How to integrate Metabase with ShipEngine Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect AI, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live ShipEngine data. This article describes how to connect to ShipEngine and build a simple visualization using ShipEngine data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for ShipEngine, allowing you to easily integrate with live ShipEngine data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to ShipEngine, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return ShipEngine data.

Configure ShipEngine Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to ShipEngine from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with ShipEngine data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a ShipEngine connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "ShipEngine" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to ShipEngine.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the ShipEngine Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\ShipEngine.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for ShipEngine (see below).

   ShipEngine API Profile Settings

   Retrieve your ShipEngine API Key from the Dashboard at app.shipengine.com under API Management.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add ShipEngine Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to ShipEngine data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect AI from Metabase

After creating the connection in Connect AI, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect AI.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect AI and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "ShipEngine (Connect AI)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. API1)
   • Username: A Connect AI username (e.g. [email protected])
   • Password: The PAT previously created
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)
   

Execute ShipEngine Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect AI, you can query ShipEngine and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the ShipEngine data
2. Write a SQL query based on the ShipEngine connection in CData Connect AI, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT BatchId, Error FROM BatchErrors WHERE BatchId = 'batch_123'

   
3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from ShipEngine data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live ShipEngine data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to ShipEngine (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live ShipEngine data in Metabase today.