RestDB Python API Docs | dltHub

RestDB offers RESTful API documentation for NoSQL database operations, including authentication and code examples in multiple languages. The quick start guide helps users get started quickly. Essential REST operations and query language are covered. The REST API base URL is https://<database>.restdb.io/rest and All requests require an API key (or JWT) provided in the x-apikey header or as a query parameter..

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 RestDB data in under 10 minutes.

---

What data can I load from RestDB?

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

---

How do I authenticate with the RestDB API?

Authentication is performed with an apikey (or JWT). Supply the apikey in the HTTP header "x-apikey: <your_key>" or append ?apikey=<your_key> (header preferred). JWT tokens and user session tokens are also supported for authenticated calls.

1. Get your credentials

1. Log in to restdb.io and open your database. 2) Click Manage -> API (or API tab / Settings -> API). 3) Copy the Full access API key or create a scoped/CORS key for client use. 4) Use that key in the x-apikey header for API requests.

2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml

Copy
[sources.restdb_source]
api_key = "your_restdb_apikey_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:

Copy
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install "dlt[workspace]"

1. Install the dlt AI Workbench:

Copy
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:

Copy
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 RestDB 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:

Copy
python restdb_pipeline.py

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

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

Inspect your pipeline and data:

Copy
dlt pipeline restdb_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 rest_collections and rest_meta_db from the RestDB API into DuckDB. It mirrors the endpoint and data selector configuration from the table above:

Copy
import dlt
from dlt.sources.rest_api import RESTAPIConfig, rest_api_resources

@dlt.source
def restdb_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value):
    config: RESTAPIConfig = {
        "client": {
            "base_url": "https://<database>.restdb.io/rest",
            "auth": {
                "type": "api_key",
                "api_key": api_key,
            },
        },
        "resources": [
            {"name": "rest_collections", "endpoint": {"path": "rest/<collection>"}},
            {"name": "rest_meta_db", "endpoint": {"path": "rest/_meta"}}
        ],
    }
    yield from rest_api_resources(config)


def get_data() -> None:
    pipeline = dlt.pipeline(
        pipeline_name="restdb_pipeline",
        destination="duckdb",
        dataset_name="restdb_data",
    )
    load_info = pipeline.run(restdb_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):

Copy
import dlt

data = dlt.pipeline("restdb_pipeline").dataset()
sessions_df = data.rest_collections.df()
print(sessions_df.head())

SQL (DuckDB example):

Copy
SELECT * FROM restdb_data.rest_collections LIMIT 10;

In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:

Copy
import dlt

data = dlt.pipeline("restdb_pipeline").dataset()
data.rest_collections.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 RestDB data to?

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

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.

Copy
dlt ai toolkit data-exploration install
dlt ai toolkit dlthub-runtime install

• How to deploy a pipeline
• How to explore your data in marimo Notebooks
• How to query your data in Python with dataset
• Join the dlt community on Slack