Retently Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a Retently-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
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Retently is a customer feedback (NPS/CSAT/CES/STAR) platform that provides REST APIs to retrieve survey campaigns, responses, customers, companies, reports, templates, outbox and trends. The REST API base URL is https://app.retently.com/api/v2 and all requests require an API key (X-Api-Key header) — Authorization header and query param methods are supported as legacy options..
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 Retently data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from Retently?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Retently:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| customers | /api/v2/customers{?page,limit,sort,attributes} | GET | data | Paginated list of customers (use query params to filter). |
| customer | /api/v2/customers/{customerId} | GET | Get single customer by ID. | |
| companies | /api/v2/companies{?page,limit,sort} | GET | data | Paginated list of companies. |
| company | /api/v2/companies/{companyId | domain} | GET | |
| feedback | /api/v2/feedback{?page,limit,sort,startDate,endDate,attributes} | GET | data | Paginated list of survey responses (feedback). |
| feedback_item | /api/v2/feedback/{feedbackId} | GET | Get single feedback/response by ID. | |
| campaigns | /api/v2/campaigns | GET | data | List of survey campaigns. |
| templates | /api/v2/templates | GET | data | List of survey templates. |
| outbox | /api/v2/outbox{?page,limit,...} | GET | data | Paginated list of sent surveys (outbox). |
| reports | /api/v2/reports/{campaignId?} | GET | Campaign reports or all campaigns when no id provided. | |
| trends | /api/v2/trends | GET | data | List of trend groups. |
| trend_group_trends | /api/v2/trends/{groupId} | GET | data | Trends for a given group. |
| score | /api/v2/{metric}/score | GET | Latest metric score (nps/csat/ces/star). |
How do I authenticate with the Retently API?
Provide your API key in the X-Api-Key HTTP header (recommended). Legacy options: use Authorization: api_key=YOUR_KEY or ?api_key=YOUR_KEY query parameter (not recommended).
1. Get your credentials
- Log in to https://app.retently.com. 2) Open Settings > API Tokens (or navigate to /settings/api/tokens). 3) Create a new API token and choose Read or Read+Write permissions. 4) Copy the generated key and store it securely; use it in X-Api-Key header.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.retently_source] api_key = "your_retently_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 Retently 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 retently_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline retently_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset retently_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/retently.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline retently_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 feedback and customers from the Retently 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 retently_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://app.retently.com/api/v2", "auth": { "type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "feedback", "endpoint": {"path": "api/v2/feedback", "data_selector": "data"}}, {"name": "customers", "endpoint": {"path": "api/v2/customers", "data_selector": "data"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="retently_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="retently_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(retently_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("retently_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.feedback.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM retently_data.feedback LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("retently_pipeline").dataset() data.feedback.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 Retently 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 failures
If the API key is missing/invalid you'll get 401 Unauthorized. Ensure X-Api-Key header contains the token. Legacy Authorization header format is: Authorization: api_key=YOUR_KEY.
Permission errors (403)
Using a read-only key for write endpoints (POST/DELETE) returns 403 Forbidden. Create a key with write permission for operations that modify data.
Rate limits
Retently enforces rate limits (documented as ~150 requests/min). If you exceed limits you'll receive 429 responses; implement backoff and request throttling.
Pagination quirks
Most list endpoints are paginated and return results under the "data" key. Use page and limit query params (limit max 1000). When querying large date ranges, iterate pages until no more results.
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
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