MLS Grid Python API Docs | dltHub

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

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MLS Grid is a real estate data-distribution cooperative that provides a normalized RESO Web API for property listing data replication. The REST API base URL is https://api.mlsgrid.com/v2/ and all requests require a long-lived OAuth 2.0 bearer token in the Authorization header.

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 MLS Grid data in under 10 minutes.


What data can I load from MLS Grid?

Here are some of the endpoints you can load from MLS Grid:

ResourceEndpointMethodData selectorDescription
propertyPropertyGETvalueMain listing resource for sale or lease.
memberMemberGETvalueMember resource.
officeOfficeGETvalueOffice resource.
open_houseOpenHouseGETvalueOpenHouse resource.
lookupLookupGETvalueLookup resource.

How do I authenticate with the MLS Grid API?

All requests must include an Authorization header with a Bearer token. Additionally, every request must include an Accept-Encoding: gzip header, or it will return an HTTP 400 error.

1. Get your credentials

To obtain MLS Grid API credentials, you must follow the formal subscription and licensing process as there is no self-serve public sign-up: 1. Sign the MLS Grid Master Data License Agreement via the MLS Grid online portal. 2. Ensure a data subscription is created and a licensee is added. 3. Obtain approval from the originating Multiple Listing Service (MLS). 4. Once approved and payment is processed, log in to the MLS Grid web application. 5. Navigate to your subscription details page and locate the Token tab, where your long-lived OAuth 2.0 bearer access token will be generated and displayed.

2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml

[sources.mls_grid_source] api_key = "your_bearer_token_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 MLS Grid 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 mls_grid_pipeline.py

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

Pipeline mls_grid_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset mls_grid_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/mls_grid.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 Property and Lookup from the MLS Grid 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 mls_grid_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://api.mlsgrid.com/v2/", "auth": {"type": "bearer", "token": api_key}, }, "resources": [ {"name": "property", "endpoint": {"path": "Property", "data_selector": "value"}}, {"name": "member", "endpoint": {"path": "Member", "data_selector": "value"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="mls_grid_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="mls_grid_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(mls_grid_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("mls_grid_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.property.df() print(sessions_df.head())

SQL (DuckDB example):

SELECT * FROM mls_grid_data.property LIMIT 10;

In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:

import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("mls_grid_pipeline").dataset() data.property.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 MLS Grid 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 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

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