---
title: "REST API (Swagger) Data Source Template"
slug: "rest-api-swagger-data-source-template"
updated: 2026-04-08T18:49:34Z
published: 2026-04-08T18:49:34Z
canonical: "docs.validatar.com/rest-api-swagger-data-source-template"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.validatar.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# REST API (Swagger) Data Source Template

## Overview

The REST API data source template enables Validatar to discover and profile data exposed through REST APIs that publish Swagger/OpenAPI specifications. It uses Python scripts to read the API specification, map endpoints to tables and response fields to columns, and sample data for profiling.

**Platform:** Any REST API with Swagger/OpenAPI spec **Connection Category:** Script **Template Category:** Marketplace

## What's Included

### Default Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `api_base_url` | String | Base URL of the API |
| `swagger_url` | String | URL of the Swagger/OpenAPI spec (e.g., `/swagger/v1/swagger.json`) |
| `api_key` | Secret | API authentication key or token |
| `auth_type` | Dropdown | Authentication type (Bearer, API Key Header, Basic) |
| `auth_header_name` | String | Custom header name for API key authentication |
| `page_size` | Integer | Records per page for paginated endpoints |
| `max_sample_pages` | Integer | Maximum pages to fetch for profiling samples |

### Data Type Mappings

Maps OpenAPI/JSON Schema types:

- `string` → String
- `integer` → Integer
- `number` → Decimal
- `boolean` → Boolean
- `array`, `object` → Other

## Metadata Ingestion

The ingestion script:

- Fetches the Swagger/OpenAPI specification from the configured URL
- API tags or resource groups become schemas
- Each endpoint (GET operations) becomes a table
- Response schema properties become columns with types from the spec
- Supports OpenAPI 2.0 (Swagger) and 3.0 specifications

## Profiling

The profiling script:

- Calls each GET endpoint with pagination
- Samples response data up to the configured page limit
- Calculates record counts, null counts, distinct counts, and type-specific metrics
- Respects rate limits with configurable delays between requests

## Installation

## Customization

- **Authentication** — Modify for OAuth2, JWT, or custom authentication flows
- **Pagination** — Adjust pagination logic for APIs that use cursor-based, offset, or link-header pagination
- **Endpoint filtering** — Include or exclude specific endpoints from discovery
- **Nested objects** — Extend column discovery to flatten nested response objects
- **POST endpoints** — Modify the ingestion script to include POST endpoints that return data (e.g., search/filter endpoints)

## Related Articles

- [What Is a Data Source Template?](/docs/what-is-a-data-source-template-overview)
- [Python Script Data Source Template](/docs/python-script-data-source-template)
- [Default Parameters and Execution Scripts](/docs/data-source-template-default-parameters-and-execution-scripts)
- [Metadata Ingestion Scripts — Python Templates](/docs/metadata-ingestion-scripts-python-templates)