Forum Discussion

Syed_AhsanSirat's avatar
Syed_AhsanSirat
Qrew Trainee
2 months ago

Best Way to Process Quickbase Data Externally and Write Back via Pipelines...?

Hello QB Experts,

I’m a Quickbase user, and I’ve noticed that both Quickbase and Pipelines offer somewhat limited programming capabilities.

I’m wondering if it’s possible to use Quickbase primarily as a database system (and visualization/application), where I:

  • Export data using Pipelines
  • Process and analyze the data externally using languages like Python or JavaScript (e.g., using Pandas, NumPy, etc.) with complex programming.
  • Then write the processed data back into Quickbase as records via Pipelines in near real-time

If this approach is feasible:

  • What platforms or tools would you recommend for handling the external processing?
  • What skills or knowledge should I focus on to implement this effectively?
  • Are there any example apps, tutorials, or Quickbase resources that demonstrate a similar workflow for learning and practice?

Thanks in advance!

Pipelines

1 Reply

  • Denin's avatar
    Denin
    Qrew Captain
    2 months ago

    I've done something similar using the Quickbase API. You can easily pull data out, process it externally with whatever tools you prefer, and then push it back into Quickbase.

    In my case I used JavaScript, but there’s no real limitation on the stack—you could use Python, Node.js, or any platform that can work with APIs (AWS, Azure, Power BI, etc.). It really just depends on your specific use case and how complex your processing needs are.

    You could absolutely use Quickbase primarily as a database and handle most of the logic and processing outside of it. The API is relatively straightforward to work with, and the JSON structure makes it easy to parse and transform data.

    If you haven’t already, I’d recommend taking a look at the Quickbase API Portal—it’s a good starting point.

    The main downside to this approach is cost and potentially added architectural complexity, but from a technical standpoint it’s very doable. You can probably do the same thing with Pipelines as well, but again it depends on your specific use case as to how you would get the data and send it back.