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Load Chainbase data in Python using dltHub

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

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In this guide, we'll set up a complete Chainbase data pipeline from API credentials to your first data load in just 10 minutes. You'll end up with a fully declarative Python pipeline based on dlt's REST API connector, like in the partial example code below:

Example code
@dlt.source
def chainbase_source(access_token=dlt.secrets.value):
    config: RESTAPIConfig = {
        "client": {
            "base_url": "https://api.chainbase.online/v1/nft",
            "auth": {
                "type": "bearer",
                "token": access_token,
            }
        },
        "resources": [
            "transfers", "collection"
        ],
    }
    [...]
    yield from rest_api_resources(config)


def get_data() -> None:
    # Connect to destination
    pipeline = dlt.pipeline(
        pipeline_name='chainbase_pipeline',
        destination='duckdb',
        dataset_name='chainbase_data', 
    )
    # Load the data
    load_info = pipeline.run(chainbase_source())
    print(load_info)

Why use dlt to generate Python pipelines?

  • Accelerate pipeline development with AI-native context
  • Debug pipelines, validate schemas and data with the integrated Pipeline Dashboard
  • Build Python notebooks for end users of your data
  • Low maintenance thanks to schema evolution with type inference, resilience and self-documenting REST API connectors. A shallow learning curve makes the pipeline easy to extend by any team member
  • dlt is the tool of choice for Pythonic Iceberg Lakehouses, bringing mature data loading to Iceberg with or without catalogs

What you’ll do

We’ll show you how to generate a readable and easily maintainable Python script that fetches data from Chainbase's API and loads it into Iceberg, DataFrames, files, or a database of your choice. Here are some of the endpoints you can load:

  • Account Endpoints: Access account-specific information such as ENS details and transaction history.

    • /v1/account/ens?chain_id=${network_id}: Retrieves the ENS information for a specified account.
    • /v1/account/txs: Lists transactions associated with a specific account.

  • Block Endpoints: Provide details about blockchain blocks and their numbers.

    • /v1/block/detail: Returns detailed information about a specific block.
    • /v1/block/number/latest: Fetches the latest block number on the blockchain.

  • Transaction Endpoints: Retrieve information on specific transactions.

    • /v1/tx/detail: Provides details for a specific transaction.

  • Contract Endpoints: Interact with smart contracts on the blockchain.

    • /v1/contract/call: Executes a call to a smart contract.

  • NFT Endpoints: Access various information related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

    • /v1/nft/metadata: Fetches metadata for a specific NFT.
    • /v1/nft/owners: Lists owners of a particular NFT.
    • /v1/nft/owner: Gets information about a specific NFT owner.
    • /v1/nft/rarity: Provides rarity details of NFTs.
    • /v1/nft/owner/history: Shows the ownership history of an NFT.
    • /v1/nft/transfers: Lists transfers of a specific NFT.
    • /v1/nft/collection/items: Retrieves items in a specific NFT collection.
    • /v1/nft/collection: Provides details about an NFT collection.

  • Token Endpoints: Access information related to tokens including price, holders, and transaction history.

    • /v1/token/transfers: Lists transfers associated with a specific token.
    • /v1/token/price/history: Provides historical price data for a token.
    • /v1/token/metadata: Retrieves metadata for a specific token.
    • /v1/token/top-holders: Lists the top holders of a specific token.
    • /v1/token/holders: Provides information on token holders.
    • /v1/token/price: Fetches the current price of a token.

You will then debug the Chainbase pipeline using our Pipeline Dashboard tool to ensure it is copying the data correctly, before building a Notebook to explore your data and build reports.

Setup & steps to follow

💡
Before getting started, set up a virtual environment (instructions) and install the dlt workspace:


uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install "dlt[workspace]"

Now you're ready to get started!

  1. Install the dlt AI Workbench

    Configure the workbench for your coding assistant:

    dlt 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 about the dltHub AI Workbench and setup details for each assistant →

  2. Install the rest-api-pipeline toolkit

    The AI Workbench provides different toolkits for each phase of the data engineering lifecycle. To start you need to install the rest-api-pipeline toolkit:

    dlt ai toolkit rest-api-pipeline install

    This loads different skills and contexts about dlt the agent uses to build the pipeline iteratively, efficiently, and safely. Importantly, it does not need to ask you for credentials directly. In dlt, API credentials are provided via a secrets.toml file (learn more about secrets management →), and the agent should use the MCP tools to see their shape and detect misconfigurations. It never needs to access the file directly.

    Learn more about the rest-api-pipeline toolkit →

  3. Start LLM-assisted coding

    Here's a prompt to get you started:

    Prompt
    Use /find-source to load data from the Chainbase API into DuckDB.

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

  4. View the result

    After the rest-api-pipeline workflow has finished, you will end up with a working REST API source with validated endpoints and a pipeline that writes data into a local dataset you have inspected and verified.

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

    By launching the Pipeline Dashboard, you can see various information about the pipeline and the loaded data

    • Pipeline overview: State, load metrics
    • Data's schema: tables, columns, types, hints
    • You can query the data itself
    dlt pipeline chainbase_pipeline show

Next steps

You can go to the next phases of your data engineering journey by handing over to 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
dlt ai toolkit data-exploration install
dlt ai toolkit dlthub-runtime install

Or explore the following resources for more information:

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