123formbuilder Python API Docs | dltHub

Build a 123formbuilder-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.

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123FormBuilder is a platform that provides an API for managing forms and their submissions. The REST API base URL is https://app.123formbuilder.com/api and All requests require an API key for authentication..

dlt is an open-source Python library that handles authentication, pagination, and schema evolution automatically. dlthub provides AI context files that enable code assistants to generate production-ready pipelines. Install with uv add "dlt[hub]" and start loading 123formbuilder data in under 10 minutes.


What data can I load from 123formbuilder?

Here are some of the endpoints you can load from 123formbuilder:

ResourceEndpointMethodData selectorDescription
forms/forms/{form-id}/submissions.{xml/json}GETRetrieves details about submissions for a specific form.
forms/forms/{form-id}/submissions.{xml/json}POSTSubmits data to a specific form.
forms/formsGETformsRetrieves details on any form that belongs to the current user.
forms/forms/{form-id}GETformRetrieves details of a specific form.
submissions/forms/{form-id}/submissionsGETRetrieves details about the submissions of a certain form.

How do I authenticate with the 123formbuilder API?

Authentication for the 123FormBuilder API requires an API key, which must be included as a query parameter named apiKey in all API calls.

1. Get your credentials

You can find your API key in the My Account -> API Keys section of your 123FormBuilder account.

2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml

[sources._123formbuilder_source] api_key = "your_api_key_here"

dlt reads this automatically at runtime — never hardcode tokens in your pipeline script. For production environments, see setting up credentials with dlt for environment variable and vault-based options.


How do I set up and run the pipeline?

Set up a virtual environment and install dlt:

uv init uv add "dlt[hub]"

1. Install the dlt AI Workbench:

uv run dlthub ai init --agent <your-agent> # <agent>: claude | cursor | codex

This installs project rules, a secrets management skill, appropriate ignore files, and configures the dlt MCP server for your agent. Learn more →

2. Install the rest-api-pipeline toolkit:

uv run dlthub ai toolkit install rest-api-pipeline

This loads the skills and context about dlt the agent uses to build the pipeline iteratively, efficiently, and safely. The agent uses MCP tools to inspect credentials — it never needs to read your secrets.toml directly. Learn more →

3. Start LLM-assisted coding:

Use /find-source to load data from the 123formbuilder API into DuckDB.

The rest-api-pipeline toolkit takes over from here — it reads relevant API documentation, presents you with options for which endpoints to load, and follows a structured workflow to scaffold, debug, and validate the pipeline step by step.

4. Run the pipeline:

uv run python _123formbuilder_pipeline.py

If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:

Pipeline _123formbuilder_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset _123formbuilder_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/_123formbuilder.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs

Inspect your pipeline and data:

uv run dlthub show

This opens the Pipeline Dashboard where you can verify pipeline state, load metrics, schema (tables, columns, types), and query the loaded data directly.


Python pipeline example

This example loads forms and submissions from the 123formbuilder API into DuckDB. It mirrors the endpoint and data selector configuration from the table above:

import dlt from dlt.sources.rest_api import RESTAPIConfig, rest_api_resources @dlt.source def _123formbuilder_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://app.123formbuilder.com/api", "auth": { "type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "forms", "endpoint": {"path": "forms", "data_selector": "forms"}}, {"name": "submissions", "endpoint": {"path": "forms/{form-id}/submissions"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="_123formbuilder_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="_123formbuilder_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(_123formbuilder_source()) print(load_info)

To add more endpoints, append entries from the resource table to the "resources" list using the same name, path, and data_selector pattern.


How do I query the loaded data?

Once the pipeline runs, dlt creates one table per resource. You can query with Python or SQL.

Python (pandas DataFrame):

import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("_123formbuilder_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.forms.df() print(sessions_df.head())

SQL (DuckDB example):

SELECT * FROM _123formbuilder_data.forms LIMIT 10;

In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:

import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("_123formbuilder_pipeline").dataset() data.forms.df().head()

See how to explore your data in marimo Notebooks and how to query your data in Python with dataset.


What destinations can I load 123formbuilder data to?

dlt supports loading into any of these destinations — only the destination parameter changes:

DestinationExample value
DuckDB (local, default)"duckdb"
PostgreSQL"postgres"
BigQuery"bigquery"
Snowflake"snowflake"
Redshift"redshift"
Databricks"databricks"
Filesystem (S3, GCS, Azure)"filesystem"

Change the destination in dlt.pipeline(destination="snowflake") and add credentials in .dlt/secrets.toml. See the full destinations list.


Troubleshooting

Pagination

The 123FormBuilder API uses pageNr and pageSize POST parameters for pagination when retrieving submissions. By default, pageNr is 0 and pageSize is 25. The pageSize value must be between 25 and 100 when explicitly stated.

API Access Failures

At times, you may encounter issues accessing data from your form builder account through the API. These failures can occur due to various reasons, including incorrect API keys or other unspecified access problems.

Ensure that the API key is valid to avoid 401 Unauthorized errors. Also, verify endpoint paths and parameters to avoid 404 Not Found errors.


Next steps

Continue your data engineering journey with the other toolkits of the dltHub AI Workbench:

  • data-exploration — Build custom notebooks, charts, and dashboards for deeper analysis with marimo notebooks.
  • dlthub-runtime — Deploy, schedule, and monitor your pipeline in production.
uv run dlthub ai toolkit install data-exploration uv run dlthub ai toolkit install dlthub-runtime

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