How to integrate Metabase with ShipStation Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live ShipStation data. This article describes how to connect to ShipStation and build a simple visualization using ShipStation data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for ShipStation, allowing you to easily integrate with live ShipStation data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to ShipStation, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return ShipStation data.

Configure ShipStation Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to ShipStation from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with ShipStation data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a ShipStation connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "ShipStation" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to ShipStation.

   Use the BASIC Authentication standard to connect.

   1. Login to your ShipStation account
   2. Click on the settings icon in the upper right corner. A column menu will show up on the left
   3. Click Account -> API Settings
   4. On the API Settings page, note the API Key and API Secret.

   Authenticating to ShipStation

   • APIKey: Set this to the API key from the API settings page.
   • APISecret: Set this to the Secret key from the API settings page.
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add ShipStation Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to ShipStation data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect from Metabase

After creating the virtual database, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect Cloud and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "ShipStation (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. ShipStation1)
   • Username: A Connect Cloud username (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Password: The PAT for the above Connect Cloud user
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)

Execute ShipStation Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect Cloud, you can query ShipStation and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the ShipStation data
2. Write a SQL query based on the ShipStation connection in CData Connect Cloud, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Id, Color FROM Tags WHERE CustomerId = '1368175'

3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from ShipStation data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live ShipStation data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to ShipStation (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live ShipStation data in Metabase today.