Opentrons Python API Docs | dltHub

Opentrons API documentation provides Python scripts for automated lab protocols; version 1 is outdated; use v2 for current support. The REST API base URL is http://<robot-ip>:31950 and No auth required for local robot HTTP API (no bearer/API key by default).

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 Opentrons data in under 10 minutes.

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What data can I load from Opentrons?

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

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How do I authenticate with the Opentrons API?

The Opentrons robot HTTP API is typically accessed directly on the robot at port 31950. Local endpoints do not require an API token; clients authenticate by being on the same network and connecting to the robot.

1. Get your credentials

No credentials are required for the on‑device HTTP API. Connect to the robot's IP on port 31950; retrieve /openapi or /openapi.json for the API spec. If using Opentrons cloud/App, follow the Opentrons App dashboard instructions (not covered in device HTTP API docs).

2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml

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[sources.opentrons_ot2_api_source]

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.

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How do I set up and run the pipeline?

Set up a virtual environment and install dlt:

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

1. Install the dlt AI Workbench:

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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:

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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 Opentrons 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:

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python opentrons_ot2_api_pipeline.py

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

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Pipeline opentrons_ot2_api_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds
1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset opentrons_ot2_api_data
The duckdb destination used duckdb:/opentrons_ot2_api.duckdb location to store data
Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs

Inspect your pipeline and data:

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dlt pipeline opentrons_ot2_api_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.

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Python pipeline example

This example loads health and runs from the Opentrons API into DuckDB. It mirrors the endpoint and data selector configuration from the table above:

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import dlt
from dlt.sources.rest_api import RESTAPIConfig, rest_api_resources

@dlt.source
def opentrons_ot2_api_source(=dlt.secrets.value):
    config: RESTAPIConfig = {
        "client": {
            "base_url": "http://<robot-ip>:31950",
            "auth": {
                "type": "none",
                "": ,
            },
        },
        "resources": [
            {"name": "health", "endpoint": {"path": "health"}},
            {"name": "runs", "endpoint": {"path": "runs", "data_selector": "data"}}
        ],
    }
    yield from rest_api_resources(config)


def get_data() -> None:
    pipeline = dlt.pipeline(
        pipeline_name="opentrons_ot2_api_pipeline",
        destination="duckdb",
        dataset_name="opentrons_ot2_api_data",
    )
    load_info = pipeline.run(opentrons_ot2_api_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.

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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):

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import dlt

data = dlt.pipeline("opentrons_ot2_api_pipeline").dataset()
sessions_df = data.runs.df()
print(sessions_df.head())

SQL (DuckDB example):

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SELECT * FROM opentrons_ot2_api_data.runs LIMIT 10;

In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:

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import dlt

data = dlt.pipeline("opentrons_ot2_api_pipeline").dataset()
data.runs.df().head()

See how to explore your data in marimo Notebooks and how to query your data in Python with dataset.

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What destinations can I load Opentrons data to?

dlt supports loading into any of these destinations — only the destination parameter changes:

Change the destination in dlt.pipeline(destination="snowflake") and add credentials in .dlt/secrets.toml. See the full destinations list.

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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.

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

• How to deploy a pipeline
• How to explore your data in marimo Notebooks
• How to query your data in Python with dataset
• Join the dlt community on Slack