How to connect to Strava Data with Squirrel SQL client

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Connect to Strava data and execute queries in the Squirrel SQL Client.

The CData JDBC Driver for Strava enables you to execute queries to Strava data in tools like Squirrel SQL Client. In this article, you will create a JDBC data source for Strava data and execute queries.

Add the JDBC Driver for Strava

Follow the steps below to add the driver JAR.

  1. In Squirrel SQL, click Windows -> View Drivers.
  2. Click the plus icon to open the Add Driver wizard.
  3. In the Name box, enter a user-friendly name for the driver; for example, CData JDBC Driver for Strava.
  4. In the Example URL box, enter jdbc:api:
  5. In the Extra Class Path tab, click Add.
  6. In the file explorer dialog that opens, select the JAR file for the driver, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
  7. Click List Drivers to populate the Class Name menu with the class name for the driver, cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver.

Define Connection Properties

Follow the steps below to save connection properties in the driver alias.

  1. Click Windows -> View Aliases.
  2. In the pane that lists the aliases, click the plus icon.
  3. In the Add Alias wizard that opens, the following fields are required for the JDBC driver:

    • Name: Enter a name for the alias; for example, CData Strava Source.
    • Driver: Select the CData JDBC Driver for Strava.
    • URL: Enter jdbc:api:
  4. If you want to define any additional properties, click Properties.
  5. In the Driver properties tab of the dialog that appears, select the Use driver properties checkbox.
  6. In the Specify column, select the checkboxes for the required connection properties.

    To authenticate to Strava, and connect to your own data or to allow other users to connect to their data, you can use the OAuth standard.

    Using OAuth Authentication

    You must create a custom OAuth application to connect to Strava. To create a custom OAuth application:

    1. Log into the Strava API Settings page
    2. Create a new application or select an existing application
    3. Set the "Authorization Callback Domain" to your callback URL domain (e.g. localhost)
    4. Note down the Client ID and Client Secret

    After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

    • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
    • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
    • OAuthClientId: Set this to the Client ID from your Strava API application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to the Client Secret from your Strava API application.
    • CallbackURL: Set this to the redirect URI matching your application's callback domain.

    Example connection string:

    Profile=C:\profiles\Strava.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;
    

    Below is a typical connection string:

    jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Strava.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;
    
  7. In the dialog that appears after you click OK, click connect to test the connection.

Discover Schemas and Query Strava Data

After the metadata has loaded, a new tab for the Strava data source is displayed. On the Objects subtab, you can discover schema information, such as the available tables and views.

To view table data, select the table on the Objects tab. The table data is then loaded in a grid on the Content tab.

To execute an SQL query, enter the query on the SQL tab and then click Run SQL (the runner icon). For example:

SELECT ,  FROM Athlete WHERE  = ''

Ready to get started?

Connect to live data from Strava with the API Driver

Connect to Strava