Kangarootime Data Feed User Guide

Data Feeds User Guide

Data Feeds allows you to automatically export Kangarootime data to your preferred cloud storage destination for use in third-party business intelligence (BI) platforms such as Tableau, Power BI, Looker, or custom data warehouses.

Overview

Data Feeds exports your data daily to a cloud storage bucket you configure.
Your BI platform can then ingest the exported files for reporting and analysis.

Table Documentation

For a complete list of available tables and their schemas, visit: https://data-feed.kangarootime.com 

Getting Started

Navigate to **Settings > Integrations > Data Feeds** to create and manage your data feed configurations.

Creating a Data Feed

1. Click **Add Data Feed**
2. Configure the basic settings, destination, and output format
3. Click **Create**
4. Use **Test Connection** to verify your configuration

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Path Configuration

The **Path** field is optional for all destination types.
If left blank, files are placed in the root of the bucket/container and are overwritten each day.

Path Placeholders

All destination types support dynamic path placeholders that are replaced at export time.
This allows you to organize exports by date.

 

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
`{year}`	4-digit year	`2026`
`{month}`	Month (1-12)	`1`
`{day}`	Day of month (1-31)	`14`
`{hour}`	Hour (0-23)	`15`
`{minute}`	Minute (0-59)	`30`
`{second}`	Second (0-59)	`45`
`{date}`	Full date and time	`2026-01-14 15:30:45.000000`

 

Format Specifications

Placeholders support Python-style format specifications to control their output. This is useful for zero-padding numbers to ensure consistent path lengths and proper sorting, and for having full control of the date format.

The syntax is `{placeholder: format}`, where `format` follows Python's format specification:

Format	Description	Example
`:02d`	Zero-pad to 2 digits	`{month:02d}` → `01`
`:03d`	Zero-pad to 3 digits	`{day:03d}` → `014`
`:04d`	Zero-pad to 4 digits	`{hour:04d}` → `0015`
`:%Y-%m-%d`	ISO date	`{date:%Y-%m-%d}` → `2026-01-14`
`:%Y/%m/%d`	Date with slashes	`{date:%Y/%m/%d}` → `2026/01/14`
`:%Y%m%d`	Compact date	`{date:%Y%m%d}` → `20260114`
`:%H%M%S`	Compact time	`{date:%H%M%S}` → `153045`
`:%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S`	ISO datetime	`{date:%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S}` → `2026-01-14T15:30:45`

 

Examples:

Path Template	Result (Jan 14, 2026 at 3:30 PM)
_(blank)_	Files placed in bucket root
`feeds/{year}-{month}-{day}`	`feeds/2026-1-14`
`feeds/{year}-{month:02d}-{day:02d}`	`feeds/2026-01-14`
`exports/{year}/{month}`	`exports/2026/1`
`exports/{year}/{month:02d}`	`exports/2026/01`
`data/{date:%Y/%m/%d/%H}`	`data/2026/01/14/15`
`data/{date:%Y%m%d}`	`data/20260114`
`hourly/{year}-{month:02d}-{day:02d}/{hour:02d}`	`hourly/2026-01-14/15`

 

Destination Configuration

AWS S3

Exports data to an Amazon S3 bucket.

Field	Required	Description	Example
Bucket Name	Yes	The name of your S3 bucket	`my-analytics-bucket`
Region	Yes	AWS region where the bucket is located	`us-east-1`
Path	No	Folder path within the bucket (supports placeholders)	`data/{year}/{month}`
Access Key ID	Yes	IAM user access key ID	`AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE`
Secret Access Key	Yes	IAM user secret access key	(hidden)

IAM Policy Requirements:

Your IAM user needs `s3:PutObject` permissions on objects in the bucket.
Example policy:

```json { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": [ "s3:PutObject" ], "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-analytics-bucket/*" } ] } ```

 

Documentation:

• Creating IAM Users
• S3 Bucket Policies

Azure Storage

Exports data to an Azure Blob Storage container.

Field	Required	Description	Example
Container Name	Yes	The name of your storage container	`analytics-data`
Account Name	No\*	Storage account name (\*required for Service Principals)	`mystorageaccount`
Path	No	Folder path within the container (supports placeholders)	`exports/{date}`
Protocol	Yes	Connection protocol	`az`, `azure`, or `abfss`

Authentication Methods:

Option 1: Connection String (Recommended for simplicity)

Provide the full connection string from your storage account.

Field	Required	Description
Connection String	Yes	Full storage account connection string

To find your connection string:

1. Go to Azure Portal > Storage Accounts > [Your Account]
2. Navigate to **Security + networking > Access keys**
3. Copy the **Connection string** value

Option 2: Service Principal (Recommended for production)

Use Azure Active Directory authentication with a service principal.

Field	Required	Description	Example
Account Name	Yes	Storage account name	`mystorageaccount`
Client ID	Yes	Application (client) ID	`xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx`
Client Secret	Yes	Application secret value	(hidden)
Tenant ID	Yes	Directory (tenant) ID	`xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx`

Protocol Options:

Protocol	Description	Use Case
`az`	Standard Azure protocol	Most common choice
`azure`	Legacy Azure protocol	Compatibility with older systems
`abfss`	Azure Blob File System Secure	Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

Documentation:

• Azure Storage Connection Strings
•  Register an App with Azure AD
• Azure RBAC for Storage

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Google Cloud Storage (GCS)

Exports data to a Google Cloud Storage bucket.

Field	Required	Description	Example
Bucket Name	Yes	The name of your GCS bucket	`my-analytics-bucket`
Path	No	Folder path within the bucket (supports placeholders)	`kangarootime/{year}-{month}-{day}`

Authentication Methods:

Option 1: Service Account Key (Recommended)

Use a service account JSON key file.

Field	Required	Description
Service Account Key (JSON)	Yes	Full JSON key file contents

 

To create a service account key:

1. Go to Google Cloud Console > IAM & Admin > Service Accounts
2. Create a new service account or select an existing one
3. Click **Keys > Add Key > Create new key**
4. Select **JSON** format and download
5. Open the JSON file in a text editor
6. Copy the entire JSON content into the field

Example JSON format:

```json { "type": "service_account", "project_id": "my-project", "private_key_id": "...", "private_key": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n...\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\n", "client_email": "my-service-account@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com", "client_id": "...", ... } ```

**Required Role:** Grant the service account the `Storage Object User` role.

Option 2: HMAC Credentials

Use S3-compatible HMAC authentication.

Field	Required	Description
HMAC Access Key	Yes	HMAC access key ID
HMAC Secret	Yes	HMAC secret

 

To create HMAC credentials:

1. Go to Cloud Console > Cloud Storage > Settings
2. Navigate to **Interoperability**
3. Create a key under **Service account HMAC** or **User account HMAC**

Documentation:

• Creating Service Account Keys]
• Cloud Storage IAM Roles
• HMAC Keys for Service Accounts

 

Output Format Configuration

CSV

Standard comma-separated values format.

Option	Default	Description
Include Header Row	Yes	Include column names as the first row
Delimiter	`,`	Character separating values
Quote Character	`"`	Character used to quote values containing special characters
Escape Character	`\`	Character used to escape special characters
Compression	None	`None`, `Gzip`, or `Zstd`

 

Examples:

Standard CSV:

child id	first name	last name	enrolled date
abc123	Emma	Johnson	2024-01-15
def456	Liam	Smith	2024-02-20

 

Tab-delimited (Delimiter: `\t`):

child id	first name	last name	enrolled date
abc123	Emma	Johnson	2024-01-15

JSON

JSON format, optionally as an array of records.

Option	Default	Description
Output as Array	No	When enabled, outputs records as a JSON array
Compression	None	`None`, `Gzip`, or `Zstd`

 

Examples:

Array format disabled (newline-delimited JSON / NDJSON):

```json {"child_id": "abc123", "first_name": "Emma", "last_name": "Johnson"} {"child_id": "def456", "first_name": "Liam", "last_name": "Smith"} ```

 

Array format enabled:

```json [ { "child_id": "abc123", "first_name": "Emma", "last_name": "Johnson" }, { "child_id": "def456", "first_name": "Liam", "last_name": "Smith" } ]

 

Parquet

Apache Parquet columnar format, optimized for analytics workloads.

Option	Default	Description
Compression	None	`Snappy`, `Gzip`, `LZ4`, `Zstd`, `Brotli`, or `None`
Compression Level	3	1-22 (only applicable when using Zstd; higher = better compression but slower analysis speed)
Parquet Version	Default	`V1` or `V2`

 

Compression Recommendations:

Compression	Speed	Ratio	Best For
Snappy	Fast	Moderate	General purpose, good balance
LZ4	Fastest	Lower	Speed-critical pipelines
Zstd	Moderate	High	Storage optimization
Gzip	Slower	High	Maximum compatibility
Brotli	Slowest	Highest	Long-term archival

 

Compression	Speed	Ratio	Best For
Snappy	Fast	Moderate	General purpose, good balance
LZ4	Fastest	Lower	Speed-critical pipelines
Zstd	Moderate	High	Storage optimization
Gzip	Slower	High	Maximum compatibility
Brotli	Slowest	Highest	Long-term archival

 

Excel (XLSX)

Microsoft Excel workbook format.

No additional configuration options. Data is exported as a standard `.xlsx` file.

**Note:** XLSX format has row limitations for large datasets.
Consider CSV or Parquet instead.

 

Managing Data Feeds

Test Connection

After creating or updating a data feed, use the **Test Connection** button to verify your configuration.
This will attempt to write a test file to your destination and confirm permissions are correctly configured.

**Note:** You must save any pending changes before testing the connection.

 

Enable/Disable

Toggle the **Enabled** switch to temporarily pause a data feed without deleting its configuration.

 

 Error Logs

The **Error Logs** tab displays recent export activity and any errors encountered.
Use this to troubleshoot failed exports.

Log entries include:

• Triggered At**: When the export was initiated
• Message**: Status or error details

Troubleshooting

Connection Test Fails

1. Verify credentials**: Ensure all required fields are filled correctly
2. Check permissions**: Confirm your IAM user/service account has write permissions to the bucket
3. Check bucket policy**: Ensure the bucket policy allows write access
4. Verify bucket/container exists**: The destination must already exist
5. Check network/firewall rules**: Ensure there are no restrictions blocking access

No Data Appearing

1. Check if enabled**: Ensure the data feed is toggled on
2. Review error logs**: Check the Error Logs tab for any failures
3. Verify path**: If using a path prefix, ensure you're checking the correct folder

Authentication Errors

**AWS S3:**

- Verify Access Key ID and Secret are correct
- Check IAM policy includes required permissions
- Ensure the IAM user is active (not disabled)

Azure Storage:

• For Connection String: regenerate if expired
• For Service Principal: verify client secret hasn't expired
• Check RBAC role assignments on the storage account

Google Cloud Storage:

• Ensure service account key is the complete JSON (not truncated)
• Verify the service account has the required IAM role on the bucket
• For HMAC: ensure keys are associated with an active service account

Security Best Practices

• Use dedicated credentials**: Create IAM users/service accounts specifically for Data Feeds with minimal required permissions
• Rotate credentials regularly**: Update access keys and secrets periodically
• Enable bucket versioning**: Protect against accidental overwrites
• Use encryption**: Enable server-side encryption on your storage bucket
• Restrict bucket access**: Use bucket policies to limit access to authorized services only

For additional assistance or questions about Data Feeds, contact Kangarootime support via helpdesk@kangarootime.com.