Saxo Bank Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a Saxo Bank-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
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Saxo Bank's REST API provides comprehensive reference data services for instruments and trading functionalities. The API supports secure access via SAML2/OAuth 2.0. Detailed documentation is available on the Saxo Bank Developer Portal. The REST API base URL is https://gateway.saxobank.com/sim/openapi and All requests require a valid OpenAPI access token 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 Saxo Bank data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from Saxo Bank?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Saxo Bank:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| instruments | ref/v1/instruments | GET | Data | Search for instruments or contract option roots |
| instruments_details | ref/v1/instruments/details | GET | Data | Get detailed information for list of instruments |
| instruments_details_by_id | ref/v1/instruments/{Uic}/details | GET | Get detailed information for a specific instrument | |
| instruments_search | ref/v1/instruments/search | GET | Data | Search for instruments |
| instruments_contract_options | ref/v1/instruments/contractoptions | GET | Data | Get contract option roots |
| instruments_contract_options_details | ref/v1/instruments/contractoptions/details | GET | Data | Get detailed information for contract option roots |
How do I authenticate with the Saxo Bank API?
Authentication requires an OpenAPI access token, which can be obtained through OAuth flows or as a 24-hour developer token. This token must be included in the 'Authorization' header as a Bearer token.
1. Get your credentials
To obtain API credentials, navigate to the Saxo Bank developer portal. You can get a 24-hour token directly from the portal or configure OAuth flows to generate access tokens.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.saxo_bank_reference_data_source] token = "your_access_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 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 Saxo Bank 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 saxo_bank_reference_data_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline saxo_bank_reference_data_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset saxo_bank_reference_data_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/saxo_bank_reference_data.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline saxo_bank_reference_data_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 instruments and instruments_details from the Saxo Bank 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 saxo_bank_reference_data_source(token=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://gateway.saxobank.com/sim/openapi", "auth": { "type": "bearer", "token": token, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "instruments", "endpoint": {"path": "ref/v1/instruments", "data_selector": "Data"}}, {"name": "instruments_details", "endpoint": {"path": "ref/v1/instruments/details", "data_selector": "Data"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="saxo_bank_reference_data_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="saxo_bank_reference_data_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(saxo_bank_reference_data_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("saxo_bank_reference_data_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.instruments.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM saxo_bank_reference_data_data.instruments LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("saxo_bank_reference_data_pipeline").dataset() data.instruments.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 Saxo Bank 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 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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