Namely Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a Namely-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI harness support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
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Namely is an HRIS platform that provides a REST API for accessing HR data such as employee profiles, payroll, and time off records. The REST API base URL is https://{company}.namely.com/api/v1 and all requests require a 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 pip install "dlt[workspace]" and start loading Namely data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from Namely?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Namely:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| profiles | /profiles | GET | profiles | Get a list of profiles at your company |
| profiles | /profiles/{id} | GET | profile | Get a profile from your company |
| job_tiers | /job_tiers | GET | job tiers | Show a list of job tiers |
| job_titles | /job_titles | GET | job titles | Show a list of job titles |
| groups | /groups | GET | groups | Show a list of groups |
| events | /events | GET | events | Show a list of events on the Home Feed |
| folder_resources | /folders/{id}/resources | GET | Returns an array of resources in a folder |
How do I authenticate with the Namely API?
All requests require the 'Authorization' header with a Bearer token. The header format is 'Authorization: Bearer {token}', where the token is either a Personal Access Token (PAT) or an OAuth 2.0 access token.
1. Get your credentials
- Log in to your Namely HRIS site with an Administrator account. 2. Click on the 'Admin' menu item or navigate to your account/profile settings, then select 'API'. 3. Navigate to the 'Personal Access Tokens' tab. 4. Click 'New Access Token' or 'Create'. 5. Provide a name for the token and save it. 6. Copy the token immediately, as it will only be displayed once. You will also need your Namely subdomain (the '{company}' part of your '{company}.namely.com' URL).
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.namely_source] namely_subdomain = "your_company_subdomain" api_token = "your_personal_access_token"
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 harness:
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:
dlthub 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 Namely 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 namely_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline namely_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset namely_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/namely.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline namely_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 /profiles and /oauth2/token from the Namely 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 namely_source(access_token=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://{company}.namely.com/api/v1", "auth": {"type": "bearer", "token": access_token}, }, "resources": [ {"name": "profiles", "endpoint": {"path": "profiles", "data_selector": "profiles"}}, {"name": "job_tiers", "endpoint": {"path": "job_tiers", "data_selector": "job_tiers"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="namely_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="namely_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(namely_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("namely_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.profiles.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM namely_data.profiles LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("namely_pipeline").dataset() data.profiles.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 Namely 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.
dlthub ai toolkit data-exploration install dlthub ai toolkit dlthub-platform install
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