CoinGecko Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a CoinGecko-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI harness support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
Last updated:
CoinGecko provides a comprehensive cryptocurrency market data API for price, historical, and onchain data. The REST API base URL is https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3 or https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3 and requests require an API key passed via custom header or query string.
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 CoinGecko data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from CoinGecko?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from CoinGecko:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| coins_markets | /coins/markets | GET | All coins with price, market cap, volume | |
| coins_list | /coins/list | GET | Query all supported coins with coin ID, name and symbol | |
| coins_categories | /coins/categories | GET | All coin categories with market data | |
| asset_platforms | /asset_platforms | GET | Query all supported asset platforms (blockchain networks) | |
| coin_tickers | /coins/{id}/tickers | GET | tickers | Query tickers for a specific coin |
How do I authenticate with the CoinGecko API?
CoinGecko uses API keys for authentication. These are recommended to be sent as an HTTP header ('x-cg-pro-api-key' for Pro or 'x-cg-demo-api-key' for Demo) but can also be provided as a query string parameter.
1. Get your credentials
- Go to the CoinGecko API pricing page at https://www.coingecko.com/en/api/pricing and select the plan that fits your needs (Demo or Paid). 2. Sign up or log in to your CoinGecko account. 3. Navigate to the Developer Dashboard at https://www.coingecko.com/en/developers/dashboard. 4. Click the '+ Add New Key' button to generate a new API key. 5. Once generated, your API key will be displayed; copy it securely.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.coingecko_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 harness:
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 CoinGecko 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 coingecko_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline coingecko_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset coingecko_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/coingecko.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 /coins/markets and /simple/price from the CoinGecko 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 coingecko_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3 or https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3", "auth": {"type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, "name": "x-cg-pro-api-key (for Pro API) or x-cg-demo-api-key (for Demo API)", "location": "header"}, }, "resources": [ {"name": "coins_markets", "endpoint": {"path": "coins/markets"}}, {"name": "coin_tickers", "endpoint": {"path": "coins/{id}/tickers", "data_selector": "tickers"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="coingecko_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="coingecko_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(coingecko_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("coingecko_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.coins_markets.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM coingecko_data.coins_markets LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("coingecko_pipeline").dataset() data.coins_markets.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 CoinGecko data to?
dlt supports loading into any of these destinations — only the destination parameter changes:
| Destination | Example 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.
Next steps
Continue your data engineering journey with the other toolkits of the dltHub AI harness:
data-exploration— Build custom notebooks, charts, and dashboards for deeper analysis with marimo notebooks.dlthub-platform— Deploy, schedule, and monitor your pipeline in production.
uv run dlthub ai toolkit install data-exploration uv run dlthub ai toolkit install dlthub-platform
Was this page helpful?
Community Hub
Need more dlt context for CoinGecko?
Request dlt skills, commands, AGENT.md files, and AI-native context.