dlthub-init (beta)

Scaffold a dltHub workspace into a new or existing directory.

dlthub-init lays down the files of a minimal dltHub workspace — pyproject.toml, a locked uv.lock, the .dlt/ configuration, and a .mcp.json registering the dlt workspace MCP server — and optionally creates the virtual environment. That is all it does: it does not log in, run a pipeline, or install agent toolkits.

Unlike dlthub-start, it is safe to run inside an existing repository. It is non-destructive by default: it never overwrites your files, and it stops before writing anything if a generated path would collide with something already there.

Usage

uvx dlthub-init             # initialize the current directory
uvx dlthub-init my-workspace  # initialize ./my-workspace

After scaffolding, dlthub-init offers to create a virtual environment and install dependencies with uv.

Options

Collision behavior

dlthub-init is safe to run in an existing directory:

• Missing files are created.
• The run stops only if .dlt/.workspace already exists — the directory is already a dltHub workspace (override with --force).
• Otherwise existing files are left alone and reported as skipped: your pyproject.toml, .dlt/config.toml, .dlt/secrets.toml, and .mcp.json are never overwritten, and .gitignore is skipped (or merged with --merge).
• uv.lock is written only when pyproject.toml is created, so the lockfile always matches the workspace's dependencies.
• --force overwrites the generated files (never secrets).

Telemetry

dlthub-init sends anonymous usage events so we can improve the scaffolding experience.

No personal data is collected, and no workspace contents are ever sent.

Telemetry is controlled by the following, in order of precedence:

1. the --no-telemetry flag,
2. DLTHUB_INIT_TELEMETRY=0 (or false/off),
3. DO_NOT_TRACK=1,
4. an existing dlt opt-out (~/.dlt/config.toml [runtime] dlthub_telemetry = false, or RUNTIME__DLTHUB_TELEMETRY=false).

Development

make dev      # install dev dependencies
make lint     # ruff + mypy
make test     # unit tests
make ci       # full local CI

The bundled workspace lives in src/dlthub_init/scaffolds/minimal_workspace. After editing its pyproject.toml, run make scaffold-lock-upgrade to refresh the committed uv.lock.