
+
+  7. Additional Terms.
+
+  "Additional permissions" are terms that supplement the terms of this
+License by making exceptions from one or more of its conditions.
+Additional permissions that are applicable to the entire Program shall
+be treated as though they were included in this License, to the extent
+that they are valid under applicable law.  If additional permissions
+apply only to part of the Program, that part may be used separately
+under those permissions, but the entire Program remains governed by
+this License without regard to the additional permissions.
+
+  When you convey a copy of a covered work, you may at your option
+remove any additional permissions from that copy, or from any part of
+it.  (Additional permissions may be written to require their own
+removal in certain cases when you modify the work.)  You may place
+additional permissions on material, added by you to a covered work,
+for which you have or can give appropriate copyright permission.
+
+  Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, for material you
+add to a covered work, you may (if authorized by the copyright holders of
+that material) supplement the terms of this License with terms:
+
+    a) Disclaiming warranty or limiting liability differently from the
+    terms of sections 15 and 16 of this License; or
+
+    b) Requiring preservation of specified reasonable legal notices or
+    author attributions in that material or in the Appropriate Legal
+    Notices displayed by works containing it; or
+
+    c) Prohibiting misrepresentation of the origin of that material, or
+    requiring that modified versions of such material be marked in
+    reasonable ways as different from the original version; or
+
+    d) Limiting the use for publicity purposes of names of licensors or
+    authors of the material; or
+
+    e) Declining to grant rights under trademark law for use of some
+    trade names, trademarks, or service marks; or
+
+    f) Requiring indemnification of licensors and authors of that
+    material by anyone who conveys the material (or modified versions of
+    it) with contractual assumptions of liability to the recipient, for
+    any liability that these contractual assumptions directly impose on
+    those licensors and authors.
+
+  All other non-permissive additional terms are considered "further
+restrictions" within the meaning of section 10.  If the Program as you
+received it, or any part of it, contains a notice stating that it is
+governed by this License along with a term that is a further
+restriction, you may remove that term.  If a license document contains
+a further restriction but permits relicensing or conveying under this
+License, you may add to a covered work material governed by the terms
+of that license document, provided that the further restriction does
+not survive such relicensing or conveying.
+
+  If you add terms to a covered work in accord with this section, you
+must place, in the relevant source files, a statement of the
+additional terms that apply to those files, or a notice indicating
+where to find the applicable terms.
+
+  Additional terms, permissive or non-permissive, may be stated in the
+form of a separately written license, or stated as exceptions;
+the above requirements apply either way.
+
+  8. Termination.
+
+  You may not propagate or modify a covered work except as expressly
+provided under this License.  Any attempt otherwise to propagate or
+modify it is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under
+this License (including any patent licenses granted under the third
+paragraph of section 11).
+
+  However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your
+license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a)
+provisionally, unless and until the copyright holder explicitly and
+finally terminates your license, and (b) permanently, if the copyright
+holder fails to notify you of the violation by some reasonable means
+prior to 60 days after the cessation.
+
+  Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is
+reinstated permanently if the copyright holder notifies you of the
+violation by some reasonable means, this is the first time you have
+received notice of violation of this License (for any work) from that
+copyright holder, and you cure the violation prior to 30 days after
+your receipt of the notice.
+
+  Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate the
+licenses of parties who have received copies or rights from you under
+this License.  If your rights have been terminated and not permanently
+reinstated, you do not qualify to receive new licenses for the same
+material under section 10.
+
+  9. Acceptance Not Required for Having Copies.
+
+  You are not required to accept this License in order to receive or
+run a copy of the Program.  Ancillary propagation of a covered work
+occurring solely as a consequence of using peer-to-peer transmission
+to receive a copy likewise does not require acceptance.  However,
+nothing other than this License grants you permission to propagate or
+modify any covered work.  These actions infringe copyright if you do
+not accept this License.  Therefore, by modifying or propagating a
+covered work, you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so.
+
+  10. Automatic Licensing of Downstream Recipients.
+
+  Each time you convey a covered work, the recipient automatically
+receives a license from the original licensors, to run, modify and
+propagate that work, subject to this License.  You are not responsible
+for enforcing compliance by third parties with this License.
+
+  An "entity transaction" is a transaction transferring control of an
+organization, or substantially all assets of one, or subdividing an
+organization, or merging organizations.  If propagation of a covered
+work results from an entity transaction, each party to that
+transaction who receives a copy of the work also receives whatever
+licenses to the work the party's predecessor in interest had or could
+give under the previous paragraph, plus a right to possession of the
+Corresponding Source of the work from the predecessor in interest, if
+the predecessor has it or can get it with reasonable efforts.
+
+  You may not impose any further restrictions on the exercise of the
+rights granted or affirmed under this License.  For example, you may
+not impose a license fee, royalty, or other charge for exercise of
+rights granted under this License, and you may not initiate litigation
+(including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that
+any patent claim is infringed by making, using, selling, offering for
+sale, or importing the Program or any portion of it.
+
+  11. Patents.
+
+  A "contributor" is a copyright holder who authorizes use under this
+License of the Program or a work on which the Program is based.  The
+work thus licensed is called the contributor's "contributor version".
+
+  A contributor's "essential patent claims" are all patent claims
+owned or controlled by the contributor, whether already acquired or
+hereafter acquired, that would be infringed by some manner, permitted
+by this License, of making, using, or selling its contributor version,
+but do not include claims that would be infringed only as a
+consequence of further modification of the contributor version.  For
+purposes of this definition, "control" includes the right to grant
+patent sublicenses in a manner consistent with the requirements of
+this License.
+
+  Each contributor grants you a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free
+patent license under the contributor's essential patent claims, to
+make, use, sell, offer for sale, import and otherwise run, modify and
+propagate the contents of its contributor version.
+
+  In the following three paragraphs, a "patent license" is any express
+agreement or commitment, however denominated, not to enforce a patent
+(such as an express permission to practice a patent or covenant not to
+sue for patent infringement).  To "grant" such a patent license to a
+party means to make such an agreement or commitment not to enforce a
+patent against the party.
+
+  If you convey a covered work, knowingly relying on a patent license,
+and the Corresponding Source of the work is not available for anyone
+to copy, free of charge and under the terms of this License, through a
+publicly available network server or other readily accessible means,
+then you must either (1) cause the Corresponding Source to be so
+available, or (2) arrange to deprive yourself of the benefit of the
+patent license for this particular work, or (3) arrange, in a manner
+consistent with the requirements of this License, to extend the patent
+license to downstream recipients.  "Knowingly relying" means you have
+actual knowledge that, but for the patent license, your conveying the
+covered work in a country, or your recipient's use of the covered work
+in a country, would infringe one or more identifiable patents in that
+country that you have reason to believe are valid.
+
+  If, pursuant to or in connection with a single transaction or
+arrangement, you convey, or propagate by procuring conveyance of, a
+covered work, and grant a patent license to some of the parties
+receiving the covered work authorizing them to use, propagate, modify
+or convey a specific copy of the covered work, then the patent license
+you grant is automatically extended to all recipients of the covered
+work and works based on it.
+
+  A patent license is "discriminatory" if it does not include within
+the scope of its coverage, prohibits the exercise of, or is
+conditioned on the non-exercise of one or more of the rights that are
+specifically granted under this License.  You may not convey a covered
+work if you are a party to an arrangement with a third party that is
+in the business of distributing software, under which you make payment
+to the third party based on the extent of your activity of conveying
+the work, and under which the third party grants, to any of the
+parties who would receive the covered work from you, a discriminatory
+patent license (a) in connection with copies of the covered work
+conveyed by you (or copies made from those copies), or (b) primarily
+for and in connection with specific products or compilations that
+contain the covered work, unless you entered into that arrangement,
+or that patent license was granted, prior to 28 March 2007.
+
+  Nothing in this License shall be construed as excluding or limiting
+any implied license or other defenses to infringement that may
+otherwise be available to you under applicable patent law.
+
+  12. No Surrender of Others' Freedom.
+
+  If conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
+otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
+excuse you from the conditions of this License.  If you cannot convey a
+covered work so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
+License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may
+not convey it at all.  For example, if you agree to terms that obligate you
+to collect a royalty for further conveying from those to whom you convey
+the Program, the only way you could satisfy both those terms and this
+License would be to refrain entirely from conveying the Program.
+
+  13. Remote Network Interaction; Use with the GNU General Public License.
+
+  Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, if you modify the
+Program, your modified version must prominently offer all users
+interacting with it remotely through a computer network (if your version
+supports such interaction) an opportunity to receive the Corresponding
+Source of your version by providing access to the Corresponding Source
+from a network server at no charge, through some standard or customary
+means of facilitating copying of software.  This Corresponding Source
+shall include the Corresponding Source for any work covered by version 3
+of the GNU General Public License that is incorporated pursuant to the
+following paragraph.
+
+  Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, you have
+permission to link or combine any covered work with a work licensed
+under version 3 of the GNU General Public License into a single
+combined work, and to convey the resulting work.  The terms of this
+License will continue to apply to the part which is the covered work,
+but the work with which it is combined will remain governed by version
+3 of the GNU General Public License.
+
+  14. Revised Versions of this License.
+
+  The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of
+the GNU Affero General Public License from time to time.  Such new versions
+will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
+address new problems or concerns.
+
+  Each version is given a distinguishing version number.  If the
+Program specifies that a certain numbered version of the GNU Affero General
+Public License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the
+option of following the terms and conditions either of that numbered
+version or of any later version published by the Free Software
+Foundation.  If the Program does not specify a version number of the
+GNU Affero General Public License, you may choose any version ever published
+by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+  If the Program specifies that a proxy can decide which future
+versions of the GNU Affero General Public License can be used, that proxy's
+public statement of acceptance of a version permanently authorizes you
+to choose that version for the Program.
+
+  Later license versions may give you additional or different
+permissions.  However, no additional obligations are imposed on any
+author or copyright holder as a result of your choosing to follow a
+later version.
+
+  15. Disclaimer of Warranty.
+
+  THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY
+APPLICABLE LAW.  EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT
+HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY
+OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
+THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+PURPOSE.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM
+IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF
+ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
+
+  16. Limitation of Liability.
+
+  IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
+WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS
+THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY
+GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE
+USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF
+DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD
+PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS),
+EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
+SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+  17. Interpretation of Sections 15 and 16.
+
+  If the disclaimer of warranty and limitation of liability provided
+above cannot be given local legal effect according to their terms,
+reviewing courts shall apply local law that most closely approximates
+an absolute waiver of all civil liability in connection with the
+Program, unless a warranty or assumption of liability accompanies a
+copy of the Program in return for a fee.
+
+                     END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
+
+            How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
+
+  If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
+possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
+free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.
+
+  To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest
+to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
+state the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least
+the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.
+
+    Check SFS
+    Copyright (C) 2020  Alexander Schlemmer
+
+    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published
+    by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
+
+  If your software can interact with users remotely through a computer
+network, you should also make sure that it provides a way for users to
+get its source.  For example, if your program is a web application, its
+interface could display a "Source" link that leads users to an archive
+of the code.  There are many ways you could offer source, and different
+solutions will be better for different programs; see section 13 for the
+specific requirements.
+
+  You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or school,
+if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program, if necessary.
+For more information on this, and how to apply and follow the GNU AGPL, see
+<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
diff --git a/loanpy/Makefile b/loanpy/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b8bc521c7f9046dbcbea56c08a26903ba924acab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# ** header v3.0
+# This file is a part of the CaosDB Project.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 IndiScale GmbH <info@indiscale.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Daniel Hornung <d.hornung@indiscale.com>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+# ** end header
+
+# This Makefile is a wrapper for several other scripts.
+
+.PHONY: help
+
+help:
+	@echo 'Type `make doc` for documentation, or `make install` for (local) installation.'
+
+doc:
+	$(MAKE) -C src/doc html
+
+install:
+	@echo "Not implemented yet, use pip for installation."
+
+check: style lint
+.PHONY: check
+
+style:
+	pycodestyle --count src unittests
+.PHONY: style
+
+lint:
+	pylint --unsafe-load-any-extension=y -d all -e E,F src/linkahead_python_package_template
+.PHONY: lint
+
+unittest:
+	tox -r
+.PHONY: unittest
diff --git a/loanpy/README.md b/loanpy/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4e457007fa2dc3a3b3d241183ef7d2e7e5b69e79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# LinkAhead Python Package Template
+
+This Repo serves as a template for LinkAhead related Python packages, e.g.,
+custom crawler converters.
+
+## Usage
+
+To create a new Python package, fork this repo and change the names in the `src`
+directory, `pyproject.toml`, `Makefile`, `src/doc/Makefile`, `src/doc/conf.py`
+and `tox.ini`. Also edit the `authors` field therein. If applicable, create a
+`citation.cff` for the new project.
+
+Also update this `README.md` to contain actual package information including
+license, copyright, conttributors, etc. See [Pylib's
+README.md](https://gitlab.com/linkahead/linkahead-pylib/-/blob/main/README.md?ref_type=heads)
+as an example.
+
+Then, write your Python code in `/src/<package_name>`, and add unit tests in
+`unittests`. Documentation goes to `/src/doc`.
+
+If you want to publish the result on PyPi, there is a release.sh helper
+script. Make sure that your `pyproject.toml` contains the correct and complete
+metadata and check the `RELEASE_GUIDELINES.md`
+
+### Unit Tests
+
+Run `tox` or alternatively `pytest unittests/`.
+
+### Code style and liniting
+
+Run `make style lint` after installing the dependencies listed below.
+
+### Documentation
+
+Run `make doc` after installing the dependencies listed below.
+
+## Dependencies
+
+Package and optional dependencies are declared in the `pyproject.toml`;
+additional dependencies for testing are listed in the `tox.ini`.
+
+For linting and code-style we additionally require
+
+- `pylint`
+
+For building the documentation we require
+
+- `sphinx`
+- `recommonmark` 
+- `sphinx-rtd-theme`
diff --git a/loanpy/RELEASE_GUIDELINES.md b/loanpy/RELEASE_GUIDELINES.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..46ef6a8d31643281e46ee7139b2fb81e1e221215
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/RELEASE_GUIDELINES.md
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# Release Guidelines for the CaosDB Python Client Library
+
+This document specifies release guidelines in addition to the general release
+guidelines of the CaosDB Project
+([RELEASE_GUIDELINES.md](https://gitlab.com/caosdb/caosdb/blob/dev/RELEASE_GUIDELINES.md))
+
+## General Prerequisites
+
+* All tests are passing.
+* FEATURES.md is up-to-date and a public API is being declared in that document.
+* CHANGELOG.md is up-to-date.
+* dependencies in `setup.cfg` are up-to-date.
+
+## Steps
+
+1. Create a release branch from the dev branch. This prevents further changes
+   to the code base and a never ending release process. Naming: `release-<VERSION>`
+
+2. Update CHANGELOG.md
+
+3. Check all general prerequisites.
+
+4. Update the version:
+   - `version` variables in `src/doc/conf.py`
+   - Version in [pyproject.toml](./pyproject.toml).
+   - `CITATION.cff` (update version and date)
+
+5. Merge the release branch into the main branch.
+
+6. Tag the latest commit of the main branch with `v<VERSION>`.
+
+7. Delete the release branch.
+
+8. Remove possibly existing `./dist` directory with old release.
+
+9. Publish the release by executing `./release.sh` with uploads the caosdb
+   module to the Python Package Index [pypi.org](https://pypi.org).
+
+10. Merge the main branch back into the dev branch.
+
+11. After the merge of main to dev, start a new development version by
+    increasing at least the micro version in [pyproject.toml](./pyproject.toml)
+    and preparing CHANGELOG.md.
+
+12. Create releases on gitlab.com and gitlab.indiscale.com that contain (at
+    least) the most recent section of the CHANGELOG as the description and link
+    to the PyPi package.
diff --git a/loanpy/integrationtests/basic_test.py b/loanpy/integrationtests/basic_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5fda6aa0eb00c47e8124fe79476f6463776a510a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/integrationtests/basic_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,192 @@
+#  This file is a part of the LinkAhead Project.
+#
+#  Copyright (C) 2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+#  Copyright (C) 2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+#
+#  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+#  published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+#  License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+#  along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+"""
+basic integration test of the loan workflow
+"""
+
+from pytest import fixture
+import json
+import linkahead as db
+import re
+from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
+from linkahead.utils.server_side_scripting import run_server_side_script
+from loan.box_loan import (BORROWER, BOX, COMMENT, DESTINATION, EXHAUST_CONTENTS, LENT,
+                      F_CURRENT_LOCATION,
+                      EXPECTED_RETURN, F_BOX, F_COMMENT, F_DESTINATION,PERSON, LOAN_ACCEPTED,
+                      F_EMAIL, F_EXHAUST_CONTENTS, F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE, EMAIL, F_LOAN,
+                      F_FIRST_NAME, F_LAST_NAME, FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, LOAN, LOCATION, RETURNED,
+                      RETURN_ACCEPTED,
+                      LOAN_REQUESTED, assert_date_in_future, CONTENT, RETURNLOCATION,
+                      assert_key_in_data, get_box, insert_or_update_person, main, RETURN_REQUESTED,
+                      send_loan_request_mail)
+
+
+TESTLOANCOMMENT = 'This is a test'
+TESTRETURNCOMMENT = 'This is a return test'
+TESTBOXNUMBER = '0123 TEST'
+TESTDESTINATION = 'TEST DEST'
+TESTCURRENTDESTINATION = 'TEST CUR DEST'
+TESTBORROWEREMAIL = 'test@example.com'
+TESTRETURNDATE="2025-03-04"
+TESTFN = "Alice"
+TESTLN = "Wunderland"
+
+
+def save_dict_to_jsonfile(data):
+    tmp = NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False, suffix=".json")
+    tmp.close()
+    with open(tmp.name, "w") as fi:
+        json.dump(data, fi)
+    return tmp.name
+
+def delete_stuff():
+    to_be_deleted = db.Container()
+    to_be_deleted.extend(db.execute_query(f"FIND loan with {COMMENT.name}='{TESTLOANCOMMENT}'"))
+    to_be_deleted.extend(db.execute_query(f"FIND '{TESTDESTINATION}'"))
+    to_be_deleted.extend(db.execute_query(f"FIND '{TESTCURRENTDESTINATION}'"))
+    to_be_deleted.extend(db.execute_query(f"FIND '{TESTBOXNUMBER}'"))
+    to_be_deleted.extend(db.execute_query(f"FIND person with {EMAIL.name}='{TESTBORROWEREMAIL}'"))
+    if len(to_be_deleted)>0:
+        to_be_deleted.delete()
+
+@fixture(autouse=True)
+def prepare():
+    delete_stuff()
+    db.Record(name=TESTBOXNUMBER).add_parent(BOX.name).insert()
+    db.Record(name=TESTDESTINATION).add_parent(LOCATION.name).insert()
+    db.Record(name=TESTCURRENTDESTINATION).add_parent(LOCATION.name).insert()
+    (db.Record().add_parent(PERSON.name).add_property(EMAIL.name, TESTBORROWEREMAIL)
+                .add_property(FIRST_NAME.name, TESTFN)
+                .add_property(LAST_NAME.name, TESTLN).insert())
+    yield
+    delete_stuff()
+
+
+def test_request_loan():
+
+    ##### request loan #####
+    data = {}
+    data[F_EXHAUST_CONTENTS] = False
+    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE]= "2042-02-02"
+    data[F_BOX]=db.utils.get_entity.get_entity_by_name(TESTBOXNUMBER).id
+    data[F_COMMENT]=TESTLOANCOMMENT
+    data[F_DESTINATION]=db.utils.get_entity.get_entity_by_name(TESTDESTINATION).id
+    data[F_EMAIL]=TESTBORROWEREMAIL
+    data[F_LAST_NAME]=TESTLN
+    data[F_FIRST_NAME]=TESTFN
+
+    response = run_server_side_script("loan_management/request_loan.py",
+                                    #"pos0",
+                                    #option1="val1",
+                                    files={"-p0": save_dict_to_jsonfile(data)},
+                                    **{"auth-token":db.get_connection()._authenticator.auth_token})
+    assert response.stderr is None
+    assert response.code == 0
+    loan = db.execute_query(f"FIND loan with {COMMENT.name}='{TESTLOANCOMMENT}'", unique=True)
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{BOX.name}").value == data[F_BOX]
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{LOAN_REQUESTED.name}").value.startswith("20")
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{BORROWER.name}").value == db.execute_query(
+        f"FIND {PERSON.name} with {EMAIL.name}='{TESTBORROWEREMAIL}'", unique=True).id
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{EXPECTED_RETURN.name}").value == data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE]
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{EXHAUST_CONTENTS.name}").value == data[F_EXHAUST_CONTENTS]
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{DESTINATION.name}").value == data[F_DESTINATION]
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{LOAN_ACCEPTED.name}") is None
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{LENT.name}") is None
+
+    ##### accept loan #####
+    data = {}
+    data[F_LOAN] = loan.id
+    response = run_server_side_script("loan_management/accept_loan_request.py",
+                                    #"pos0",
+                                    #option1="val1",
+                                    files={"-p0": save_dict_to_jsonfile(data)},
+                                    **{"auth-token":db.get_connection()._authenticator.auth_token})
+    assert response.stderr is None
+    assert response.code == 0
+    loan = db.execute_query(f"FIND loan with {COMMENT.name}='{TESTLOANCOMMENT}'", unique=True)
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{LOAN_ACCEPTED.name}").value.startswith("20")
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{LENT.name}") is None
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{RETURN_REQUESTED.name}") is None
+
+    ##### confirm loan #####
+    data = {}
+    data[F_LOAN] = loan.id
+    response = run_server_side_script("loan_management/confirm_loan.py",
+                                    #"pos0",
+                                    #option1="val1",
+                                    files={"-p0": save_dict_to_jsonfile(data)},
+                                    **{"auth-token":db.get_connection()._authenticator.auth_token})
+    assert response.stderr is None
+    assert response.code == 0
+    loan = db.execute_query(f"FIND loan with {COMMENT.name}='{TESTLOANCOMMENT}'", unique=True)
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{LENT.name}").value.startswith("20")
+
+    ##### request return #####
+    data = {}
+    data[F_LOAN] = loan.id
+    # TODO: this is writen in the content field. Change name?
+    data[F_COMMENT] = TESTRETURNCOMMENT
+    # TODO: this is written in RETURNLOCATION. Change name?
+    data[F_CURRENT_LOCATION]=db.utils.get_entity.get_entity_by_name(TESTCURRENTDESTINATION).id
+    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = TESTRETURNDATE
+    data[F_EMAIL]=TESTBORROWEREMAIL
+    data[F_LAST_NAME]=TESTLN
+    data[F_FIRST_NAME]=TESTFN
+    response = run_server_side_script("loan_management/request_return.py",
+                                    #"pos0",
+                                    #option1="val1",
+                                    files={"-p0": save_dict_to_jsonfile(data)},
+                                    **{"auth-token":db.get_connection()._authenticator.auth_token})
+    assert response.stderr is None
+    assert response.code == 0
+    loan = db.execute_query(f"FIND loan with {COMMENT.name}='{TESTLOANCOMMENT}'", unique=True)
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{LOAN_ACCEPTED.name}").value.startswith("20")
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{CONTENT.name}").value == TESTRETURNCOMMENT
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{EXPECTED_RETURN.name}").value == TESTRETURNDATE
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{RETURNLOCATION.name}").value == db.utils.get_entity.get_entity_by_name(TESTCURRENTDESTINATION).id
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{RETURN_REQUESTED.name}").value.startswith("20")
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{RETURN_ACCEPTED.name}") is None
+    # TODO test change of borrower
+
+    # accept return
+    data = {}
+    data[F_LOAN] = loan.id
+    response = run_server_side_script("loan_management/accept_return_request.py",
+                                    #"pos0",
+                                    #option1="val1",
+                                    files={"-p0": save_dict_to_jsonfile(data)},
+                                    **{"auth-token":db.get_connection()._authenticator.auth_token})
+    assert response.stderr is None
+    assert response.code == 0
+    loan = db.execute_query(f"FIND loan with {COMMENT.name}='{TESTLOANCOMMENT}'", unique=True)
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{RETURN_ACCEPTED.name}").value.startswith("20")
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{RETURNED.name}") is None
+
+    # manual return
+    data = {}
+    data[F_LOAN] = loan.id
+    response = run_server_side_script("loan_management/manual_return.py",
+                                    #"pos0",
+                                    #option1="val1",
+                                    files={"-p0": save_dict_to_jsonfile(data)},
+                                    **{"auth-token":db.get_connection()._authenticator.auth_token})
+    assert response.stderr is None
+    assert response.code == 0
+    loan = db.execute_query(f"FIND loan with {COMMENT.name}='{TESTLOANCOMMENT}'", unique=True)
+    assert loan.get_property(f"{RETURNED.name}").value.startswith("20")
diff --git a/loanpy/pyproject.toml b/loanpy/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c8603d8f8fe0c68c7002c156b442bb302ba5ca6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+[build-system]
+requires = ["setuptools >= 61.0"]
+build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
+
+[project]
+name = "linkahead-sss-loanpy"
+description = "Server side scripting part of the loan management in LinkAhead"
+version = "0.0.1"
+readme = "README.md"
+license = {file = "LICENSE"}
+authors = [
+        {name = "Henrik tom Wörden", email="h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com"},
+        {name = "Florian Spreckelsen", email= "f.spreckelsen@indiscale.com"}
+]
+maintainers = [
+        {name = "Henrik tom Wörden", email="h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com"}
+]
+keywords = ["Data management", "Research data management"]
+classifiers = [
+            "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
+            "License :: OSI Approved :: GNU Affero General Public License v3 or later (AGPLv3+)",
+            "Operating System :: OS Independent",
+]
+requires-python = ">= 3.8"
+dependencies = [
+	     "caosadvancedtools",
+	     "py3-validate-email",
+             "linkahead"
+]
+
+[project.urls]
+Homepage = "https://getlinkahead.com"
+Documentation = "https://docs.indiscale.com"
+Repository = "https://gitlab.indiscale.com/caosdb/src/linkahead-loan"
+Issues = "https://gitlab.indiscale.com/caosdb/src/linkahead-loan/-/issues"
+Changelog = "https://gitlab.indiscale.com/caosdb/src/linkahead-loan/-/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md?ref_type=heads"
diff --git a/loanpy/release.sh b/loanpy/release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f6335ae20d0c29e760b508aac831a35460a59ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+rm -rf dist/ build/ .eggs/
+python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
+python -m twine upload dist/*
diff --git a/loanpy/src/doc/Makefile b/loanpy/src/doc/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6f4670d0e922026e200840034b8df2d9cb5ab9c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/src/doc/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# This file is a part of the LinkAhead Project.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2020 IndiScale GmbH <info@indiscale.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2020 Daniel Hornung <d.hornung@indiscale.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2021 Alexander Schlemmer <alexander.schlemmer@ds.mpg.de>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+# This Makefile is a wrapper for sphinx scripts.
+#
+# It is based upon the autocreated makefile for Sphinx documentation.
+
+# You can set these variables from the command line, and also
+# from the environment for the first two.
+SPHINXOPTS    ?= -a
+SPHINXBUILD   ?= sphinx-build
+SPHINXAPIDOC   ?= sphinx-apidoc
+PY_BASEDIR    = ../linkahead_python_package_template
+SOURCEDIR     = .
+BUILDDIR      = ../../build/doc
+
+
+.PHONY: doc-help Makefile
+
+# Put it first so that "make" without argument is like "make help".
+doc-help:
+	@$(SPHINXBUILD) -M help "$(SOURCEDIR)" "$(BUILDDIR)" $(SPHINXOPTS) $(O)
+
+# Catch-all target: route all unknown targets to Sphinx using the new
+# "make mode" option.  $(O) is meant as a shortcut for $(SPHINXOPTS).
+%: Makefile apidoc
+	@$(SPHINXBUILD) -M $@ "$(SOURCEDIR)" "$(BUILDDIR)" $(SPHINXOPTS) $(O)
+
+apidoc:
+	@$(SPHINXAPIDOC) -o _apidoc --separate $(PY_BASEDIR)
diff --git a/loanpy/src/doc/conf.py b/loanpy/src/doc/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cfd8a066f58516d6c7df8d580ab582cff68e94f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/src/doc/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,218 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# Configuration file for the Sphinx documentation builder.
+#
+# Based on the configuration for caosdb-pylib.
+#
+# # Copyright (C) 2021 Alexander Schlemmer <alexander.schlemmer@ds.mpg.de>
+#
+# This file only contains a selection of the most common options. For a full
+# list see the documentation:
+# https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/configuration.html
+
+# -- Path setup --------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory, add these
+# directories to sys.path here. This is particularly necessary if this package is installed at a
+# different version, for example via `pip install`.
+#
+# If the directory is relative to the documentation root, use os.path.abspath to make it absolute,
+# like shown here.
+#
+import os
+import sys
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('..'))
+
+import sphinx_rtd_theme  # noqa: E402
+
+
+# -- Project information -----------------------------------------------------
+
+project = 'caosdb-caoscrawler'
+copyright = '2024, IndiScale'
+author = 'Your Name'
+
+# The short X.Y version
+version = '0.0.1'
+# The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags
+# release = '0.5.2-rc2'
+release = '0.0.1-dev'
+
+
+# -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
+
+# If your documentation needs a minimal Sphinx version, state it here.
+#
+# needs_sphinx = '1.0'
+
+# Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be
+# extensions coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom
+# ones.
+extensions = [
+    'sphinx.ext.autodoc',
+    'sphinx.ext.autosectionlabel',
+    'sphinx.ext.intersphinx',
+    'sphinx.ext.napoleon',     # For Google style docstrings
+    "recommonmark",            # For markdown files.
+    "sphinx_rtd_theme",
+]
+
+# Add any paths that contain templates here, relative to this directory.
+templates_path = ['_templates']
+
+# The suffix(es) of source filenames.
+# You can specify multiple suffix as a list of string:
+source_suffix = ['.rst', '.md']
+
+# The master toctree document.
+master_doc = 'index'
+
+# The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
+# for a list of supported languages.
+#
+# This is also used if you do content translation via gettext catalogs.
+# Usually you set "language" from the command line for these cases.
+language = "en"
+
+# List of patterns, relative to source directory, that match files and
+# directories to ignore when looking for source files.
+# This pattern also affects html_static_path and html_extra_path.
+exclude_patterns = []
+
+# The name of the Pygments (syntax highlighting) style to use.
+pygments_style = None
+
+
+# -- Options for HTML output -------------------------------------------------
+
+# The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  See the documentation for
+# a list of builtin themes.
+#
+
+html_theme = "sphinx_rtd_theme"
+
+# Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
+# further.  For a list of options available for each theme, see the
+# documentation.
+#
+# html_theme_options = {}
+
+# Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
+# relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
+# so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".
+html_static_path = ['_static']  # ['_static']
+
+# Custom sidebar templates, must be a dictionary that maps document names
+# to template names.
+#
+# The default sidebars (for documents that don't match any pattern) are
+# defined by theme itself.  Builtin themes are using these templates by
+# default: ``['localtoc.html', 'relations.html', 'sourcelink.html',
+# 'searchbox.html']``.
+#
+# html_sidebars = {}
+
+
+# -- Options for HTMLHelp output ---------------------------------------------
+
+# Output file base name for HTML help builder.
+htmlhelp_basename = 'caosdb-caoscrawlerdoc'
+
+
+# -- Options for LaTeX output ------------------------------------------------
+
+latex_elements = {
+    # The paper size ('letterpaper' or 'a4paper').
+    #
+    # 'papersize': 'letterpaper',
+
+    # The font size ('10pt', '11pt' or '12pt').
+    #
+    # 'pointsize': '10pt',
+
+    # Additional stuff for the LaTeX preamble.
+    #
+    # 'preamble': '',
+
+    # Latex figure (float) alignment
+    #
+    # 'figure_align': 'htbp',
+}
+
+# Grouping the document tree into LaTeX files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title,
+#  author, documentclass [howto, manual, or own class]).
+latex_documents = [
+    (master_doc, 'caosdb-caoscrawler.tex', 'caosdb-caoscrawler Documentation',
+     'MPIDS', 'manual'),
+]
+
+
+# -- Options for manual page output ------------------------------------------
+
+# One entry per manual page. List of tuples
+# (source start file, name, description, authors, manual section).
+man_pages = [
+    (master_doc, 'caosdb-caoscrawler', 'caosdb-caoscrawler documentation',
+     [author], 1)
+]
+
+
+# -- Options for Texinfo output ----------------------------------------------
+
+# Grouping the document tree into Texinfo files. List of tuples
+# (source start file, target name, title, author,
+#  dir menu entry, description, category)
+texinfo_documents = [
+    (master_doc, 'caosdb-caoscrawler', 'caosdb-caoscrawler documentation',
+     author, 'caosdb-caoscrawler', 'One line description of project.',
+     'Miscellaneous'),
+]
+
+
+# -- Options for Epub output -------------------------------------------------
+
+# Bibliographic Dublin Core info.
+epub_title = project
+
+# The unique identifier of the text. This can be a ISBN number
+# or the project homepage.
+#
+# epub_identifier = ''
+
+# A unique identification for the text.
+#
+# epub_uid = ''
+
+# A list of files that should not be packed into the epub file.
+epub_exclude_files = ['search.html']
+
+
+# -- Extension configuration -------------------------------------------------
+
+# True to prefix each section label with the name of the document it is in, followed by a colon. For
+# example, index:Introduction for a section called Introduction that appears in document
+# index.rst. Useful for avoiding ambiguity when the same section heading appears in different
+# documents.
+#
+# Note: This stops "normal" links from working, so it should be kept at False.
+# autosectionlabel_prefix_document = True
+
+# -- Options for intersphinx -------------------------------------------------
+
+# https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/extensions/intersphinx.html#confval-intersphinx_mapping
+intersphinx_mapping = {
+    "python": ("https://docs.python.org/", None),
+    "caosdb-mysqlbackend": ("https://docs.indiscale.com/caosdb-mysqlbackend/",
+                            None),
+    "caosdb-server": ("https://docs.indiscale.com/caosdb-server/", None),
+    "caosdb-pylib": ("https://docs.indiscale.com/caosdb-pylib/", None),
+    "caosdb-advanced-user-tools": ("https://docs.indiscale.com/caosdb-advanced-user-tools/", None),
+}
+
+
+# TODO Which options do we want?
+autodoc_default_options = {
+    'members': None,
+    'undoc-members': None,
+}
diff --git a/loanpy/src/doc/index.rst b/loanpy/src/doc/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6756f30810e3f4a3aaedc9b6b9a2852bdb4161c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/src/doc/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+LinkkAhead Python Package Template
+==================================
+
+**TODO**: Write your documentation here.
diff --git a/loanpy/src/loan/__init__.py b/loanpy/src/loan/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..566fc50b34bb879f43543ee8ecc5415bbe86a8d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#
+# This file is a part of the LinkAhead Project.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2024 IndiScale GmbH <info@indiscale.com>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_loan_request.py b/loanpy/src/loan/accept_loan_request.py
similarity index 96%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_loan_request.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/accept_loan_request.py
index c4bc70401eb526130bac037756c350246d2b26a8..7e57f94c979e6d439531f2a8d0c44d01500969a4 100755
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_loan_request.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/accept_loan_request.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Accept a loan request.
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 import caosdb as db
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import print_success, get_timestamp
-from box_loan import (main, get_loan, F_LOAN, assert_loan_state,
+from .box_loan import (main, get_loan, F_LOAN, assert_loan_state,
                          LOAN_ACCEPTED, S_LOAN_ACCEPTED, S_LOAN_REQUESTED,
                          get_borrower_names, set_property)
 
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_return_request.py b/loanpy/src/loan/accept_return_request.py
similarity index 97%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_return_request.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/accept_return_request.py
index b28a7d4c0aa2a61c0794566d01cb38f8a6a827cd..05619d9d5d6b524f15e981b4742cbeb72750c1e9 100755
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/accept_return_request.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/accept_return_request.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Accept a return request.
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 import caosdb as db
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import print_success, get_timestamp
-from box_loan import (BOX_BORROWED, CONTENT, main, get_loan, set_property,
+from .box_loan import (BOX_BORROWED, CONTENT, main, get_loan, set_property,
                       F_LOAN, assert_loan_state, RETURN_ACCEPTED,
                       RETURNLOCATION, S_RETURN_ACCEPTED, S_RETURN_REQUESTED,
                       get_borrower_names, set_location)
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/box_loan.py b/loanpy/src/loan/box_loan.py
similarity index 89%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/box_loan.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/box_loan.py
index 393c715c36c34f647be10f69acf877dee0ea9bc9..b6dbad3e2760915d29c44eb0dac9d089c18163a6 100644
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/box_loan.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/box_loan.py
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@ from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import (DataModelError, get_data,
                                                  print_info, print_warning,
                                                  send_mail)
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.logging import configure_server_side_logging
-from caosdb.exceptions import EmptyUniqueQueryError
+from linkahead.exceptions import EmptyUniqueQueryError
 from validate_email import validate_email
+from .conf import *
 
 LOGGER_NAME = "box_loan"
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(LOGGER_NAME)
@@ -73,11 +74,6 @@ _EMTPY_DATA = {
     F_CURRENT_LOCATION: None
 }
 
-BOX = db.RecordType(name="Box")
-BOX_RETURNED = "Box (returned)"
-BOX_BORROWED = "Box (borrowed)"
-PERSON = db.RecordType(name="Person")
-LOAN = db.RecordType(name="Loan")
 
 RECORD_TYPES = [
     BOX,
@@ -85,25 +81,6 @@ RECORD_TYPES = [
     LOAN,
 ]
 
-# Properties
-FIRST_NAME = db.Property(name="firstName", datatype=db.TEXT)
-LAST_NAME = db.Property(name="lastName", datatype=db.TEXT)
-EMAIL = db.Property(name="email", datatype=db.TEXT)
-LOCATION = db.RecordType(name="Location")
-DESTINATION = db.Property(name="LoanLocation", datatype="Location")
-RETURNLOCATION = db.Property(name="ReturnLocation", datatype="Location")
-COMMENT = db.Property(name="comment", datatype=db.TEXT)
-EXHAUST_CONTENTS = db.Property(name="exhaustContents", datatype=db.BOOLEAN)
-BORROWER = db.Property(name="Borrower", datatype=PERSON.name)
-CONTENT = db.Property(name="Content", datatype=db.TEXT)
-LOAN_REQUESTED = db.Property(name="loanRequested", datatype=db.DATETIME)
-EXPECTED_RETURN = db.Property(name="expectedReturn", datatype=db.DATETIME)
-LOAN_ACCEPTED = db.Property(name="loanAccepted", datatype=db.DATETIME)
-LENT = db.Property(name="lent", datatype=db.DATETIME)
-RETURN_REQUESTED = db.Property(name="returnRequested", datatype=db.DATETIME)
-RETURN_ACCEPTED = db.Property(name="returnAccepted", datatype=db.DATETIME)
-RETURNED = db.Property(name="returned", datatype=db.DATETIME)
-BOX_NUMBER = db.Property(name="Number", datatype=db.TEXT)
 
 PROPERTIES = [
     FIRST_NAME,
@@ -229,10 +206,10 @@ def get_box(box):
     return get_record_by_id(BOX.name, box)
 
 
-def get_loan(loan):
+def get_loan(loan_id):
     """ Retrieve a loan record by id. """
 
-    return get_record_by_id(LOAN.name, loan)
+    return get_record_by_id(LOAN.name, loan_id)
 
 
 def get_loan_state(loan):
@@ -448,23 +425,16 @@ def query_person(firstname, lastname, email):
     1. the email address
     2. or the first name and the last name
     """
-    query = ('FIND RECORD {rt_person} '
-             'WITH {pemail} = "{email}" '
-             'OR ({pfn} = "{firstname}" '
-             'AND {pln} = "{lastname}") '
-             ).format(
-        rt_person=PERSON.name,
-        pemail=EMAIL.name,
-        email=email,
-        pfn=FIRST_NAME.name,
-        firstname=firstname,
-        pln=LAST_NAME.name,
-        lastname=lastname
-    )
 
+    query=(f'FIND RECORD {PERSON.name} '
+             f'WITH {EMAIL.name} = "{email}" '
+             f'OR ({FIRST_NAME.name} = "{firstname}" AND {LAST_NAME.name} = "{lastname}") '
+             )
     return db.execute_query(query, unique=True)
 
 
+
+
 def _update_person(person, firstname, lastname, email):
     """Update the persons names and email address.
 
@@ -479,7 +449,7 @@ def _update_person(person, firstname, lastname, email):
         person.update()
 
 
-def get_person(firstname, lastname, email):
+def insert_or_update_person(firstname, lastname, email):
     """ Retrieve a person Record or create it. """
     try:
         person = query_person(firstname, lastname, email)
@@ -524,6 +494,7 @@ def set_property(entity, prop, value, case_sensitive=True):
 
 
 def check_data_model():
+    # TODO init_data_model is a bad name; no initialization is done
     return init_data_model(RECORD_TYPES + PROPERTIES)
 
 
diff --git a/loanpy/src/loan/conf.py b/loanpy/src/loan/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a2eeb2ec78ed6ea64ede3a9a7d5d27dd466e1288
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import linkahead as db
+# RecordTypes
+BOX = db.RecordType(name="Box")
+PERSON = db.RecordType(name="Person")
+LOAN = db.RecordType(name="Loan")
+# Properties
+FIRST_NAME = db.Property(name="firstName", datatype=db.TEXT)
+LAST_NAME = db.Property(name="lastName", datatype=db.TEXT)
+EMAIL = db.Property(name="email", datatype=db.TEXT)
+LOCATION = db.RecordType(name="Location")
+DESTINATION = db.Property(name="LoanLocation", datatype="Location")
+RETURNLOCATION = db.Property(name="ReturnLocation", datatype="Location")
+COMMENT = db.Property(name="comment", datatype=db.TEXT)
+EXHAUST_CONTENTS = db.Property(name="exhaustContents", datatype=db.BOOLEAN)
+BORROWER = db.Property(name="Borrower", datatype=PERSON.name)
+CONTENT = db.Property(name="Content", datatype=db.TEXT)
+LOAN_REQUESTED = db.Property(name="loanRequested", datatype=db.DATETIME)
+EXPECTED_RETURN = db.Property(name="expectedReturn", datatype=db.DATETIME)
+LOAN_ACCEPTED = db.Property(name="loanAccepted", datatype=db.DATETIME)
+LENT = db.Property(name="lent", datatype=db.DATETIME)
+RETURN_REQUESTED = db.Property(name="returnRequested", datatype=db.DATETIME)
+RETURN_ACCEPTED = db.Property(name="returnAccepted", datatype=db.DATETIME)
+RETURNED = db.Property(name="returned", datatype=db.DATETIME)
+BOX_NUMBER = db.Property(name="Number", datatype=db.TEXT)
+
+# Other Strings
+# TODO: Adapt datamodel and remove name override
+BOX_RETURNED = "Box (returned)"
+BOX_BORROWED = "Box (borrowed)"
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/confirm_loan.py b/loanpy/src/loan/confirm_loan.py
similarity index 90%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/confirm_loan.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/confirm_loan.py
index 4b463b7cad7435d2484e8c9ce5d63585b7dfc339..f503f8ee56fcd7b41c26bcbc14d6d4e206497fea 100755
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/confirm_loan.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/confirm_loan.py
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import
 import caosdb as db
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_timestamp, print_success
 
-from box_loan import (BOX, BOX_BORROWED, DESTINATION, F_LOAN, LENT, S_LENT,
-                      S_LOAN_ACCEPTED, assert_loan_state, get_borrower_names,
-                      get_loan, main, set_location, set_property)
+from .box_loan import (BOX, BOX_BORROWED, DESTINATION, F_LOAN, LENT, S_LENT,
+                       S_LOAN_ACCEPTED, assert_loan_state, get_borrower_names,
+                       get_loan, main, set_location, set_property)
 
 
 def _set_lent_box(loan):
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ def _set_lent_box(loan):
 
     This stores the version of the box when it was delivered to the borrower.
     """
+    # TODO: Adapt datamodel and remove name override
     box_prop = loan.get_property(BOX)
     box_prop.name = BOX_BORROWED
     box_prop.value = str(box_prop.value) + "@HEAD"
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/manual_return.py b/loanpy/src/loan/manual_return.py
similarity index 89%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/manual_return.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/manual_return.py
index 9aa7e83c3f3210ad719d41a0b1aa00896e7e5aca..06fec359759e810c8e705ce7ab5fdb4130295238 100755
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/manual_return.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/manual_return.py
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import
 import caosdb as db
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_timestamp, print_success
 
-from box_loan import (BOX, BOX_BORROWED, BOX_RETURNED, CONTENT, F_LOAN,
-                      RETURNED, RETURNLOCATION, S_RETURN_ACCEPTED, S_RETURNED,
-                      assert_loan_state, get_borrower_names, get_loan, main,
-                      set_location, set_property)
+from .box_loan import (BOX, BOX_BORROWED, BOX_RETURNED, CONTENT, F_LOAN,
+                       RETURNED, RETURNLOCATION, S_RETURN_ACCEPTED, S_RETURNED,
+                       assert_loan_state, get_borrower_names, get_loan, main,
+                       set_location, set_property)
 
 
 def _set_returned_box(loan):
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ def _set_returned_box(loan):
     This stores the version of the box that was returned by a borrower.
     """
     box_id = loan.get_property(BOX_BORROWED).value.split("@")[0]
+    # TODO: Adapt datamodel and remove name override
     loan.add_property(property=BOX,
                       name=BOX_RETURNED,
                       value=box_id + "@HEAD")
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ def _manual_return(data):
     assert_loan_state(loan, S_RETURN_ACCEPTED)
 
     # This changes the state from "return_accepted" to "returned".
+    # TODO why twice????
     set_property(loan, RETURNED, get_timestamp())
     set_property(loan, RETURNED, get_timestamp())
 
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/reject_return_request.py b/loanpy/src/loan/reject_return_request.py
similarity index 96%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/reject_return_request.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/reject_return_request.py
index 0d8227edc96ec1482d30d44448dfa1788fafac7a..58d2349055bf0870de257b6a1a250e18da24a65a 100755
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/reject_return_request.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/reject_return_request.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Reject a return request.
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 import caosdb as db
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import print_success
-from box_loan import (main, get_loan, F_LOAN, assert_loan_state,
+from .box_loan import (main, get_loan, F_LOAN, assert_loan_state,
                          S_RETURN_REQUESTED, RETURN_REQUESTED, S_LENT,
                          get_borrower_names)
 
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_loan.py b/loanpy/src/loan/request_loan.py
similarity index 90%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_loan.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/request_loan.py
index 93714405aa3332def925695eeadc2d4ceb21ebe0..723f569c784f4af9b54ea3dce131ba3f09b58971 100755
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_loan.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/request_loan.py
@@ -22,15 +22,15 @@ Creates a loan request using information provided by a web formular.
 """
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
-import caosdb as db
+import linkahead as db
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_timestamp, print_success
 
-from box_loan import (BORROWER, BOX, COMMENT, DESTINATION, EXHAUST_CONTENTS,
+from .box_loan import (BORROWER, BOX, COMMENT, DESTINATION, EXHAUST_CONTENTS,
                       EXPECTED_RETURN, F_BOX, F_COMMENT, F_DESTINATION,
                       F_EMAIL, F_EXHAUST_CONTENTS, F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE,
                       F_FIRST_NAME, F_LAST_NAME, FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, LOAN,
                       LOAN_REQUESTED, assert_date_in_future,
-                      assert_key_in_data, get_box, get_person, main,
+                      assert_key_in_data, get_box, insert_or_update_person, main,
                       send_loan_request_mail)
 
 
@@ -80,8 +80,7 @@ def _check_data(data):
 def _issue_loan_request(data):
     """ Insert a loan record a insert/update a person record. """
     data = _check_data(data)
-    box = get_box(data[F_BOX])
-    borrower = get_person(firstname=data[F_FIRST_NAME],
+    borrower = insert_or_update_person(firstname=data[F_FIRST_NAME],
                           lastname=data[F_LAST_NAME],
                           email=data[F_EMAIL])
     loan = create_loan(box=data[F_BOX],
@@ -90,13 +89,9 @@ def _issue_loan_request(data):
                        exhaust_contents=data[F_EXHAUST_CONTENTS],
                        comment=data[F_COMMENT],
                        destination=data[F_DESTINATION])
-    c = db.Container().extend([
-        borrower,
-        loan
-    ])
-    c.insert()
+    loan.insert()
 
-    return borrower, loan, box
+    return borrower, loan
 
 
 def issue_loan_request(data):
@@ -114,7 +109,7 @@ def issue_loan_request(data):
     The borrower is a Person Record, with firstName, lastName and email,
     identified by either email, oder firstName+lastName.
     """
-    borrower, loan, _ = _issue_loan_request(data)
+    borrower, loan = _issue_loan_request(data)
 
     fn = borrower.get_property(FIRST_NAME.name).value
     ln = borrower.get_property(LAST_NAME.name).value
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_return.py b/loanpy/src/loan/request_return.py
similarity index 91%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_return.py
rename to loanpy/src/loan/request_return.py
index d64e72e49c7cbcf51d6277d2d8d3ca34b1c81838..011f85aa206395a7c9a844a56e3184ca5157b081 100755
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/loan_management/request_return.py
+++ b/loanpy/src/loan/request_return.py
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import
 
 from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_timestamp, print_success
 
-from box_loan import (BORROWER, COMMENT, CONTENT, EXPECTED_RETURN, F_COMMENT,
+from .box_loan import (BORROWER, COMMENT, CONTENT, EXPECTED_RETURN, F_COMMENT,
                       F_CURRENT_LOCATION, F_EMAIL, F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE,
                       F_FIRST_NAME, F_LAST_NAME, F_LOAN, FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME,
                       RETURN_REQUESTED, RETURNLOCATION, S_LENT,
                       assert_date_in_future, assert_key_in_data,
-                      assert_loan_state, get_loan, get_person, main,
+                      assert_loan_state, get_loan, insert_or_update_person, main,
                       send_return_request_mail, set_property)
 
 
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def _issue_return_request(data):
     loan = get_loan(data[F_LOAN])
     assert_loan_state(loan, S_LENT)
 
-    returner = get_person(data[F_FIRST_NAME], data[F_LAST_NAME], data[F_EMAIL])
+    returner = insert_or_update_person(data[F_FIRST_NAME], data[F_LAST_NAME], data[F_EMAIL])
     loan.add_property(RETURN_REQUESTED, get_timestamp())
 
     set_property(loan, BORROWER, returner.id)
diff --git a/loanpy/tox.ini b/loanpy/tox.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d72772249f9487943e771fe0012bdbb9b62eef8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/tox.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+[tox]
+envlist = py38, py39, py310, py311, py312, py313
+skip_missing_interpreters = true
+
+[testenv]
+deps = .
+     pytest
+     pytest-cov
+    
+commands =
+    py.test --cov=linkahead_python_package_template -vv {posargs}
+
+[flake8]
+max-line-length = 100
+
+[pycodestyle]
+max-line-length = 100
+
+[pytest]
+testpaths = unittests
+xfail_strict = True
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_loan_form.json b/loanpy/unittests/request_loan_form.json
similarity index 100%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/request_loan_form.json
rename to loanpy/unittests/request_loan_form.json
diff --git a/loanpy/unittests/test_box_loan.py b/loanpy/unittests/test_box_loan.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..77906a04891c4c7da901d8863f9d9f814c7ac829
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/unittests/test_box_loan.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#  This file is a part of the LinkAhead Project.
+#
+#  Copyright (C) 2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+#  Copyright (C) 2020-2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+#
+#  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+#  published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+#  License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+#  along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+from os.path import abspath, dirname, join
+from pytest import raises
+from linkahead import get_connection, configure_connection
+from linkahead.connection.mockup import (MockUpServerConnection, MockUpResponse)
+from loan.box_loan import (_caller, create_person,
+                         EMAIL, FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, PERSON,
+                         assert_date_in_future, DataError, EmailPatternError,
+                         assert_email_pattern)
+
+from utils import get_form_data_example
+
+
+
+def test_return_value_of_caller():
+    tval = 1337
+    assert _caller(lambda d: tval, [get_form_data_example()]
+) == tval
+
+def test_create_person():
+    p = create_person("anna", "lytik", "a@b.com")
+    assert p.get_parents()[0].name == PERSON.name
+    assert p.get_property(FIRST_NAME.name).value == "anna"
+    assert p.get_property(LAST_NAME.name).value == "lytik"
+    assert p.get_property(EMAIL.name).value == "a@b.com"
+
+def test_email_validation():
+    with raises(EmailPatternError):
+        assert_email_pattern("@asdf")
+    with raises(EmailPatternError):
+        assert_email_pattern("asdf")
+    with raises(EmailPatternError):
+        assert_email_pattern("asdfa.de")
+    with raises(EmailPatternError):
+        assert_email_pattern("sdfg@sdfg")
+
+    # the following shoudl be ok
+    assert_email_pattern("a@b.da")
+    assert_email_pattern("\"#\"@ö.de")
+
+def test_assert_date_in_future():
+    # I can't wait for 2050 :-)
+    assert assert_date_in_future("2050-01-01") is None
+    with raises(DataError):
+        assert_date_in_future("1971-01-01")
diff --git a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_manual_return.py b/loanpy/unittests/test_manual_return.py
similarity index 77%
rename from caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_manual_return.py
rename to loanpy/unittests/test_manual_return.py
index 790575c73acc1c8d4fa5bb66f37c49d84b6845a3..f1753dde016d3659a9a06e5746a1fcfd060f212b 100644
--- a/caosdb-server/scripting/bin/test/loan_management/test_manual_return.py
+++ b/loanpy/unittests/test_manual_return.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-from caosdb import Record
-from box_loan import BOX, BOX_RETURNED, BOX_BORROWED
-from manual_return import _set_returned_box
+from linkahead import Record
+from loan.box_loan import BOX, BOX_RETURNED, BOX_BORROWED
+from loan.manual_return import _set_returned_box
 
 
 def test_set_returned_box():
diff --git a/loanpy/unittests/test_request_loan.py b/loanpy/unittests/test_request_loan.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..63c937579048001ac944988be11058659f08baef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/unittests/test_request_loan.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+from os.path import abspath, dirname, join
+from pytest import raises
+from linkahead import get_connection, configure_connection, Record
+from linkahead.connection.mockup import (MockUpServerConnection, MockUpResponse)
+from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_data
+from loan.box_loan import (PERSON, FIRST_NAME, EMAIL, BOX, BORROWER,
+                         EXPECTED_RETURN, EXHAUST_CONTENTS, COMMENT,
+                         DESTINATION, F_FIRST_NAME, F_EMAIL,
+                         F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE, DataError, BOX_NUMBER)
+from loan.request_loan import (create_loan, _issue_loan_request)
+from utils import get_form_data_example
+
+
+def test_issue_loan_request_with_wrong_return_date():
+    data = get_data(get_form_data_example())
+    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = "1983-02-03"
+    with raises(DataError):
+        _issue_loan_request(data)
+
+
+def test_create_loan():
+    borrower = Record(name="Person1")
+    l = create_loan(1234,
+                    borrower,
+                    "2020-03-23",
+                    False,
+                    "blablabla",
+                    "my office")
+    assert l.get_property(BOX.name).value == 1234
+    assert l.get_property(BORROWER.name).value == borrower
+    assert l.get_property(EXPECTED_RETURN.name).value == "2020-03-23"
+    assert l.get_property(EXHAUST_CONTENTS.name).value == False
+    assert l.get_property(COMMENT.name).value == "blablabla"
+    assert l.get_property(DESTINATION.name).value == "my office"
diff --git a/loanpy/unittests/test_request_return.py b/loanpy/unittests/test_request_return.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8f6bd3b00d8cf02707eb0e688ff92e871f7f42f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/unittests/test_request_return.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+from os.path import abspath, dirname, join
+from pytest import raises
+from linkahead import get_connection, configure_connection
+from linkahead.connection.mockup import (MockUpServerConnection, MockUpResponse)
+from caosadvancedtools.serverside.helper import get_data
+from loan.box_loan import (FIRST_NAME, EMAIL, LAST_NAME, F_FIRST_NAME,
+                         F_LAST_NAME, F_EMAIL, EXPECTED_RETURN, LENT,
+                         RETURN_REQUESTED, PERSON, BORROWER, BOX,
+                         LOAN_REQUESTED, StateError, F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE,
+                         DataError, LOAN)
+from loan.request_return import get_loan, _issue_return_request
+from utils import get_form_data_example
+
+
+def test_return_request_with_wrong_return_date():
+    data = get_data(get_form_data_example())
+    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = "1983-02-03"
+    with raises(DataError):
+        _issue_return_request(data)
+
+    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = "asdf"
+    with raises(DataError):
+        _issue_return_request(data)
+
+    data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE] = ""
+    with raises(DataError):
+        _issue_return_request(data)
+
+    del data[F_EXPECTED_RETURN_DATE]
+    with raises(DataError):
+        _issue_return_request(data)
diff --git a/loanpy/unittests/utils.py b/loanpy/unittests/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c56975795276d029c644b06b1d0a2bc3aba7add8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/loanpy/unittests/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#  This file is a part of the LinkAhead Project.
+#
+#  Copyright (C) 2024 Henrik tom Wörden (h.tomwoerden@indiscale.com)
+#  Copyright (C) 2020-2024 IndiScale GmbH (info@indiscale.com)
+#
+#  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+#  published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+#  License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+#  along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+"""
+some utility functions
+"""
+
+from os.path import abspath, dirname, join
+
+def get_form_data_example():
+    return abspath(join(dirname(__file__), "request_loan_form.json"))
diff --git a/notes b/notes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d59de74242e0e3c7a4f372064a06f3577ae2fc20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notes
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+The loan references objects that are lent. The configuration denotes what RTs
+can be lent.
+
+
+Currently, the configuration has to be done twice:  for python and web
+
+
+# Fragen
+Soll die Email Adress wirklich on the fly mit geändert werden? Alternative
+(select person record and check that email is uptodate)
+
+
+Introduce a single loan.py file with argparse (`loan.py accept a b c`, etc) 
+
+Person without first or lastname seem to be a problem.
+
+
+Warum wird der Borrower beim Return verändert? Nur anbieten email anzupassen?