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Load Data from GitLab to YugabyteDB Using dlt in Python

tip

We will be using the dlt PostgreSQL destination to connect to YugabyteDB. You can get the connection string for your YugabyteDB database as described in the YugabyteDB Docs.

Need help deploying these pipelines, or figuring out how to run them in your data stack?

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Loading data from GitLab to YugabyteDB can streamline your DevOps processes by combining the robust features of both platforms. GitLab is a web-based DevOps lifecycle tool that offers a Git repository manager, wiki, issue-tracking, and CI/CD pipeline features under an open-source license. YugabyteDB is a distributed PostgreSQL database designed for modern applications, providing built-in resilience, seamless scalability, and flexible geo-distribution with PostgreSQL-compatible and Cassandra-inspired APIs. Using the open-source Python library dlt, you can efficiently extract data from GitLab and load it into YugabyteDB. This documentation will guide you through the process, leveraging dlt to ensure data consistency and integrity. For more details about GitLab, visit here.

dlt Key Features

  • Pipeline Metadata: dlt pipelines leverage metadata to provide governance capabilities, including load IDs for incremental transformations and data lineage. Read more.
  • Schema Enforcement and Curation: dlt empowers users to enforce and curate schemas, ensuring data consistency and quality. Read more.
  • Scalability via Iterators, Chunking, and Parallelization: dlt offers scalable data extraction by leveraging iterators, chunking, and parallelization techniques. Read more.
  • Implicit Extraction DAGs: dlt incorporates the concept of implicit extraction DAGs to handle dependencies between data sources and their transformations automatically. Read more.
  • Automated Maintenance: With schema inference and evolution and alerts, dlt simplifies maintenance with short declarative code. Read more.

Getting started with your pipeline locally

OpenAPI Source Generator dlt-init-openapi

This walkthrough makes use of the dlt-init-openapi generator cli tool. You can read more about it here. The code generated by this tool uses the dlt rest_api verified source, docs for this are here.

0. 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.

  • If you know your API needs authentication, but none was detected, you can learn more about adding authentication to the rest_api here.
  • OAuth detection currently is not supported, but you can supply your own authentication mechanism as outlined here.

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.

  • Read more about setting up the rest_api source in our docs.
  • Read more about setting up the YugabyteDB destination in our docs.

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 YugabyteDB 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 pipeline using GitHub Actions for CI/CD. Read more
  • Deploy with Airflow and Google Composer: Follow this guide to deploy your pipeline with Airflow, including a managed environment with Google Composer. Read more
  • Deploy with Google Cloud Functions: Explore how to deploy your pipeline using Google Cloud Functions for serverless execution. Read more
  • Other Deployment Options: Discover various other methods to deploy your pipeline, including detailed guides and walkthroughs. Read more

The running in production section will teach you about:

  • How to Monitor your pipeline: Learn how to effectively monitor your dlt pipeline in production to ensure smooth operation and quick identification of issues. Read more here.
  • Set up alerts: Setting up alerts can help you stay informed about your pipeline's performance and any potential issues that may arise. Find out how here.
  • Set up tracing: Tracing allows you to track the execution of your pipeline, providing valuable insights into its behavior and performance. Learn how to set up tracing here.

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 NameWrite DispositionDescription
api_entities_badgeappendRepresents badges associated with GitLab entities.
api_entities_basic_badge_detailsappendContains basic details about badges in GitLab.
api_entities_batched_background_migrationappendInformation about batched background migrations.
api_entities_clusterappendDetails about clusters in GitLab.
api_entities_dictionary_tableappendRepresents dictionary tables used in GitLab.
api_entities_metric_imageappendStores metric images used in GitLab.
api_entities_broadcast_messageappendBroadcast messages sent within GitLab.
api_entities_avatarappendInformation about avatars in GitLab.
api_entities_plan_limitappendLimits associated with different plans in GitLab.
api_entities_custom_attributeappendCustom attributes assigned to GitLab entities.
api_entities_jobappendDetails about jobs executed in GitLab CI/CD pipelines.
api_entities_metadataappendMetadata related to various GitLab entities.
api_entities_applicationappendInformation about applications integrated with GitLab.
api_entities_branchappendDetails about branches in Git repositories managed by GitLab.
api_entities_appearanceappendAppearance settings and customizations in GitLab.
api_entities_bulk_importsappendInformation about bulk imports executed in GitLab.
api_entities_ci_variableappendCI/CD variables used in GitLab pipelines.
api_entities_bulk_importappendDetails about individual bulk import operations in GitLab.

Additional pipeline guides

This demo works on codespaces. Codespaces is a development environment available for free to anyone with a Github account. You'll be asked to fork the demo repository and from there the README guides you with further steps.
The demo uses the Continue VSCode extension.

Off to codespaces!

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Welcome to "Codex Central", your next-gen help center, driven by OpenAI's GPT-4 model. It's more than just a forum or a FAQ hub – it's a dynamic knowledge base where coders can find AI-assisted solutions to their pressing problems. With GPT-4's powerful comprehension and predictive abilities, Codex Central provides instantaneous issue resolution, insightful debugging, and personalized guidance. Get your code running smoothly with the unparalleled support at Codex Central - coding help reimagined with AI prowess.