create-rest-api-pipeline

Create a rest api dlt pipeline

Create the simplest working dlt pipeline — single endpoint, no pagination or incremental loading — to get data flowing fast.

Requires a dlt init command as the argument (e.g. dlt init shopify_store duckdb). If you don't have one yet, run find-source first to identify the right source.

The argument is the full dlt init command to run (e.g. dlt init shopify_store duckdb or dlt init sql_database postgres).

Steps

1. Snapshot current folder

Run ls -la to see the current state before scaffolding.

2. Run dlt init

dlt init can be run multiple times in the same project — each run adds new files without overwriting existing pipeline scripts. It will update shared files (.dlt/secrets.toml, .dlt/config.toml, requirements.txt, .gitignore).

Run the provided dlt init command with --non-interactive in the active venv. Depending on the source type, this creates:

Core source (dlt init rest_api duckdb):

• rest_api_pipeline.py (or similar) — full working example with RESTAPIConfig, pagination, incremental loading

Generic fallback (dlt init <unknown_name> duckdb):

• <name>_pipeline.py — basic intro template (less useful, prefer core sources)

Shared files (created on first init, updated on subsequent runs):

• .dlt/secrets.toml — credentials template
• .dlt/config.toml — pipeline config
• requirements.txt — Python dependencies
• .gitignore

Run ls -la again to confirm what was created.

3. Read generated files

Read the following files to understand the scaffold:

• <source>_pipeline.py — the pipeline code template
• <source>-docs.yaml — API endpoint scaffold with auth, endpoints, params, data selectors (if present)
• .dlt/config.toml — source/destination config ie. api_url

Do NOT read the .md file or any secrets.toml file.

4. Research before writing code

Do these in parallel:

Read essential dlt docs upfront:

• REST API source (config, auth, pagination, processing_steps): https://dlthub.com/docs/dlt-ecosystem/verified-sources/rest_api/basic.md
• Source & resource decorators, parameters: https://dlthub.com/docs/general-usage/source.md and https://dlthub.com/docs/general-usage/resource.md

Web search the data source:

• Confirm the scaffold is accurate, learn about auth method, available endpoints
• How does the user get API keys/tokens for this service

Read additional docs as needed in later steps:

• How dlt works (extract → normalize → load): https://dlthub.com/docs/reference/explainers/how-dlt-works.md
• CLI reference (trace, load-package, schema): https://dlthub.com/docs/reference/command-line-interface.md
• File formats: https://dlthub.com/docs/dlt-ecosystem/file-formats/
• Full docs index: https://dlthub.com/docs/llms.txt

5. Present your findings

Present your findings so user can pick ONE of the endpoints that you will implement. Answer questions, do more research if needed.

6. Create pipeline with single endpoint

Edit <source>_pipeline.py using information from the scaffold, API research, and dlt docs:

• Focus on a single endpoint, ignore pagination and incremental loading for now
• Configure base_url and auth
• Add resources with endpoint.path, data_selector, params, primary_key
• Use dev_mode=True on the pipeline (fresh dataset on every run during debugging)
• Use .add_limit(1) on the source when calling pipeline.run() (load one page only)
• Use replace write disposition to start
• Remove refresh="drop_sources" if present — dev_mode handles the clean slate

Optionally: parameterize the source function

@dlt.source and @dlt.resource are regular Python function decorators — expose useful parameters:

• Credentials (dlt.secrets.value): auto-loaded from secrets.toml, user can also pass explicitly
• Config (dlt.config.value): auto-loaded from config.toml, user can also pass explicitly
• Runtime params (plain defaults): date ranges, filters, granularity — give sensible defaults so the pipeline works out of the box

Users will call the source both ways:

pipeline.run(my_source())  # auto-inject from TOML
pipeline.run(my_source(starting_at="2025-01-01T00:00:00Z", bucket_width="1h"))  # explicit

Add a docstring documenting parameters and example calls.

Example

@dlt.source
def my_source(
    access_token: str = dlt.secrets.value,
    starting_at: str = None,
):
    """Load data from My API.

    Args:
        access_token: API token. Auto-loaded from secrets.toml.
        starting_at: Start of range (ISO8601). Defaults to 7 days ago.
    """
    if starting_at is None:
        starting_at = pendulum.now("UTC").subtract(days=7).start_of("day").to_iso8601_string()

    config: RESTAPIConfig = {
        "client": {"base_url": "https://api.example.com/v1/", ...},
        "resources": [...],
    }
    yield from rest_api_resources(config)

6b. Set up config and secrets TOMLs

Essential Reading Credentials & config resolution: https://dlthub.com/docs/general-usage/credentials/setup.md https://dlthub.com/docs/general-usage/credentials/advanced

Config (non-secret values like base_url, api_version): edit .dlt/config.toml directly.

# .dlt/config.toml
[sources.<name>]
base_url = "https://api.example.com/v1/"

Secrets (API keys, tokens, passwords): never read or write secrets.toml directly. Never run commands that output secret values (e.g. gh auth token, env | grep KEY).

Use secrets_view_redacted, secrets_list, and secrets_update_fragment MCP tools (or equivalent dlt ai secrets CLI commands) — see setup-secrets skill for details.

Use secrets_list to pick the target file, then secrets_update_fragment with the TOML fragment:

[sources.<name>]
access_token = "ak-*******-cae"

• <name> = name= arg on @dlt.source if set; otherwise the function name
• Use meaningful placeholders that hint at format (not generic <configure me>)

For more complex credential setup (research where to get keys, multiple providers), use setup-secrets skill.

ALWAYS Get Feedback before you run the pipeline for a first time. Show summary of files that you changed or generated.

7. Debug pipeline - first run

When user requests to run pipeline ALWAYS use debug-pipeline to diagnose and guide credential setup NEVER add more endpoints before that - keep it simple