LeetCode Contest API Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a LeetCode Contest API-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
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LeetCode Contest API is a public service that provides access to contestant data for LeetCode contests. The REST API base URL is http://leetcode-contest-api.fronte.io and No authentication is required for any endpoint..
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 LeetCode Contest API data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from LeetCode Contest API?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from LeetCode Contest API:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| contest_contestants | /contest/{contest_type}/{contest_number}/{last_page} | GET | Returns an array of contestant objects for the specified contest. |
How do I authenticate with the LeetCode Contest API API?
All requests can be made without credentials; no authentication headers are required.
1. Get your credentials
No credentials are required; you can start using the API immediately.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.leetcode_contest_api_source]
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 LeetCode Contest API 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 leetcode_contest_api_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline leetcode_contest_api_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset leetcode_contest_api_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/leetcode_contest_api.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline leetcode_contest_api_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 contest_contestants from the LeetCode Contest API 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 leetcode_contest_api_source(=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "http://leetcode-contest-api.fronte.io", "auth": { "type": "", "": , }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "contest_contestants", "endpoint": {"path": "contest/{contest_type}/{contest_number}/{last_page}"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="leetcode_contest_api_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="leetcode_contest_api_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(leetcode_contest_api_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("leetcode_contest_api_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.contest_contestants.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM leetcode_contest_api_data.contest_contestants LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("leetcode_contest_api_pipeline").dataset() data.contest_contestants.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 LeetCode Contest API 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.
Troubleshooting
HTTP 404 – Not Found
The requested contest type, number, or page does not exist. Verify that {contest_type} and {contest_number} are correct.
HTTP 429 – Too Many Requests
The service enforces rate limiting. Implement exponential backoff and respect Retry-After headers if present.
Pagination Issues
last_page must be a positive integer; requesting a page beyond the available range returns an empty array.
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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