---
id: airbyte-cdk
version: "7.25.1"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# airbyte-cdk — A framework for writing Airbyte Connectors.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 1.6M/mo

## What it is and what it does

Airbyte CDK is a Python framework for building connectors that integrate data sources into Airbyte's data pipeline platform. It abstracts the complexity of implementing Airbyte's protocol by providing base classes, helpers, and a declarative manifest language for defining how to extract, transform, and stream data from APIs, databases, and file systems.

The package supports three main approaches: a low-code declarative manifest (recommended for most connectors), a concurrent CDK for high-throughput scenarios, and a file-based CDK for cloud storage sources. It handles authentication, pagination, rate limiting, schema inference, and protocol serialization, letting developers focus on source-specific logic rather than boilerplate. The framework is actively maintained and supports modern Python versions.

Use it for:

- Build a REST API connector to sync data from a SaaS platform into a data warehouse using the declarative manifest.
- Develop a custom Python connector for a proprietary or complex data source requiring conditional logic and custom transformations.
- Create a file-based connector to extract data from S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage.
- Implement a high-throughput connector that reads data concurrently from multiple partitions or slices.
- Extend an existing Airbyte connector with custom authentication, error handling, or retry logic.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

A framework for building Airbyte connectors that extract data from HTTP APIs and other sources, supporting both declarative (low-code) and programmatic Python approaches.

Yes, if you are building connectors for the Airbyte ecosystem. The framework is actively maintained, carries no known vulnerabilities, and provides well-documented patterns for both low-code and custom connector development. Install friction is low and Python support is current. Not relevant if you need a standalone data-fetching library outside Airbyte.

## Install

pip install airbyte-cdk
uv add airbyte-cdk
poetry add airbyte-cdk

## Installing airbyte-cdk

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained with a release 3 days old. Supports current Python versions (3.10–3.13) and carries 41 runtime dependencies, mostly standard data-processing and HTTP libraries.

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely as long as you include the original license notice.

Quickstart:

pip install airbyte-cdk

from airbyte_cdk.sources import Source
from airbyte_cdk.sources.declarative import DeclarativeSource

# Use DeclarativeSource for low-code connector or subclass Source for custom logic

Requires Python 3.10 or later; designed for building connectors within the Airbyte ecosystem, not a standalone data-fetching library.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the 41 runtime dependencies are all required for basic connector development or only for advanced features.
- Performance characteristics when building connectors that handle high-throughput data sources.
- Maturity level beyond 'Alpha' classification—how stable is the public API across minor releases?

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 1.6M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

airbyte connector development, python cdk for data extraction, rest api connector builder, declarative data source connector, airbyte source connector framework, low-code connector development, file-based source connector, data-integration, etl-framework, connector-development

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