Kisi Python API Docs | dltHub

Build a Kisi-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.

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Kisi is a cloud‑based access control platform and REST API for managing organizations, users, locks, access rights and integrations. The REST API base URL is https://api.kisi.io and All requests require an API key provided in the Authorization header using the KISI-LOGIN scheme..

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 Kisi data in under 10 minutes.


What data can I load from Kisi?

Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Kisi:

ResourceEndpointMethodData selectorDescription
lockslocksGETList doors/locks for the account (top‑level array)
placesplacesGETList places (top‑level array)
usersusersGETFetch users (list endpoint returns top‑level array)
groupsgroupsGETList groups (top‑level array)
group_locksgroup_locksGETList locks for a group (response example is a top‑level array)
role_assignmentsrole_assignmentsGETFetch role assignments (top‑level array)
eventseventsGETFetch events (usage and unlock events; typically returns arrays)
lockslocksPOSTCreate a lock (returns the created lock object)

How do I authenticate with the Kisi API?

Authenticate each request by setting the HTTP Authorization header to: 'KISI-LOGIN <API_KEY>'. Include Content-Type: application/json for JSON payloads.

1. Get your credentials

  1. Sign in to your Kisi web dashboard (https://web.kisi.io). 2) Go to the administration or developer/API section (API keys or Integrations). 3) Create a new API key (label it for your integration). 4) Copy the generated key and store it securely; use it in requests as 'Authorization: KISI-LOGIN <API_KEY>'.

2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml

[sources.kisi_management_source] api_key = "your_kisi_api_key_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 Kisi 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 kisi_management_pipeline.py

If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:

Pipeline kisi_management_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset kisi_management_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/kisi_management.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs

Inspect your pipeline and data:

dlt pipeline kisi_management_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 locks and users from the Kisi 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 kisi_management_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://api.kisi.io", "auth": { "type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "locks", "endpoint": {"path": "locks"}}, {"name": "users", "endpoint": {"path": "users"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="kisi_management_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="kisi_management_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(kisi_management_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("kisi_management_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.locks.df() print(sessions_df.head())

SQL (DuckDB example):

SELECT * FROM kisi_management_data.locks LIMIT 10;

In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:

import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("kisi_management_pipeline").dataset() data.locks.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 Kisi data to?

dlt supports loading into any of these destinations — only the destination parameter changes:

DestinationExample 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.


Troubleshooting

Authentication failures

If you receive 401/403 responses, verify your Authorization header is formatted exactly: 'Authorization: KISI-LOGIN <API_KEY>'. Ensure the API key is active in the Kisi dashboard.

Rate limits

Kisi documents a rate limit of 5 requests per second for authenticated requests. If you receive HTTP 429 Too Many Requests, implement exponential backoff and reduce request concurrency.

Pagination and list responses

Most list endpoints in the docs return top‑level JSON arrays (examples in the docs show bare arrays for groups and group_locks). If an endpoint returns a single resource (for example creating a lock) it returns a single JSON object. Check the specific endpoint in the API reference if in doubt.

Ensure that the API key is valid to avoid 401 Unauthorized errors. Also, verify endpoint paths and parameters to avoid 404 Not Found errors.


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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