Provision a read-only Postgres view of a Cedar data source, create its login, and connect your SQL or BI tool.
Postgres in Data Depot gives you live, read-only SQL access to your carrier’s Cedar data. You pick a data source and
its columns, Data Depot creates a Postgres view for your carrier, and you get one dedicated database login to query it
from any PostgreSQL client, BI tool, or JDBC/ODBC connection.
Postgres access is a pull model: your tools query the view when they need data. If you want Cedar to push files to
your storage instead, see CDC delivery.
Open Postgres in the sidebar. The catalog shows one card for each data source available to the selected carrier.
Use Search data products to filter by name or description.
The Postgres catalog. The Table preview on the right follows the selected source.
Each card shows badges:
carrier-scoped — the view contains only the selected carrier’s rows.
global — reference data that is the same for every carrier.
Provisioned — you already have a view for this source.
Selected — the source shown in the Table preview panel.
Select a card to preview its first columns, then select View details or Open table details to set up access.
Open a source’s details page to configure the view and its login. The left rail lists every source, so you can switch
between them without returning to the catalog.
1
Choose columns
Under Choose columns, turn on the columns you want in the view. Select all and Clear all change every
column at once, and the badge shows how many of the source’s columns are selected. Each row shows the column’s type,
whether it can be empty, and a description.
Choose the columns to include in your view
If a source shows Column metadata is not published for this source yet, Data Depot uses the source’s default
columns instead.
2
Set an automatic expiry (optional)
Under Provision & database access, set Automatic expiry if the access should end on its own, for example
for a short project or a contractor. Data Depot removes the view and its login within about five minutes after the
time you choose. Leave it empty to keep access until you revoke it.
3
Provision the view
Select Provision view. When it finishes, the button reads View up to date and the step shows
Completed, with the view’s name underneath.
A provisioned view, ready for its database login
4
Create the database login
Under Connection details, select Create database credential. Data Depot creates one login for this view and
shows it once.
5
Save the credential
Copy the details before you leave the page. Copy connection copies the host, database, SSL mode, username,
password, and view name in one block.
The credential is shown once. Save it in your password manager or secret store.
The password is shown only once and is never returned again. If you lose it, use Reset credential to issue a new
one.
Use the Host, Port, Database, Username, and Password from the credential. SSL is required. Your login
can read only its own view, which lives in the cedar_apps schema and is named like
cedar_apps.data_depot_<source>_<carrier>_<id>.
Use the username and password from the credential in your tool’s connection settings.
import psycopgwith psycopg.connect( host="<host>", port=5432, # use the port shown in your credential dbname="<database>", user="<username>", password="<password>", sslmode="require",) as conn: rows = conn.execute("SELECT * FROM <view> LIMIT 10").fetchall()
Then query the view by its full name:
SELECT waybill_number, waybill_date, statusFROM cedar_apps.data_depot_waybills_demo_3f9a1c2b7d4eORDER BY waybill_date DESCLIMIT 100;
The view always reflects Cedar’s current data. There is nothing to refresh.
If your network limits outbound connections, allow the host and port shown in your credential. To use the view from
Databricks, see Databricks.
By default, your tools connect to the view over the internet, encrypted with SSL. If your security policy requires BI
traffic to stay on a private network, Cedar can set up a private connection to your Postgres views. This is a custom
setup arranged per customer: contact your Cedar account team, and we’ll work out the details with your network team.
Your BI tool runs in
How the private connection works
AWS
An AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection between your AWS network and Cedar’s
Azure
A private link between your Azure network and Cedar’s AWS network. This is usually a site-to-site VPN from an Azure VPN Gateway. For higher, more predictable throughput, use Azure ExpressRoute paired with AWS Direct Connect. AWS describes these patterns in Designing private network connectivity between AWS and Microsoft Azure
A Postgres view is live: every query your BI tool runs is answered by Cedar’s database. That makes views the quickest
way to get current data, but it also means your dashboards depend on Cedar’s Postgres service, including its
availability, performance, and maintenance windows.If you want full control of your data, with your own storage, your own retention, and your own SLA, use
CDC delivery instead. Cedar pushes the data to your Azure or Amazon S3 storage, and
your BI tools read from your own copy, so they keep working even while Cedar’s database is unavailable.
Postgres views
CDC delivery
Where your BI tools read from
Cedar’s Postgres database
Your own storage and warehouse
Freshness
Live
Every 5, 10, or 15 minutes
Service level
Cedar’s Postgres SLA
Your own, for everything after the files land
Network
Internet with SSL, or a private connection by arrangement
Cedar writes to your storage; your tools never connect to Cedar
Return to the source, change the selected columns (or the automatic expiry), and select Update view with N
columns. The view is updated in place, and the login and password don’t change, so your connected tools keep
working. Queries that name a column you removed will start to fail, so update them at the same time.
The History section at the bottom of the source’s page lists every view created for that source on this carrier,
including revoked ones, with who created it and when.
Select Reset credential, then confirm. The current password stops working immediately, and the new password is
shown once. Update every tool that uses the login.
Select Revoke access, then confirm. Data Depot removes the view and its login. You can provision the source again
later. Revoking can take a moment; the status shows Revoking until it finishes.
One active view per source per carrier. To change it, update its columns rather than creating a second view.
One login per view.
While an earlier view for the source is still being revoked, or its cleanup needs attention, you can’t provision
the source again. The button reads Cleanup required and the page says Finish or retry the existing access
cleanup in History before provisioning this source again. Open History and select Retry revoke.
Once a view’s automatic expiry passes, the button reads Provision expired until Data Depot finishes removing the
view. After that, you can provision the source again.
Views are read-only. You can’t write to Cedar through them.
parent_grouping_id walks your location hierarchy. The top-level road row isn’t included, so a top-level location’s
parent may not appear in the view.
Location template attributes become columns named <location type>.<attribute>, for example station.region, so
attributes with the same name on different location types stay separate.
The view includes deleted locations as well as current ones.
Check that you copied the password exactly. If it was lost or someone reset it, select Reset credential and use
the new password. A reset immediately invalidates the old one.
Permission denied for the view
Your login can read only the view it was created for. Check that you’re querying the full view name shown in the
credential, including the cedar_apps schema.
A column disappeared
Someone updated the view’s columns. Open the source in Data Depot to see the current selection and add the column
back if you need it.
I can browse sources but can't provision
You have read access but not the permission to create views. See
Access and permissions.
A source I expected isn't listed
Some sources are available only to North American carriers. Check the available sources table.
