Modern, Pythonic Data Transforms
Build data transformation pipelines using Python — with a visual IDE and AI assistant.

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What is Visitran?

Visitran is an open-source data transformation tool that supports no-code (visual drag-and-drop) and AI-assisted (natural language) approaches to data modeling. It connects to your data warehouse, lets you build transformation pipelines visually or by describing what you need in plain English — and materializes results back to your database.

Supported Databases

Database	Status	Database	Status
PostgreSQL	✅	DuckDB	✅
Snowflake	✅	BigQuery	✅
Trino	✅	Databricks	✅

If Visitran helps you, please star this repo — it helps others discover the project!

Key Features

For Data Engineers

• Full Python-based transformation models with Ibis SQL generation
• 6 database adapters with table, view, and incremental materialization
• DAG execution engine with dependency resolution
• Job scheduling with cron/interval triggers, retry, and chaining

For Analysts & No-Code Users

• Visual IDE with Monaco editor, file explorer, and DAG visualization
• No-code model builder — joins, filters, aggregates, window functions, pivots, unions
• AI assistant for natural language to data transformations
• Built-in testing framework for model validation

Getting Started

Choose your preferred installation method:

• Docker Compose — Recommended for quick evaluation
• Direct Installation (localhost) — For development and customization

Option 1: Docker Compose

The fastest way to get Visitran running. Requires Docker and Docker Compose.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Zipstack/visitran.git
cd visitran

# Set up backend environment variables
cp backend/sample.env backend/.env

Edit backend/.env — default values are provided for quick start. For production, replace these keys:

Variable	Default	How to Generate (production)
SECRET_KEY	Provided	Use djecrety.ir or run: python -c "from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())"
VISITRAN_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Provided	Run: python -c "from base64 import b64encode; from cryptography.fernet import Fernet; print(b64encode(Fernet.generate_key()).decode())"
VISITRAN_RSA_PRIVATE_KEY	Provided	Generate a 2048-bit RSA key pair (see sample.env for the command)
VISITRAN_RSA_PUBLIC_KEY	Provided	Derived from the private key above
VISITRAN_AI_KEY	Empty	Optional — get from app.visitran.com to enable AI features

Note: The sample.env is pre-configured for Docker — DB_HOST=postgres and REDIS_HOST=redis point to the Docker Compose service names. No hostname changes needed. You can run docker compose up --build -d immediately after copying.

# Build and start all services
cd docker
docker compose up --build -d

This starts:

Service	Port	Description
Frontend	3000	React UI (Nginx)
Backend	8000	Django REST API (Gunicorn)
PostgreSQL	5432	Database
Redis	6379	WebSockets and async task broker
Celery Worker	—	Background job processing
Celery Beat	—	Scheduled task processing

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

First-time setup: On first launch, click Sign Up to create a local admin account. There is no default username/password — you set your own credentials during signup.

To stop:

docker compose down

To stop and delete all data (PostgreSQL volume):

docker compose down -v

Option 2: Direct Installation (localhost)

For development or when you want full control over each component.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10.x (>=3.10, <3.11.1 — required by pyproject.toml)
• Node.js 16+
• uv (Python package manager)
• Git LFS (run git lfs install && git lfs pull after cloning)
• Redis (for WebSockets and Celery) — install via brew install redis (macOS) or your OS package manager

Backend

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Zipstack/visitran.git
cd visitran

# Set up environment variables
cp backend/sample.env backend/.env

Edit backend/.env for local development:

Variable	Required	Value for localhost
SECRET_KEY	Yes	Default provided — replace in production
VISITRAN_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Yes	Default provided — replace in production
DB_HOST	No	Leave empty for SQLite (no PostgreSQL needed), or localhost if you have PostgreSQL running
REDIS_HOST	Yes	localhost
DB_SAMPLE_HOST	No	localhost (to enable sample project — requires PostgreSQL) or leave empty to skip

Important for localhost: Change DB_HOST=postgres → DB_HOST= (empty for SQLite) or DB_HOST=localhost (for local PostgreSQL). Change REDIS_HOST=redis → REDIS_HOST=localhost.

# Install backend dependencies
cd backend
pip install uv
uv sync

# Activate virtual environment
source .venv/bin/activate

# Run database migrations
python manage.py migrate

# Start backend server (port 8000)
python manage.py runserver

Frontend

cd frontend

# Set up environment variables
cp sample.env .env

Edit frontend/.env if needed:

Variable	Default	Description
REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL	http://localhost:8000	Backend API URL
REACT_APP_SOCKET_SERVICE_BASE_URL	http://localhost:4000	WebSocket server URL

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start dev server (port 3000)
npm start

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser and sign up to create your account.

Project Structure

backend/
├── backend/                     # Django application
│   ├── core/                    #   Models, views, REST API
│   ├── application/             #   Business logic, config parser, interpreter
│   └── server/settings/         #   Django settings
├── visitran/                    # Core transformation engine (standalone)
│   ├── adapters/                #   Database adapters (postgres, duckdb, snowflake, etc.)
│   ├── templates/               #   VisitranModel base class
│   └── visitran.py              #   DAG execution engine

frontend/src/
├── base/                        # App shell, routing, project listing
├── ide/                         # Main workspace (editor, file explorer, SQL drawer)
│   ├── chat-ai/                 #   AI assistant interface
│   └── editor/                  #   No-code visual model builder
├── store/                       # Zustand state management
├── service/                     # API services (axios, socket)
└── widgets/                     # Reusable UI components

docker/
├── dockerfiles/                 # Backend and frontend Dockerfiles
└── docker-compose.yaml          # Docker Compose configuration

Development

Backend

# Run server with hot reload
cd backend && python manage.py runserver

# Run migrations
python manage.py migrate

# Lint & type check
inv checks
inv type_check

# Run tests (requires Docker for test databases)
docker compose up --wait
uv run pytest -vv --dist loadgroup -n 5 tests
docker compose down

Frontend

cd frontend

npm start              # Dev server
npm run build          # Production build
npm test               # Run tests
npm run test:coverage  # Test with coverage
npm run lint           # ESLint check
npm run lint:fix       # ESLint auto-fix

Cloud & Enterprise

For teams that need managed infrastructure, advanced features, or enterprise-grade security.

• SSO & RBAC — SAML/OIDC single sign-on with role-based access control
• Managed AI — Built-in AI service with no API key setup required
• Job Scheduling — Cron/interval triggers with retry, chaining, and notifications
• Cloud Storage — Managed file storage with version control
• Multi-Tenant — Organization-level isolation and team management
• Priority Support — Dedicated support with SLA guarantees

Visitran AI

The AI assistant generates data transformations from natural language. In OSS mode, AI access requires a Visitran AI subscription key:

1. Sign up at app.visitran.com
2. Subscribe to an AI plan and generate an API key
3. Go to Settings > Visitran AI in your local instance and enter your key
4. Open the Chat AI drawer in the IDE to start using AI

The cloud gateway validates your key, routes prompts through LLM models (Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini), and streams responses back — no local AI setup or LLM credentials needed.

Tech Stack

Component	Technology
Backend	Python, Django, Django REST Framework, Celery
Frontend	React, Ant Design, Zustand, Monaco Editor
SQL Generation	Ibis
Databases	PostgreSQL, DuckDB, Snowflake, BigQuery, Trino, Databricks
Infrastructure	Docker, Redis, Gunicorn

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines.

1. Fork the repo and create a feature branch from main
2. Make your changes
3. Run linting:
   • Frontend: npm run lint
   • Backend: inv checks
4. Run tests:
   • Frontend: npm test
   • Backend: uv run pytest
5. Submit a pull request

Community

Join the Visitran community:

A Note on Analytics

Visitran integrates Posthog to track minimal usage analytics. Disable by setting REACT_APP_ENABLE_POSTHOG=false in the frontend's .env file.

License

Visitran is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). You are free to use, modify, and distribute this software under the terms of the AGPL-3.0. If you run a modified version as a network service, you must make the source code available to users of that service.

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Built with care by the Visitran team

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