PhotoRoom Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a PhotoRoom-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
Last updated:
PhotoRoom API is a service that provides image editing, background removal, and related computer‑vision operations via REST endpoints. The REST API base URL is https://image-api.photoroom.com and All requests require an x-api-key header for authentication..
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 PhotoRoom data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from PhotoRoom?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from PhotoRoom:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| edit | /v2/edit | GET | (image binary) | Perform image editing with query parameters. |
| account | /v2/account | GET | (top‑level JSON) | Retrieve account usage and plan information. |
| segment | /v1/segment | POST | (image binary) | Remove background from an image. |
| edit | /v2/edit | POST | (image binary) | Perform image editing with multipart/form payload. |
| health | /health | GET | (top‑level JSON) | Simple health check endpoint (listed in OpenAPI spec). |
How do I authenticate with the PhotoRoom API?
Authentication uses an API key passed in the x-api-key header on every request.
1. Get your credentials
- Open https://www.photoroom.com and sign in or create an account.
- Navigate to the Developers / API section of the user dashboard.
- Click Create New API Key (or similar) and give it a descriptive name.
- Copy the generated key; it will be shown only once.
- Store the key securely and use it as the value for the
api_keyparameter in dlt.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_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 PhotoRoom 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 photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_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.
Python pipeline example
This example loads edit and account from the PhotoRoom 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 photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://image-api.photoroom.com", "auth": { "type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "edit", "endpoint": {"path": "v2/edit"}}, {"name": "account", "endpoint": {"path": "v2/account"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_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.
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("photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.edit.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_data.edit LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("photoroom_grocery_delivery_image_api_pipeline").dataset() data.edit.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 PhotoRoom 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.
Troubleshooting
Authentication errors
- 401 Unauthorized – Returned when the
x-api-keyheader is missing or the key is invalid. Verify that the correct API key is set insecrets.tomland that it has not been revoked.
Rate limiting
- 429 Too Many Requests – The API enforces request limits per minute. If you receive this response, implement exponential back‑off and respect the
Retry-Afterheader if present.
Payload limits
- 413 Payload Too Large – Image files exceeding the allowed size are rejected. Reduce image dimensions or compress before uploading.
Ensure that the API key is valid to avoid 401 Unauthorized errors. Also, verify endpoint paths and parameters to avoid 404 Not Found errors.
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 PhotoRoom?
Request dlt skills, commands, AGENT.md files, and AI-native context.