Introducing Flights: agent-native data pipelines in MotherDuckJoin the livestream

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Sling

Data integration platform for connecting data sources to warehouses. It integrates with MotherDuck for loading data from operational systems, APIs, files, or event streams.

How it works with MotherDuck​

Sling connects to MotherDuck as a database connection that can be used in replication and pipeline workflows.

Prerequisites​

  • Sling CLI or Sling Platform.
  • A MotherDuck service token.
  • The target MotherDuck database name.

Setup​

Configure the MotherDuck connection with the required type, database, and motherduck_token values:

sling conns set MOTHERDUCK type=motherduck database=my_db motherduck_token=<motherduck_token>

You can also use a connection URL:

sling conns set MOTHERDUCK url="motherduck://my_db?motherduck_token=<motherduck_token>"

For checked-in configuration, define the connection in Sling's environment file and load the token from your secret manager before running Sling.

Authentication and configuration​

  • database and motherduck_token are required.
  • schema sets the default schema.
  • read_only can be used for workflows that should not write to MotherDuck.
  • motherduck_attach_mode can be set to workspace or single when you need explicit attach behavior.

Important notes​

  • Keep the MotherDuck token out of committed Sling configuration.
  • Sling's MotherDuck docs list additional copy and DuckDB CLI options. Most MotherDuck workflows only need the database, token, and optional schema.
  • A .duckdbrc file can interfere with Sling because Sling invokes DuckDB under the hood.

Use cases​

  • Replicate data from files, APIs, and databases into MotherDuck.
  • Use Sling CLI in scheduled jobs or CI workflows.
  • Move data from MotherDuck to another supported destination when needed.

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