Airflow DAG Dependencies

An Apache Airflow 3 plugin that restores and enhances the DAG Dependencies visualization that was removed in Airflow 3.1.1.

Overview

This plugin provides an interactive visualization of DAG dependencies, datasets, and trigger relationships using D3.js. It not only restores the missing functionality from Airflow 2 but adds enhanced filtering capabilities for better workflow understanding.

Features

• Interactive Graph Visualization: See all DAG relationships at a glance
• Dataset Dependencies: Visualize dataset-triggered DAGs with green connections
• DAG Triggers: Identify DAG-to-DAG triggers with yellow connections
• Schedule Types: Distinguish between scheduled (tan), dataset-triggered (green), and manual (pink) DAGs
• Advanced Filtering: Powerful search syntax for exploring complex dependency chains
• Real-time Data: Uses DagBag to fetch live DAG information

Quick Start

Installation

pip install airflow-dag-dependencies

Docker Demo

git clone https://github.com/ponderedw/airflow-dag-dependencies
cd airflow-dag-dependencies
docker compose up

Visit http://localhost:8080 (username: airflow, password: airflow) and navigate to Browse → DAG Dependencies.

Search Syntax

• dag_name - Find DAGs containing the term
• +dag_name - Show DAG and all upstream dependencies
• dag_name+ - Show DAG and all downstream dependencies
• +dag_name+ - Show DAG and all connected dependencies
• 2+dag_name - Show DAG and 2 levels upstream
• dag_name+3 - Show DAG and 3 levels downstream
• 1+dag_name+2 - Show DAG with 1 upstream and 2 downstream levels
• @exact_name - Exact match only

Airflow 3 Plugin Development

This plugin demonstrates key differences in Airflow 3 plugin architecture:

Airflow 2 vs 3 Comparison

Airflow 2:

class MyPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    flask_blueprints = [my_blueprint]
    admin_views = [MyAdminView] 
    menu_links = [my_menu_link]

Airflow 3:

class MyPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    fastapi_apps = [my_fastapi_app]
    external_views = [my_external_view]

Key Changes

• FastAPI replaces Flask for better performance and async support
• External Views replace Flask-Admin views for flexible UI integration
• Simplified menu integration through external view definitions

Technical Architecture

Package Structure

airflow_dag_dependencies/
├── __init__.py
└── plugins/
    ├── __init__.py
    └── dags_dependencies_plugin.py

FastAPI Integration

from fastapi import FastAPI

app = FastAPI()

@app.get("/", response_class=HTMLResponse)
async def dag_dependencies_graph():
    return html_content

@app.get("/api/dag-dependencies") 
async def get_dag_dependencies():
    return {"nodes": nodes, "links": links}

Plugin Registration

class DagDependenciesPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    name = "dags_dependencies_plugin"
    fastapi_apps = [{
        "app": app,
        "url_prefix": "/dags_dependencies", 
        "name": "DAG Dependencies App"
    }]
    external_views = [{
        "name": "DAG Dependencies",
        "href": "/dags_dependencies/",
        "destination": "nav",
        "category": "browse"
    }]

Requirements

• Python ≥3.12, <3.14
• Apache Airflow ≥3.1.0

Contributing

We welcome contributions! This plugin serves as both a useful tool and a reference implementation for Airflow 3 plugin development.

What's Next

Future tutorials will cover:

• Building React components for Airflow 3
• Advanced authentication and permissions
• Modern frontend integration patterns

Made by Ponder • Blog Post • GitHub