Printnode Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a Printnode-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
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PrintNode is an API that connects any printer to your application using a JSON API. The REST API base URL is https://api.printnode.com and All API requests require authentication, with an API Key being the easiest method..
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 Printnode data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from Printnode?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Printnode:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| whoami | /whoami | GET | Get information about the authenticated user | |
| computers | /computers | GET | Get a list of computers | |
| printers | /printers | GET | Get a list of printers | |
| printjobs | /printjobs | GET | Get a list of print jobs |
How do I authenticate with the Printnode API?
Authentication for PrintNode API requests is done using an API Key.
1. Get your credentials
To obtain API credentials, generate an API Key from the PrintNode application at https://app.printnode.com/apikeys.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.printnode_source] api_key = "your_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 Printnode 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 printnode_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline printnode_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset printnode_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/printnode.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline printnode_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 computers and printers from the Printnode 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 printnode_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://api.printnode.com", "auth": { "type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "computers", "endpoint": {"path": "computers"}}, {"name": "printers", "endpoint": {"path": "printers"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="printnode_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="printnode_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(printnode_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("printnode_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.computers.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM printnode_data.computers LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("printnode_pipeline").dataset() data.computers.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 Printnode 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
API Error Responses
When an error occurs, the API response body is a JSON object containing three keys: uid, code, and message. The uid matches the Request-Id response header, code provides a brief textual description, and message offers a detailed human-readable description of the error.
Pagination
Endpoints that return a set of records, such as /computers or /printjobs, default to returning up to 100 records. You can control the range of records returned using the URL query parameters limit, after, and dir.
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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