drt-core 0.3.1

Reverse ETL for the code-first data stack

drt — data reverse tool

Reverse ETL for the code-first data stack.

drt syncs data from your data warehouse to external services — declaratively, via YAML and CLI. Think dbt run → drt run. Same developer experience, opposite data direction.

# pip
pip install drt-core          # core (DuckDB included)
pip install drt-core[bigquery]  # + BigQuery

# uv (recommended)
uv add drt-core
uv add drt-core[bigquery]

drt init
drt run --dry-run
drt run

---

Why drt?

Problem	drt's answer
Census/Hightouch are expensive SaaS	Free, self-hosted OSS
GUI-first tools don't fit CI/CD	CLI + YAML, Git-native
dbt/dlt ecosystem has no reverse leg	Same philosophy, same DX
LLM/MCP era makes GUI SaaS overkill	LLM-native by design

---

Quickstart

1. Install

pip install drt-core[bigquery]
# or
uv add drt-core[bigquery]

2. Initialize a project

mkdir my-drt-project && cd my-drt-project
drt init

This creates:

my-drt-project/
├── drt_project.yml   # project config
└── syncs/            # put your sync definitions here

drt init prompts for source type: bigquery, duckdb, or postgres.

3. Create a sync

# syncs/notify_slack.yml
name: notify_slack
description: "Notify Slack on new users"
model: ref('new_users')
destination:
  type: rest_api
  url: "https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL"
  method: POST
  headers:
    Content-Type: "application/json"
  body_template: |
    { "text": "New user: {{ row.name }} ({{ row.email }})" }
sync:
  mode: full
  batch_size: 100
  rate_limit:
    requests_per_second: 5
  on_error: skip

4. Run

drt run --dry-run        # preview, no data written
drt run                  # run all syncs
drt run --select notify_slack  # run one sync
drt status               # check recent sync results

---

CLI Reference

drt init                    # initialize project
drt list                    # list sync definitions
drt run                     # run all syncs
drt run --select <name>     # run a specific sync
drt run --dry-run           # dry run
drt run --verbose           # show row-level error details
drt validate                # validate sync YAML configs
drt status                  # show recent sync status
drt status --verbose        # show per-row error details
drt mcp run                 # start MCP server (requires drt-core[mcp])

---

MCP Server

Connect drt to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client so you can run syncs, check status, and validate configs without leaving your AI environment.

pip install drt-core[mcp]
drt mcp run

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drt": {
      "command": "drt",
      "args": ["mcp", "run"]
    }
  }
}

Available MCP tools:

Tool	What it does
drt_list_syncs	List all sync definitions
drt_run_sync	Run a sync (supports dry_run)
drt_get_status	Get last run result(s)
drt_validate	Validate sync YAML configs
drt_get_schema	Return JSON Schema for config files

---

AI Skills for Claude Code

Install the official Claude Code skills to generate YAML, debug failures, and migrate from other tools — all from the chat interface.

The skills live in .claude/commands/ in this repo. Copy them to your drt project or reference them directly.

Skill	Trigger	What it does
/drt-create-sync	"create a sync"	Generates valid sync YAML from your intent
/drt-debug	"sync failed"	Diagnoses errors and suggests fixes
/drt-init	"set up drt"	Guides through project initialization
/drt-migrate	"migrate from Census"	Converts existing configs to drt YAML

---

Connectors

Type	Name	Status	Install
Source	BigQuery	✅ v0.1	pip install drt-core[bigquery]
Source	DuckDB	✅ v0.1	(core)
Source	PostgreSQL	✅ v0.1	pip install drt-core[postgres]
Source	Snowflake	🗓 planned	pip install drt-core[snowflake]
Source	Redshift	🗓 planned	pip install drt-core[redshift]
Source	MySQL	🗓 planned	pip install drt-core[mysql]
Destination	REST API	✅ v0.1	(core)
Destination	Slack Incoming Webhook	✅ v0.1	(core)
Destination	GitHub Actions (workflow_dispatch)	✅ v0.1	(core)
Destination	HubSpot (Contacts / Deals / Companies)	✅ v0.1	(core)
Destination	Google Sheets	🗓 v0.4	(core)
Destination	Salesforce	🗓 planned	(core)
Destination	Notion	🗓 planned	(core)
Destination	Linear	🗓 planned	(core)
Destination	SendGrid	🗓 planned	(core)

---

Roadmap

Version	Focus
v0.1 ✅	BigQuery / DuckDB / Postgres sources · REST API / Slack / GitHub Actions / HubSpot destinations · CLI · dry-run
v0.2 ✅	Incremental sync (cursor_field watermark) · retry config per-sync · 53 tests
v0.3 ✅	MCP Server (drt mcp run) · AI Skills for Claude Code · LLM-readable docs · row-level errors · 82 tests
v0.4	Dagster / Airflow integration · Google Sheets connector · Snowflake source
v1.x	Rust engine (PyO3)

---

Ecosystem

drt is designed to work alongside, not against, the modern data stack:

dlt (load) → dbt (transform) → drt (activate)

---

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Disclaimer

drt is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by dbt Labs, dlt-hub, or any other company.

"dbt" is a registered trademark of dbt Labs, Inc. "dlt" is a project maintained by dlt-hub.

drt is designed to complement these tools as part of the modern data stack, but is a separate project with its own codebase and maintainers.

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.