PropelAuth Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a PropelAuth-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
Last updated:
PropelAuth is an authentication and authorization platform that provides backend API endpoints for managing users, organizations, and OAuth flows. The REST API base URL is {AUTH_URL} and All requests require an Authorization header with a Bearer token containing the API key..
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 PropelAuth data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from PropelAuth?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from PropelAuth:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| user_query | /api/backend/v1/user/query | GET | users | List users with pagination details. |
| user_by_email | /api/backend/v1/user/email | GET | Retrieve a single user by email. | |
| user_by_username | /api/backend/v1/user/username | GET | Retrieve a single user by username. | |
| user_by_id | /api/backend/v1/user/{id} | GET | Retrieve a single user by its ID. | |
| oauth_userinfo | {AUTH_URL}/propelauth/oauth/userinfo | GET | Get user info for the authenticated token. | |
| openid_configuration | {AUTH_URL}/.well-known/openid-configuration | GET | Discover OpenID Connect configuration endpoints. |
How do I authenticate with the PropelAuth API?
Include an HTTP header Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY} on every request. The API key is generated per environment in the PropelAuth dashboard.
1. Get your credentials
- Log in to the PropelAuth dashboard.
- Select the desired environment (test, staging, or production).
- Navigate to Backend Integration.
- Click Create API Key or copy the existing key displayed.
- Store this key securely; it will be used as the Bearer token in the Authorization header.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.propel_auth_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 PropelAuth 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 propel_auth_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline propel_auth_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset propel_auth_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/propel_auth.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline propel_auth_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 user_query and oauth_userinfo from the PropelAuth 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 propel_auth_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "{AUTH_URL}", "auth": { "type": "bearer", "token": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "user_query", "endpoint": {"path": "api/backend/v1/user/query", "data_selector": "users"}}, {"name": "oauth_userinfo", "endpoint": {"path": "propelauth/oauth/userinfo"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="propel_auth_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="propel_auth_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(propel_auth_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("propel_auth_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.user_query.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM propel_auth_data.user_query LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("propel_auth_pipeline").dataset() data.user_query.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 PropelAuth 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
Authentication failures
If the Authorization header is missing or the API key is invalid, the API returns a 401 Unauthorized response. Verify that the API key is correct and included as Bearer {API_KEY}.
Pagination
List endpoints such as /api/backend/v1/user/query return totalUsers, currentPage, pageSize, and hasMoreResults. Use these fields to iterate through pages until hasMoreResults is false.
Rate limits
The current documentation does not specify explicit rate limits. Monitor response headers for any Retry-After values and implement exponential backoff if you encounter HTTP 429 Too Many Requests.
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
Was this page helpful?
Community Hub
Need more dlt context for PropelAuth?
Request dlt skills, commands, AGENT.md files, and AI-native context.