Configure your Astro Cloud IDE project environment

Configure your Astro Cloud IDE project environment, including Airflow dependencies, variables, and connections, in the Astro UI. You can use your environment configurations in any pipeline within your project.

Environment configuration in the Astro Cloud IDE is similar to Astro project and Airflow configuration, but more options are provided to minimize the time you spend configuring text files.

Limitations​

• You can't set OS-level dependencies with the Astro Cloud IDE.
• Only a subset of Airflow connections can be configured through Astro Cloud IDE templates. All other connections must be configured through a generic connection template.
• Environment configurations are not saved when you export a data pipeline as a DAG. To run your data pipeline outside of the Astro Cloud IDE, you must reconfigure these values in the Airflow environment where you exported your data pipeline.
• The Cloud IDE environment is based on Astro Runtime 9.7.1, and this version cannot be changed.

Add Python package requirements​

Setting Python package requirements in the Astro Cloud IDE is equivalent to setting them in the Astro project requirements.txt file or running pip install <package>.

1. In the Astro UI, select a Workspace and then select Cloud IDE.

2. Select a project.

3. Click Requirements, then click + Requirement to add a new requirement.

4. Enter a Python package name, and then select a package version.

5. Click Add.

The package requirement appears in the Requirements list. To edit the Python package dependency, click Edit in the Requirements list.

Configure environment variables​

The process for configuring environment variables in the Astro Cloud IDE and in Deployments is similar, and Astro Cloud IDE environment variables are stored and retrieved in the same way as Deployment environment variables. See How environment variables are stored on Astro.

In the Astro Cloud IDE, you can additionally specify whether an environment variable should be used as an Airflow variable or a system level environment variable.

1. In the Astro UI, select a Workspace and then select Cloud IDE.

2. Select a project.

3. Click the Variables tab, and then click Variable.

4. Complete the following fields:

   • Type: Select the purpose of the environment variable.

     • Select Environment if you want to configure a system-level environment variable for your runtime environment, such as AIRFLOW__CORE__DEFAULT_TASK_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT.
     • Select Airflow if you want to call the variable value in a Python, SQL, or Warehouse SQL cell. Unlike in open source Airflow, do not specify your environment variable key with AIRFLOW_VAR_.

   • Key: They key for your environment variable.

   • Value: The value for your environment variable.

5. Optional. Check Mask Value to make the variable value secret.

6. Click Create Variable.

The environment variable appears in the Variables list. To edit the environment variable, click Edit in the Variables list.

Call Airflow variables in cells​

Call Airflow variable values in Python cells using Variable.get('<variable-key>'). For example:

value = Variable.get('MY_KEY')
print(value)

Call Airflow variables in SQL or Warehouse SQL cells using jinja templating. For example, if your environment variable value is the name of a column in mytable, you could run:

SELECT {{ var.value.MY_KEY }} FROM mytable;

Configure Airflow connections​

You can configure Airflow connections in the Astro Cloud IDE in the same way that you can in the Airflow UI. You can then reference the connection in your Python cells as code or in SQL cells as a configuration.

1. In the Astro UI, select a Workspace and then select Cloud IDE.

2. Select a project.

3. Click the Connections tab, and then click Connection.

4. Select a connection type.

5. Configure the connection.

6. Optional. Click Test connection to check that you configured the connection correctly. Note that you cannot test generic connections.

7. Click Create Connection.

The connection appears in the Connections list. To edit the connection, click Edit in the Connections list.

Use connections in cells​

To use a connection in a Python cell, pass the connection ID to any function that accepts an Airflow connection as an argument, such as a hook.

To use a connection in a SQL or Warehouse SQL cell:

1. In the Astro UI, select a Workspace and then select Cloud IDE.

2. Select a project.

3. Click the Pipelines tab, and then click a pipeline name to open the pipeline editor.

4. In a SQL or Warehouse SQL cell, click Select connection and select the connection you want to use to store the results of the cell. If you are configuring a Warehouse SQL cell, additionally configure the Output Table where you want to permanently store the results of the cell query.

5. Optional. Call a table from your database in your SQL query. For example:

SELECT * FROM table_name;

View environment configurations from the pipeline editor​

Environment configurations apply to all pipelines in a project. To view your configurations in the pipeline editor, click Environment. The Use in your pipeline pane shows all configurations that apply to your current pipeline. You can add, delete, or modify environment configurations in the pane.