Folium Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a Folium-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
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Folium is a Python library for creating interactive maps. It uses Leaflet.js for map rendering. The latest API reference is available for version 0.20.0. The REST API base URL is `` and none — Folium is a client‑side Python library, not an authenticated REST API.
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 Folium data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from Folium?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Folium:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| geojson_url | (external GeoJSON URL passed to GeoJson/data) | GET | features | Folium accepts GeoJSON via URL; the returned GeoJSON typically contains features under the 'features' key. |
| tileset_url | (external tileserver URL template) | GET | Tile servers are external providers; Folium passes URL templates to Leaflet which requests tiles. | |
| local_file | file path passed to GeoJson/TopoJson | N/A | Local files are read and embedded; no HTTP endpoint. | |
| branca_assets | (branca JS/CSS assets hosted via CDN) | GET | Folium references frontend assets; not a Folium REST endpoint. | |
| none | (no Folium‑provided endpoints) | N/A | N/A | Folium does not expose an HTTP API. |
How do I authenticate with the Folium API?
Folium has no API authentication; it is a local Python library. It may fetch external tile or GeoJSON URLs which rely on the providers' own auth mechanisms.
1. Get your credentials
Not applicable — Folium has no credentials. If you use external services such as Mapbox, obtain their API keys from the provider's dashboard and configure them per the provider's instructions.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.folium_source] # Not applicable for Folium (no built‑in REST auth)
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 Folium 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 folium_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline folium_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset folium_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/folium.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline folium_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 geojson_url and tileset_url from the Folium 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 folium_source(=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "", "auth": { "type": "", "": , }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "geojson_url", "endpoint": {"path": "(external GeoJSON URL passed to GeoJson/data)", "data_selector": "features"}}, {"name": "tileset_url", "endpoint": {"path": "(tileserver URL template)"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="folium_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="folium_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(folium_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("folium_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.geojson_url.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM folium_data.geojson_url LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("folium_pipeline").dataset() data.geojson_url.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 Folium 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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