DeepL Python API Docs | dltHub

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

Last updated:

DeepL API uses POST requests to translate text and documents; authorization requires an API key; examples include JSON payloads for text translation and multipart form data for document translation. The REST API base URL is https://api.deepl.com (Pro) or https://api-free.deepl.com (Free) and All requests require the DeepL API key via the Authorization header (DeepL-Auth-Key)..

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 pip install "dlt[workspace]" and start loading DeepL data in under 10 minutes.


What data can I load from DeepL?

Here are some of the endpoints you can load from DeepL:

ResourceEndpointMethodData selectorDescription
translations/v2/translatePOSTtranslationsTranslate text; response contains "translations" array of objects with fields like text and detected_source_language
languages/v2/languagesGET(top-level array)Retrieve supported languages; returns JSON array of language objects (language, name, supports_formality)
document_upload/v2/documentPOST(object with document_id/document_key)Upload document for translation; returns document_id and document_key
document_status/v2/document/{document_id}POST(object)Check document translation status; returns status, seconds_remaining, billed_characters when done
document_result/v2/document/{document_id}/resultPOST(binary/file)Download translated document (POST with document_key)
usage/v2/usageGET(object)Retrieve usage and quota information (usage fields returned in JSON)
glossaries_list/v2/glossary (or v3 glossary endpoints)GET(varies)List glossaries (note: newer v3 glossary endpoints recommended)
account/v2/account (Admin)GET(object)Account/admin info (depends on plan)

How do I authenticate with the DeepL API?

Provide your API key in the Authorization header as: Authorization: DeepL-Auth-Key {YOUR_API_KEY}. For Free plan users use api-free.deepl.com endpoints.

1. Get your credentials

  1. Visit https://www.deepl.com/pro-api and choose a plan. 2) Sign up / create an API account. 3) Open https://www.deepl.com/your-account/keys to view or create API keys. 4) Copy the key and store it securely (env var or secrets manager).

2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml

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

1. Install the dlt AI Workbench:

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 →

2. Install the rest-api-pipeline toolkit:

dlt ai toolkit rest-api-pipeline install

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 DeepL 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:

python deepl_pipeline.py

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

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

Inspect your pipeline and data:

dlt pipeline deepl_pipeline 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 translations and languages from the DeepL 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 deepl_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://api.deepl.com (Pro) or https://api-free.deepl.com (Free)", "auth": { "type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "translations", "endpoint": {"path": "v2/translate", "data_selector": "translations"}}, {"name": "languages", "endpoint": {"path": "v2/languages"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="deepl_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="deepl_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(deepl_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("deepl_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.translations.df() print(sessions_df.head())

SQL (DuckDB example):

SELECT * FROM deepl_data.translations LIMIT 10;

In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:

import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("deepl_pipeline").dataset() data.translations.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 DeepL 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.


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.
dlt ai toolkit data-exploration install dlt ai toolkit dlthub-runtime install

Was this page helpful?

Community Hub

Need more dlt context for DeepL?

Request dlt skills, commands, AGENT.md files, and AI-native context.