Query Linear Data through ODBC in Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser. With the CData ODBC Driver for Linear, you can access live Linear data from Node.js apps and scripts. In this article, we walk through installing node-odbc and the required tools to create a simple Node.js app with access to live Linear data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Linear data in Node.js. When you issue complex SQL queries from Node.js to Linear, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Linear and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to Linear Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

You can authenticate to Linear with a personal API key or with OAuth 2.0. The API key is the simplest option for connecting with your own Linear account.

Authenticating with an API Key

Set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: A Linear personal API key.

To create a personal API key, log in to Linear, open Settings > Security & access > Personal API keys, select New API key, and create it. Copy the key immediately, because Linear shows it only once.

Authenticating with OAuth

OAuth requires a custom OAuth application registered in Linear (Settings > API > OAuth applications), which provides the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret. Two flows are supported:

• Authorization code: Set AuthScheme to OAuth, InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH, and provide OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and the CallbackURL defined in your application (e.g., http://localhost:33333). The driver opens Linear in your browser so you can grant access.
• Client credentials: Set AuthScheme to OAuthClient and provide OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret. This authenticates the application itself, with no browser interaction, and suits machine-to-machine integrations.

By default, the driver requests the read,write scopes. The driver refreshes the access token automatically when it expires.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to Linear through the CData ODBC Driver, you need to build node-odbc manually (after installing the required tools).

Installing the Required Tools

The following commands install the tools required to build node-odbc (note the -g parameter, which installs the tools globally).

npm i -g windows-build-tools
npm i -g node-gyp

Building node-odbc

After installing the required tools, create a directory for the Node.js app and install odbc (which builds the binary for us to use in our Node.js script).

mkdir nodeodbc
cd nodeodbc
npm i -g node

Querying Linear from Node.js

With the ODBC Driver installed, a DSN Configured, and node-odbc built, we are ready to query live Linear data from a Node.js app. The sample code below connects to a specific DSN and queries the Team table.

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function queryLinear() {
    const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData Linear Source`);
    const data = await connection.query('SELECT id, name FROM Team');
    console.log(data);
}

queryLinear();

Once you write the app, use node to execute the script:

node myscript.js

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Linear and start working with your live Linear data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.