Loading Data from GitLab to PostgreSQL using dlt in Python
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In this documentation, we will guide you through the process of loading data from GitLab to PostgreSQL using the open-source Python library dlt. GitLab is a web-based DevOps lifecycle tool that serves as a Git repository manager, offering wiki, issue-tracking, and CI/CD pipeline features under an open-source license. On the other hand, PostgreSQL is a robust, open-source object-relational database system that extends SQL and is designed to handle complex data workloads efficiently. By leveraging dlt, you can seamlessly transfer data from GitLab to PostgreSQL, ensuring data consistency and scalability. For more information about GitLab, visit GitLab.
dlt Key Features
- Automated maintenance: With schema inference, evolution, and alerts,
dltsimplifies maintenance through short declarative code. Learn more - Flexible deployment: Run
dlton Airflow, serverless functions, notebooks, and more. It scales on both micro and large infrastructures. Learn more - User-friendly interface:
dltoffers a declarative interface that is accessible for beginners and powerful for professionals. Learn more - Governance support:
dltpipelines provide governance capabilities through metadata utilization, schema enforcement, and schema change alerts. Learn more - Incremental data loading: Efficiently load only new data and deduplicate existing data with
dlt. Learn more
Getting started with your pipeline locally
dlt-init-openapi0. Prerequisites
dlt and dlt-init-openapi requires Python 3.9 or higher. Additionally, you need to have the pip package manager installed, and we recommend using a virtual environment to manage your dependencies. You can learn more about preparing your computer for dlt in our installation reference.
1. Install dlt and dlt-init-openapi
First you need to install the dlt-init-openapi cli tool.
pip install dlt-init-openapi
The dlt-init-openapi cli is a powerful generator which you can use to turn any OpenAPI spec into a dlt source to ingest data from that api. The quality of the generator source is dependent on how well the API is designed and how accurate the OpenAPI spec you are using is. You may need to make tweaks to the generated code, you can learn more about this here.
# generate pipeline
# NOTE: add_limit adds a global limit, you can remove this later
# NOTE: you will need to select which endpoints to render, you
# can just hit Enter and all will be rendered.
dlt-init-openapi gitlab --url https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dlt-hub/openapi-specs/main/open_api_specs/Public/gitlab.yaml --global-limit 2
cd gitlab_pipeline
# install generated requirements
pip install -r requirements.txt
The last command will install the required dependencies for your pipeline. The dependencies are listed in the requirements.txt:
dlt>=0.4.12
You now have the following folder structure in your project:
gitlab_pipeline/
├── .dlt/
│ ├── config.toml # configs for your pipeline
│ └── secrets.toml # secrets for your pipeline
├── rest_api/ # The rest api verified source
│ └── ...
├── gitlab/
│ └── __init__.py # TODO: possibly tweak this file
├── gitlab_pipeline.py # your main pipeline script
├── requirements.txt # dependencies for your pipeline
└── .gitignore # ignore files for git (not required)
1.1. Tweak gitlab/__init__.py
This file contains the generated configuration of your rest_api. You can continue with the next steps and leave it as is, but you might want to come back here and make adjustments if you need your rest_api source set up in a different way. The generated file for the gitlab source will look like this:
Click to view full file (579 lines)
from typing import List
import dlt
from dlt.extract.source import DltResource
from rest_api import rest_api_source
from rest_api.typing import RESTAPIConfig
@dlt.source(name="gitlab_source", max_table_nesting=2)
def gitlab_source(
api_key: str = dlt.secrets.value,
base_url: str = dlt.config.value,
) -> List[DltResource]:
# source configuration
source_config: RESTAPIConfig = {
"client": {
"base_url": base_url,
"auth": {
"type": "api_key",
"api_key": api_key,
"name": "Private-Token",
"location": "header"
},
"paginator": {
"type":
"page_number",
"page_param":
"page",
"total_path":
"",
"maximum_page":
20,
},
},
"resources":
[
# Get the current appearance
{
"name": "get_api_v4_application_appearance",
"table_name": "api_entities_appearance",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/application/appearance",
}
},
# List all registered applications
{
"name": "get_api_v4_applications",
"table_name": "api_entities_application",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/applications",
}
},
# Return avatar url for a user
{
"name": "get_api_v4_avatar",
"table_name": "api_entities_avatar",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/avatar",
"params": {
"email": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required query parameter
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "size": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 10.6.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_groups_id_badges_badge_id",
"table_name": "api_entities_badge",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/groups/{id}/badges/{badge_id}",
"params": {
"badge_id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_groups_id_badges",
"field": "id",
},
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 10.6.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_groups_id_badges",
"table_name": "api_entities_badge",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/groups/{id}/badges",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
# "name": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 10.6.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_projects_id_badges_badge_id",
"table_name": "api_entities_badge",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/badges/{badge_id}",
"params": {
"badge_id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_projects_id_badges",
"field": "id",
},
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 10.6.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_projects_id_badges",
"table_name": "api_entities_badge",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/badges",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
# "name": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 10.6.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_groups_id_badges_render",
"table_name": "api_entities_basic_badge_details",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/groups/{id}/badges/render",
"params": {
"id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_groups_id_badges",
"field": "id",
},
"link_url": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required query parameter
"image_url": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required query parameter
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 10.6.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_projects_id_badges_render",
"table_name": "api_entities_basic_badge_details",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/badges/render",
"params": {
"id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_projects_id_badges",
"field": "id",
},
"link_url": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required query parameter
"image_url": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required query parameter
},
}
},
# Retrieve a batched background migration
{
"name": "get_api_v4_admin_batched_background_migrations_id",
"table_name": "api_entities_batched_background_migration",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/admin/batched_background_migrations/{id}",
"params": {
"id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_admin_batched_background_migrations",
"field": "id",
},
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "database": "main",
},
}
},
# Get the list of batched background migrations
{
"name": "get_api_v4_admin_batched_background_migrations",
"table_name": "api_entities_batched_background_migration",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/admin/batched_background_migrations",
"params": {
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "database": "main",
},
}
},
# Get a single repository branch
{
"name": "get_api_v4_projects_id_repository_branches_branch",
"table_name": "api_entities_branch",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/repository/branches/{branch}",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
"branch": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# Get a project repository branches
{
"name": "get_api_v4_projects_id_repository_branches",
"table_name": "api_entities_branch",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/repository/branches",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
# "search": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
# "regex": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
# "sort": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
# "page_token": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 8.12.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_broadcast_messages_id",
"table_name": "api_entities_broadcast_message",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/broadcast_messages/{id}",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 8.12.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_broadcast_messages",
"table_name": "api_entities_broadcast_message",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/broadcast_messages",
"params": {
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 14.1.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports_import_id",
"table_name": "api_entities_bulk_import",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/bulk_imports/{import_id}",
"params": {
"import_id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports",
"field": "id",
},
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 14.1.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports",
"table_name": "api_entities_bulk_import",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/bulk_imports",
"params": {
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
# "sort": "desc",
# "status": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 14.1.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports_import_id_entities_entity_id",
"table_name": "api_entities_bulk_imports",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/bulk_imports/{import_id}/entities/{entity_id}",
"params": {
"entity_id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports_import_id_entities",
"field": "id",
},
"import_id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 14.1.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports_import_id_entities",
"table_name": "api_entities_bulk_imports",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/bulk_imports/{import_id}/entities",
"params": {
"import_id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports",
"field": "id",
},
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "status": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
# "per_page": "20",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 14.1.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_bulk_imports_entities",
"table_name": "api_entities_bulk_imports",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/bulk_imports/entities",
"params": {
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
# "sort": "desc",
# "status": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
},
}
},
# Get the details of a specific instance-level variable
{
"name": "get_api_v4_admin_ci_variables_key",
"table_name": "api_entities_ci_variable",
"primary_key": "key",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/admin/ci/variables/{key}",
"params": {
"key": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# List all instance-level variables
{
"name": "get_api_v4_admin_ci_variables",
"table_name": "api_entities_ci_variable",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/admin/ci/variables",
"params": {
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 13.2. Returns a single instance cluster.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_admin_clusters_cluster_id",
"table_name": "api_entities_cluster",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/admin/clusters/{cluster_id}",
"params": {
"cluster_id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "get_api_v4_admin_clusters",
"field": "id",
},
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 13.2. Returns a list of instance clusters.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_admin_clusters",
"table_name": "api_entities_cluster",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/admin/clusters",
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 8.11.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_groups_id_access_requests",
"table_name": "api_entities_custom_attribute",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "custom_attributes",
"path": "/groups/{id}/access_requests",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 8.11.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_projects_id_access_requests",
"table_name": "api_entities_custom_attribute",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "custom_attributes",
"path": "/projects/{id}/access_requests",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "per_page": "20",
},
}
},
# Retrieve dictionary details
{
"name": "get_api_v4_admin_databases_database_name_dictionary_tables_table_name",
"table_name": "api_entities_dictionary_table",
"primary_key": "table_name",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/admin/databases/{database_name}/dictionary/tables/{table_name}",
"params": {
"database_name": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
"table_name": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
{
"name": "list_project_jobs",
"table_name": "api_entities_job",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/jobs",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "scope": "OPTIONAL_CONFIG",
},
}
},
{
"name": "get_single_job",
"table_name": "api_entities_job",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/jobs/{job_id}",
"params": {
"job_id": {
"type": "resolve",
"resource": "list_project_jobs",
"field": "id",
},
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 15.2.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_metadata",
"table_name": "api_entities_metadata",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/metadata",
}
},
# This feature was introduced in GitLab 8.13 and deprecated in 15.5. We recommend you instead use the Metadata API.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_version",
"table_name": "api_entities_metadata",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/version",
}
},
# Metric Images for alert
{
"name": "get_api_v4_projects_id_alert_management_alerts_alert_iid_metric_images",
"table_name": "api_entities_metric_image",
"primary_key": "id",
"write_disposition": "merge",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/projects/{id}/alert_management_alerts/{alert_iid}/metric_images",
"params": {
"id": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
"alert_iid": "FILL_ME_IN", # TODO: fill in required path parameter
},
}
},
# List the current limits of a plan on the GitLab instance.
{
"name": "get_api_v4_application_plan_limits",
"table_name": "api_entities_plan_limit",
"endpoint": {
"data_selector": "$",
"path": "/application/plan_limits",
"params": {
# the parameters below can optionally be configured
# "plan_name": "default",
},
}
},
]
}
return rest_api_source(source_config)
2. Configuring your source and destination credentials
info
dlt-init-openapi will try to detect which authentication mechanism (if any) is used by the API in question and add a placeholder in your secrets.toml.
The dlt cli will have created a .dlt directory in your project folder. This directory contains a config.toml file and a secrets.toml file that you can use to configure your pipeline. The automatically created version of these files look like this:
generated config.toml
[runtime]
log_level="INFO"
[sources.gitlab]
# Base URL for the API
base_url = "https://www.gitlab.com/api/v4"
generated secrets.toml
[sources.gitlab]
# secrets for your gitlab source
api_key = "FILL ME OUT" # TODO: fill in your credentials
2.1. Adjust the generated code to your usecase
Further help setting up your source and destinations
At this time, the dlt-init-openapi cli tool will always create pipelines that load to a local duckdb instance. Switching to a different destination is trivial, all you need to do is change the destination parameter in gitlab_pipeline.py to postgres and supply the credentials as outlined in the destination doc linked below.
3. Running your pipeline for the first time
The dlt cli has also created a main pipeline script for you at gitlab_pipeline.py, as well as a folder gitlab that contains additional python files for your source. These files are your local copies which you can modify to fit your needs. In some cases you may find that you only need to do small changes to your pipelines or add some configurations, in other cases these files can serve as a working starting point for your code, but will need to be adjusted to do what you need them to do.
The main pipeline script will look something like this:
import dlt
from gitlab import gitlab_source
if __name__ == "__main__":
pipeline = dlt.pipeline(
pipeline_name="gitlab_pipeline",
destination='duckdb',
dataset_name="gitlab_data",
progress="log",
export_schema_path="schemas/export"
)
source = gitlab_source()
info = pipeline.run(source)
print(info)
Provided you have set up your credentials, you can run your pipeline like a regular python script with the following command:
python gitlab_pipeline.py
4. Inspecting your load result
You can now inspect the state of your pipeline with the dlt cli:
dlt pipeline gitlab_pipeline info
You can also use streamlit to inspect the contents of your PostgreSQL destination for this:
# install streamlit
pip install streamlit
# run the streamlit app for your pipeline with the dlt cli:
dlt pipeline gitlab_pipeline show
5. Next steps to get your pipeline running in production
One of the beauties of dlt is, that we are just a plain Python library, so you can run your pipeline in any environment that supports Python >= 3.8. We have a couple of helpers and guides in our docs to get you there:
The Deploy section will show you how to deploy your pipeline to
- Deploy with GitHub Actions: Learn how to deploy your
dltpipeline using GitHub Actions, a free CI/CD runner. Read more - Deploy with Airflow and Google Composer: Follow this guide to deploy your
dltpipeline using Airflow and Google Composer. Read more - Deploy with Google Cloud Functions: Discover how to deploy your
dltpipeline using Google Cloud Functions. Read more - Explore other deployment options: Check out additional methods for deploying your
dltpipeline. Read more
The running in production section will teach you about:
- How to Monitor your pipeline: Learn how to effectively monitor your
dltpipeline in production to ensure smooth operation and quick issue resolution. Read more - Set up alerts: Configure alerts to stay informed about your pipeline's performance and potential issues, enabling proactive management. Read more
- Set up tracing: Implement tracing to gain detailed insights into the execution of your
dltpipeline, helping you to debug and optimize performance. Read more
Available Sources and Resources
For this verified source the following sources and resources are available
Source GitLab
Loads various GitLab API data including badges, clusters, jobs, and metadata.
| Resource Name | Write Disposition | Description |
|---|---|---|
api_entities_badge | append | Represents badges associated with GitLab entities. |
api_entities_basic_badge_details | append | Contains basic details about badges in GitLab. |
api_entities_batched_background_migration | append | Information about batched background migrations. |
api_entities_cluster | append | Details about clusters in GitLab. |
api_entities_dictionary_table | append | Represents dictionary tables used in GitLab. |
api_entities_metric_image | append | Stores metric images used in GitLab. |
api_entities_broadcast_message | append | Broadcast messages sent within GitLab. |
api_entities_avatar | append | Information about avatars in GitLab. |
api_entities_plan_limit | append | Limits associated with different plans in GitLab. |
api_entities_custom_attribute | append | Custom attributes assigned to GitLab entities. |
api_entities_job | append | Details about jobs executed in GitLab CI/CD pipelines. |
api_entities_metadata | append | Metadata related to various GitLab entities. |
api_entities_application | append | Information about applications integrated with GitLab. |
api_entities_branch | append | Details about branches in Git repositories managed by GitLab. |
api_entities_appearance | append | Appearance settings and customizations in GitLab. |
api_entities_bulk_imports | append | Information about bulk imports executed in GitLab. |
api_entities_ci_variable | append | CI/CD variables used in GitLab pipelines. |
api_entities_bulk_import | append | Details about individual bulk import operations in GitLab. |
Additional pipeline guides
- Load data from Zendesk to AWS S3 in python with dlt
- Load data from Coinbase to AWS S3 in python with dlt
- Load data from Harvest to Dremio in python with dlt
- Load data from Oracle Database to Supabase in python with dlt
- Load data from SAP HANA to Neon Serverless Postgres in python with dlt
- Load data from Oracle Database to Snowflake in python with dlt
- Load data from Attio to Redshift in python with dlt
- Load data from Chess.com to Neon Serverless Postgres in python with dlt
- Load data from Klaviyo to ClickHouse in python with dlt
- Load data from Clubhouse to Azure Cloud Storage in python with dlt