Vtiger Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a Vtiger-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
Last updated:
Vtiger is a CRM platform that provides REST APIs for integrating external applications with instance data and services. The REST API base URL is https://{your_instance_domain}/restapi/v1/vtiger/default and all requests require HTTP Basic Authentication using a username and access key.
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 add "dlt[hub]" and start loading Vtiger data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from Vtiger?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Vtiger:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| list_types | /listtypes | GET | Retrieves a list of accessible modules and basic metadata. | |
| describe | /describe | GET | Gets metadata for a specific module (elementType). | |
| retrieve | /retrieve | GET | Fetches a single record by its unique ID. | |
| query | /query | GET | Executes a SOQL-like query on a module. | |
| sync | /sync | GET | Synchronizes records modified after a specified timestamp. | |
| retrieve_related | /retrieve_related | GET | Fetches related records for a given resource ID. |
How do I authenticate with the Vtiger API?
The Vtiger REST API uses HTTP Basic Authentication. This requires sending the username and the user's Access Key (found in My Preferences) in the Authorization header.
1. Get your credentials
To obtain your Vtiger CRM REST API credentials: 1. Log in to your Vtiger CRM instance. 2. Click the User Menu (often your profile icon) in the top-right corner. 3. Select My Preferences. 4. Locate the Access Key section (you may need to click a 'More' icon or similar on the user record to find 'Change Access Key' if you need to generate a new one). 5. Copy your Username (your CRM login email) and the Access Key. The Access Key serves as the password for API operations.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.vtiger_source] access_key = "REPLACE_ME"
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 init uv add "dlt[hub]"
1. Install the dlt AI harness:
uv run 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:
uv run dlthub ai toolkit install rest-api-pipeline
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 Vtiger 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:
uv run python vtiger_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline vtiger_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset vtiger_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/vtiger.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
uv run dlthub 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 restapi/v1/vtiger/default and webservice.php from the Vtiger 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 vtiger_source(access_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://{your_instance_domain}/restapi/v1/vtiger/default", "auth": {"type": "http_basic", "username": "REPLACE_ME", "password": access_key}, }, "resources": [ {"name": "sync", "endpoint": {"path": "sync", "data_selector": "result"}}, {"name": "query", "endpoint": {"path": "query", "data_selector": "result"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="vtiger_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="vtiger_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(vtiger_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("vtiger_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.query.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM vtiger_data.query LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("vtiger_pipeline").dataset() data.query.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 Vtiger 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.
uv run dlthub ai toolkit install data-exploration uv run dlthub ai toolkit install dlthub-platform
Was this page helpful?
Community Hub
Need more dlt context for Vtiger?
Request dlt skills, commands, AGENT.md files, and AI-native context.