Use the CData ODBC Driver for Hugging Face in Microsoft Power Query

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
You can use the CData Hugging Face ODBC Driver with Microsoft Power Query. In this article, you will use the ODBC driver to import Hugging Face data into Microsoft Power Query.

The CData ODBC Driver for Hugging Face enables you to link to Hugging Face data in Microsoft Power Query, ensuring that you see any updates. This article details how to use the ODBC driver to import Hugging Face data into Microsoft Power Query.

Connect to Hugging Face as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

HuggingFace Hub uses token-based authentication to enable access to its API. The API provides access to machine learning models, datasets, spaces, papers, and other resources on the HuggingFace Hub platform.

Using API Key Authentication

To authenticate to HuggingFace Hub, you will need to provide an API Key (Access Token). To obtain your access token:

  1. Log in to your HuggingFace account at https://huggingface.co
  2. Navigate to Settings > Access Tokens
  3. Click "New token" to create a new access token
  4. Select the appropriate permissions (read or write)
  5. Copy the token value

After obtaining your access token, set the following connection properties:

  • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
  • APIKey: Set this to your HuggingFace access token.

Example connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\HuggingFace.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=hf_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';

Import Hugging Face Data

Follow the steps below to import Hugging Face data using standard SQL:

  1. From the ribbon in Excel, click Power Query -> From Other Data Sources -> From ODBC.

  2. Enter the ODBC connection string. Below is a connection string using the default DSN created when you install the driver:
    Provider=MSDASQL.1;Persist Security Info=False;DSN=CData API Source
  3. Enter the SELECT statement to import data with. For example:

        SELECT ,  FROM Collections WHERE  = ''
        
  4. Enter credentials, if required, and click Connect. The results of the query are displayed in the Query Editor Preview. You can combine queries from other data sources or refine the data with Power Query formulas. To load the query to the worksheet, click the Close and Load button.

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from Hugging Face with the API Driver

Connect to Hugging Face