Amazon S3 CSV (v1)

Amazon S3 CSV feature snapshot

A high-level look at Stitch's Amazon S3 CSV (v1) integration, including release status, useful links, and the features supported in Stitch.

Connecting Amazon S3 CSV

Amazon S3 CSV setup requirements

To set up Amazon S3 CSV in Stitch, you need:

• An Amazon Web Services (AWS) account. Signing up is free - click here or go to https://aws.amazon.com to create an account if you don’t have one already.

• Permissions in AWS Identity Access Management (IAM) that allow you to create policies, create roles, and attach policies to roles. This is required to grant Stitch authorization to your S3 bucket.

• Files that adhere to Stitch’s file requirements:

  First-row header (CSV files only)	Every file must have a first-row header containing column names. Stitch assumes that the first row in any file is a header row, and will present these values as columns available for selection. Note: If you are a Stitch Advanced or Premium customer, have a signed BAA with Stitch, and are replicating data subject to HIPAA, header rows must not contain any PHI. Files with the same first-row header values, if including multiple files in a table. Stitch’s Amazon S3 CSV integration allows you to map several files to a single destination table. Header row values are used to determine a table’s schema. For the best results, each file should have the same header row values. Note: This is not the same as configuring multiple tables. See the Search pattern section for examples.
  File types	CSV (.csv) Text (.txt) JSONL (.jsonl)
  Compression types	These files must be correctly compressed or errors will surface during Extraction. gzip compressed files (.gz)
  Delimiters (CSV files only)	Comma (,) Tab (/t) Pipe (|) Semicolon (;)
  Character encoding	UTF-8

Step 1: Retrieve your Amazon Web Services account ID

1. Sign into your Amazon Web Services (AWS) account.
2. Click the user menu, located between the bell and Global menus in the top-right corner of the page.
3. Click My Account.

4. In the Account Settings section of the page, locate the Account Id field:

   

Keep this handy - you’ll need it to complete the setup.

Step 2: Add Amazon S3 CSV as a Stitch data source

1. If you aren’t signed into your Stitch account, sign in now.

2. On the Stitch Dashboard page, click the Add Integration button.

3. Locate and click the Amazon S3 icon.

4. Fill in the fields as follows:

   • Integration Name: Enter a name for the integration. This is the name that will display on the Stitch Dashboard for the integration; it’ll also be used to create the schema in your destination.

     For example, the name “Stitch Amazon S3 CSV” would create a schema called stitch_amazon_s3_csv in the destination. Note: The schema name cannot be changed after the integration is saved.

   • S3 Bucket: Enter the name of bucket you want to replicate data from. Enter only the bucket name: No URLs, https, or S3 parts. For example: com-test-stitch-bucket

   • AWS Account ID: Paste the AWS account ID you retrieved in Step 1.

Step 3: Configure tables

Next, you’ll indicate which file(s) you want to include for replication. You can include a single file, or map several files to a table. Refer to the Setup requirements section for info about what Stitch supports for Amazon S3 CSV files.

In the following sections, we’ll walk you through how to configure a table in Stitch:

• Step 3.1: Define the table’s search settings

• Step 3.2: Define the table’s name

• Step 3.3: Define the table’s Primary Key

• Step 3.4: Specify datetime fields

• Step 3.5: Configure additional tables

Step 3.1: Define the table's search settings

In this step, you’ll tell Stitch which files in your S3 bucket you want to replicate data from. To do this, you’ll use the Search Pattern and Directory fields.

Step 3.1.1: Define the Search Pattern

The Search Pattern field defines the search criteria Stitch should use for selecting and replicating files. This field accepts regular expressions, which can be used to include a single file or multiple files.

When creating a search pattern, keep the following in mind:

• If including multiple files for a single table, each file should have the same header row values.
• Special characters such as periods (.) have special meaning in regular expressions. To match exactly, they’ll need to be escaped. For example: .\
• Stitch uses Python for regular expressions, which may vary in syntax from other varieties. Try using PyRegex to test your expressions before saving the integration in Stitch.
• Search patterns should account for how data in files is updated. Consider these examples:

customers\.jsonl

(customers-).*\.csv

Step 3.1.2: Limit file search to a specific directory

The Directory field limits the location of the file search Stitch performs during replication jobs. When defined, Stitch will only search for files in this location and select those that match the search pattern. Note: This field is not a regular expression.

To define a specific location in the S3 bucket, enter the directory path into the Directory field. For example: data-exports/lists/ will exactly match data-exports/lists/.

Step 3.2: Define the table's name

In the Table Name field, enter a name for the table. Keep in mind that each destination has its own rules for how tables can be named. For example: Amazon Redshift table names can’t exceed 127 characters.

If the table name exceeds the destination’s character limit, the destination will reject the table entirely. Refer to the documentation for your destination for more info about table naming rules.

Step 3.3: Define the table's Primary Key

In the Primary Key field, enter one or more header fields (separated by commas) Stitch can use to identify unique rows. For example:

account_id,date

Step 3.4: Specify datetime fields

In the Specify datetime fields field, enter one or more header fields (separated by commas) that should appear in the destination table as datetime fields instead of strings. For example:

created_at,updated_at

Step 3.5: Configure additional tables

If you want to add another table, click the Configure another table? link below the Specify datetime fields field. Otherwise, move onto the Sync historical data section.

Stitch doesn’t enforce a limit on the number of tables that you can configure for a single integration.

Step 4: Define the historical sync

For example: You’ve added a customers.*\csv search pattern and set the integration’s historical Start Date to 1 year.

• During the initial replication job, Stitch will fully replicate the contents of all files that match the search pattern that have been modified in the past year.

• During subsequent replication jobs, Stitch will only replicate the files that have been modified since the last job ran.

As files included in a replication job are replicated in full during each job, how data is added to updated files can impact your row count. Refer to the Data replication section for more info on initial and subsequent replication jobs.

Step 5: Create a replication schedule

In the Replication Frequency section, you’ll create the integration’s replication schedule. An integration’s replication schedule determines how often Stitch runs a replication job, and the time that job begins.

Amazon S3 CSV integrations support the following replication scheduling methods:

• Replication Frequency

• Anchor Scheduling

• Advanced Scheduling using Cron (Advanced or Premium plans only)

To keep your row usage low, consider setting the integration to replicate less frequently. See the Understanding and Reducing Your Row Usage guide for tips on reducing your usage.

Step 6: Grant access to your bucket using AWS IAM

Next, Stitch will display a Grant Access to Your Bucket page. This page contains the info you need to configure bucket access for Stitch, which is accomplished via an IAM policy and role.

Note: Saving the integration before you’ve completed the steps below will result in connection errors.

• Step 6.1: Create an IAM policy

• Step 6.2: Create an IAM role for Stitch

• Step 6.3: Check and save the connection in Stitch

Step 6.1: Create an IAM policy

An IAM policy is JSON-based access policy language to manage permissions to bucket resources. The policy Stitch provides is an auto-generated policy unique to the specific bucket you entered in the setup page.

For more info about the top-level permissions the Stitch IAM policy grants, click the link below.

To create the IAM policy:

1. In AWS, navigate to the IAM service by clicking the Services menu and typing IAM.
2. Click IAM once it displays in the results.
3. On the IAM home page, click Policies in the menu on the left side of the page.
4. Click Create Policy.
5. In the Create Policy page, click the JSON tab.
6. Select everything currently in the text field and delete it.
7. In the text field, paste the IAM policy from the Grant Access to Your Bucket page in Stitch.
8. Click Review policy.
9. On the Review Policy page, give the policy a name. For example: stitch_amazon_s3_csv
10. Click Create policy.

Step 6.2: Create an IAM role for Stitch

In this step, you’ll create an IAM role for Stitch and apply the IAM policy from the previous step. This will ensure that Stitch is visible in any logs and audits.

To create the role, you’ll need the Account ID, External ID, and Role Name values provided on the Stitch Grant Access to Your Bucket page.

1. In AWS, navigate to the IAM Roles page.
2. Click Create Role.
3. On the Create Role page:
   1. In the Select type of trusted entity section, click the Another AWS account option.
   2. In the Account ID field, paste the Account ID from Stitch. Note: This isn’t your AWS account ID from Step 1 - this is the Account ID that displays in Stitch on the Grant Access to Your Bucket page.
   3. In the Options section, check the Require external ID box.
   4. In the External ID field that displays, paste the External ID from the Stitch Grant Access to Your Bucket page:
   5. Click Next: Permissions.
4. On the Attach permissions page:
   1. Search for the policy you created in the previous step.
   2. Once located, check the box next to it in the table.
   3. Click Next: Tags.
5. If you want to enter any tags, do so on the Add tags page. Otherwise, click Next: Review.
6. On the Review page:

   1. In the Role name field, paste the Role Name from the Stitch Grant Access to Your Bucket page:

      Remember: Role names are unique to the Stitch Amazon S3 CSV integration they’re created for. Attempting to use the same role for multiple integrations will cause connection errors.

   2. Enter a description in the Role description field. For example: Stitch role for Amazon S3 CSV integration.
   3. Click Create role.

Step 6.3: Check and save the connection in Stitch

After you’ve created the IAM policy and role, you can save the integration in Stitch. When finished, click Check and Save.

Step 7: Select data to replicate

The last step is to select the tables and columns you want to replicate. Learn how data is structured after being loaded.

Note: If a replication job is currently in progress, new selections won’t be used until the next job starts.

• Selection options
• Individual tables and columns
• All tables and columns

Initial and historical replication jobs

After you finish setting up Amazon S3 CSV, its Sync Status may show as Pending on either the Stitch Dashboard or in the Integration Details page.

For a new integration, a Pending status indicates that Stitch is in the process of scheduling the initial replication job for the integration. This may take some time to complete.

Free historical data loads

The first seven days of replication, beginning when data is first replicated, are free. Rows replicated from the new integration during this time won’t count towards your quota. Stitch offers this as a way of testing new integrations, measuring usage, and ensuring historical data volumes don’t quickly consume your quota.

Amazon S3 CSV replication

In this section:

• Details about Extraction, including object and data type discovery and selecting data for replication

• Details about how data replicated from Amazon S3 CSV is loaded into a destination

Extraction

For every table set to replicate, Stitch will perform the following during Extraction:

• Discover table schemas and type discovered columns

• Select records (files) for replication

Discovery

During Discovery, Stitch will:

• Determine table schemas

• Type the data in discovered columns

Determining table schemas

For CSV files, at the start of each replication job, Stitch will analyze the header rows in the first five files returned by the table’s search pattern. The header rows in these files are used to determine the table’s schema.

For JSONL files, Stitch examines the keys of objects in the first five files identified by the table’s search pattern. These keys are used to define the schema of the table.

For this reason, the structure of files replicated using Amazon S3 CSV should be the same for every file included in a table’s configuration. If the CSV header row or the JSON keys in an included file change after the fifth file, Stitch will not detect the difference.

For example: Based on the files in the table below, the table created from these files would have id, name, and active columns. The has_magic column in the customers-001.csv file will not be detected, as it’s not in the first five files.

Data typing

To determine data types, Stitch will analyze the first 1,000 rows in the files included in object discovery.

If a column has been specified as a datetime column, Stitch will attempt to parse the value as a date. If this fails, the column will be loaded as a nullable STRING.

For all other columns, Stitch will perform the following to determine the column’s data type:

1. Attempt to parse the value as an INTEGER
2. If that fails, attempt to parse the value as a FLOAT
3. If that fails, type the column as a STRING. Note: If a column contains entirely null values, it will be created as an empty column in the destination with a type of STRING.

Data replication

After discovery is completed, Stitch will move onto extracting data.

While data from Amazon S3 CSV integrations is replicated using Key-based Incremental Replication, the behavior for this integration differs subtly from other integrations.

The table below compares Key-based Incremental Replication and Replication Key behavior for Amazon S3 CSV to that of other integrations.

To reduce row usage, only include updated records in new files that match a table’s search pattern. This will ensure that only updated records are replicated and counted towards your usage.

Loading

How data is loaded into your destination depends on a few things. In this section, we’ll cover:

• How loading behavior is determined

• How duplicate column headers and extra row values are handled during loading

Determining loading behavior

How data replicated from an Amazon S3 CSV integration is loaded into your destination depends on two factors:

1. If Primary Keys were specified for the table during integration setup. If Primary Keys aren’t specified during setup, Stitch will load data in an Append-Only manner. This means that new records and updates to existing records are appended to the end of the table as new rows.

2. If your destination supports upserts, or updating existing rows. For destinations that support upserts, Stitch uses Primary Keys to de-dupe data during loading. Primary Keys are used to identify unique rows within a table and ensure that only the most recently updated version of that record appears in your destination.

Note: For Append-Only destinations, data will be loaded in an Append-Only manner regardless of whether a Primary Key is specified during setup.

Loading with defined Primary Keys

If the destination supports upserts and Primary Keys are defined during setup, Stitch will use the Primary Keys to de-dupe records during loading.

This means that existing rows will be overwritten with the most recent version of the row. A record can only have a single unique Primary Key value, ensuring that only one version of the record exists in the destination at a time.

For example: The following rows are replicated during the initial replication job:

Before the next job, the file containing these rows is modified. This means that Stitch will replicate the contents of the entire file, including the rows for Finn and Jake even if they haven’t been updated.

Stitch will use the Primary Key to de-dupe the records, making the table in the destination look similar to the following:

Loading without defined Primary Keys

If the destination is Append-Only or if Primary Keys aren’t defined during setup, data will be loaded in an Append-Only manner.

Additionally, Stitch will append a column (__sdc_primary_key) to the table to function as a Primary Key if one isn’t defined.

Note: Appending this column will not enable Stitch to de-dupe data, as a unique value is inserted every time a row is loaded, regardless of whether it’s ever been replicated before. This means that a record can have multiple __sdc_primary_key values, each of them unique.

For example: The following rows are replicated during the initial replication job:

Before the next job, the file containing these rows is modified. This means that Stitch will replicate the contents of the entire file, including the rows for Finn and Jake even if they haven’t been updated.

In the destination, the table might now look like the table below. Notice that records for Finn and Jake have been appended to the end of the table with new __sdc_primary_key values:

Note: Querying Append-Only tables requires a different strategy than you might normally use. For instructions and a sample query, check out the Querying Append-Only tables guide.

Handling duplicate column headers and extra row values

If a file contains duplicate column headers or a row contains more values than there are columns, Stitch will append an additional column named _sdc_extra to the destination table. Stitch does this to ensure values are loaded into the correct columns and that column names are unique.

In this section, we’ll walk you through how Stitch loads data from Amazon S3 CSV in the following scenarios:

• A row in the source file contains the same number of columns as headers

• A row in the source file contains more columns than the number of headers

• A row in the source file contains less columns than the number of headers

A row in the source file contains the same number of columns as headers

A row in the source file contains more columns than the number of headers

A row in the source file contains less columns than the number of headers

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