Getting Started with the CData Connect AI Python SDK for Toggl

The CData Connect AI Python SDK (cdata-connect-ai) is a DB-API 2.0 (PEP 249) compliant client that lets you fetch and act on live Toggl data with standard Python database code. Because Connect AI provides the connectivity: you install one package, authenticate with a Personal Access Token, and query Toggl (and every other source connected in Connect AI) using the same familiar connect() / cursor() / fetchall() pattern you already know from libraries like sqlite3 and psycopg2.

This guide walks through connecting Toggl in Connect AI, generating a Personal Access Token, installing the SDK, and reading (and, where supported, writing) live Toggl data.

Prerequisites

• An account in CData Connect AI
• Python 3.8 or higher
• An active Toggl account with valid credentials

Connect to Toggl in Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

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

2. Select "Toggl" from the Add Connection panel

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

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

   Toggl API Profile Settings

   Obtain your API key from your Toggl account Profile Settings page, where it is listed under the API section.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update the user-based permissions.

Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)

The Python SDK authenticates to Connect AI with your account email and a Personal Access Token (PAT). It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each application to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click 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 PAT is only visible at creation, so copy it and store it securely.

Install the SDK

Install the SDK from PyPI with pip:

pip install cdata-connect-ai

Connect and Run Your First Query

Connect with your account email and PAT, then query sys_tables to discover every table available across your connected sources. Identifiers in Connect AI are three-part: <Connection>.<Schema>.<Table>, where the connection name defaults to the source name (for example, API1).

import cdata_connect_ai

conn = cdata_connect_ai.connect(
    username="[email protected]",
    password="<your_pat>",
)
cur = conn.cursor()

# Discover what's available across your connected sources
cur.execute("SELECT CatalogName, SchemaName, TableName FROM sys_tables LIMIT 25")

for row in cur.fetchall():
    print(row)

Pick any table from the results and query it directly:

cur.execute(
    "SELECT Id, WorkspaceId "
    "FROM [API1].[API].[Clients] "
    "LIMIT 10"
)

for row in cur.fetchall():
    print(row)

Toggl is a read-only source in Connect AI, so the SDK supports queries but not INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE. Close the connection when you are finished:

conn.close()

That is the entire workflow: one package, a PAT, and standard DB-API calls. Because the SDK returns a normal DB-API connection, it drops straight into the rest of the Python data ecosystem. From here you can load Toggl data into pandas, build ETL pipelines with petl, or power a Dash web app, all using this same connection.

More Information and Free Trial

Now you can query live Toggl data from Python through the CData Connect AI Python SDK. For more information on connecting to Toggl (and hundreds of other data sources), visit the Connect AI page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Toggl data in Python.