Agent skill

Airflow Plugins

by astronomer in astronomer/agents

Builds Airflow 3.1+ plugins that embed FastAPI apps, custom UI pages, React components, middleware, macros, and operator links directly into the Airflow UI.

Apache-2.0Auto-check: notesData & Analytics

Install Airflow Plugins

skills CLI
$ npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill airflow-plugins -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install astronomer/agents airflow-plugins --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/astronomer/agents.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/airflow-plugins .claude/skills/airflow-plugins && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
airflow-plugins
GitHub stars
451
Token cost
~6k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,467 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
34
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Apache-2.0

At a glance

Builds Airflow 3.1+ plugins that embed FastAPI apps, custom UI pages, React components, middleware, macros, and operator links directly into the Airflow UI.

  • Works in 7 steps: Choose plugin components → Plugin registration skeleton → Serve the UI entry point → …
  • Building anything custom inside Airflow 3.1+ that involves Python and a browser-facing interface - creating an Airflow plugin
  • SKILL.md covers Step 1: Choose plugin components, Step 2: Plugin registration…, Step 3: Serve the UI entry point and Step 4: Call the Airflow API…, plus 5 more sections
  • Calls airflow, uv and poetry; reaches astronomer.io; needs MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD and MYPLUGIN_TOKEN

What it does

Airflow Plugins is an agent skill from astronomer/agents. Builds Airflow 3.1+ plugins that embed FastAPI apps, custom UI pages, React components, middleware, macros, and operator links directly into the Airflow UI. Use when building anything custom inside Airflow 3.1+ that involves Python and a browser-facing interface - creating an Airflow plugin, adding a custom UI page or nav entry, building FastAPI-backed endpoints inside Airflow, serving static assets from a plugin, embedding a React app, adding middleware to the API server, creating custom operator extra links, or…

Its SKILL.md is about 6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Data & Analytics, covering Data pipelines and ETL and Backend development. It works with Apache Airflow, FastAPI, React and Python. The repository describes itself as: AI agent tooling for data engineering workflows. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

  • Building anything custom inside Airflow 3.1+ that involves Python and a browser-facing interface - creating an Airflow plugin
  • Adding a custom UI page
  • Building FastAPI-backed endpoints inside Airflow
  • Serving static assets from a plugin

Example prompts

  • “Use the airflow-plugins skill to build Airflow 3.1+ plugins that embed FastAPI apps, custom UI pages, React components, middleware, macros, and…”
  • “/airflow-plugins”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • A credential in AIRFLOW_TOKEN
  • A credential in MYPLUGIN_TOKEN

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Choose plugin components
  2. Plugin registration skeleton
  3. Serve the UI entry point
  4. Call the Airflow API from your plugin
  5. Common API endpoint patterns
  6. Other plugin component types
  7. Environment variables and deployment

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 486ee63. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • airflow
    • uv
    • poetry
    • python3

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • astronomer.io

    Also links to:

    • airflow.apache.org
    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD
    • MYPLUGIN_TOKEN
    • AIRFLOW_TOKEN

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Airflow Plugins loads about 6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 171 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,467 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~171
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:246
    IN_USERNAME` and `MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD` in `.env` — JWT exchange happens automatically.
  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:530
    # .env

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from astronomer/agents at commit 486ee63, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© astronomer). 1,467 words, ~6,020 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/airflow-plugins/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
airflow-plugins
description
Builds Airflow 3.1+ plugins that embed FastAPI apps, custom UI pages, React components, middleware, macros, and operator links directly into the Airflow UI. Use when building anything custom inside Airflow 3.1+ that involves Python and a browser-facing interface - creating an Airflow plugin, adding a custom UI page or nav entry, building FastAPI-backed endpoints inside Airflow, serving static assets from a plugin, embedding a React app, adding middleware to the API server, creating custom operator extra links, or calling the Airflow REST API from inside a plugin; also when AirflowPlugin, fastapi_apps, external_views, react_apps, or plugin registration come up.

Airflow 3 Plugins

Airflow 3 plugins let you embed FastAPI apps, React UIs, middleware, macros, operator buttons, and custom timetables directly into the Airflow process. No sidecar, no extra server.

CRITICAL: Plugin components (fastapi_apps, react_apps, external_views) require Airflow 3.1+. NEVER import flask, flask_appbuilder, or use appbuilder_views / flask_blueprints — these are Airflow 2 patterns and will not work in Airflow 3. If existing code uses them, rewrite the entire registration block using FastAPI.

Security: FastAPI plugin endpoints are not automatically protected by Airflow auth. If your endpoints need to be private, implement authentication explicitly using FastAPI's security utilities.

Restart required: Changes to Python plugin files require restarting the API server. Static file changes (HTML, JS, CSS) are picked up immediately. Set AIRFLOW__CORE__LAZY_LOAD_PLUGINS=False during development to load plugins at startup rather than lazily.

Relative paths always: In external_views, href must have no leading slash. In HTML and JavaScript, use relative paths for all assets and fetch() calls. Absolute paths break behind reverse proxies.

Before writing any code, verify
  1. Am I using fastapi_apps / FastAPI — not appbuilder_views / Flask?
  2. Are all HTML/JS asset paths and fetch() calls relative (no leading slash)?
  3. Are all synchronous SDK or SQLAlchemy calls wrapped in asyncio.to_thread()?
  4. Do the static/ and assets/ directories exist before the FastAPI app mounts them?
  5. If the endpoint must be private, did I add explicit FastAPI authentication?

Step 1: Choose plugin components

A single plugin class can register multiple component types at once.

ComponentWhat it doesField
Custom API endpointsFastAPI app mounted in Airflow processfastapi_apps
Nav / page linkEmbeds a URL as an iframe or links outexternal_views
React componentCustom React app embedded in Airflow UIreact_apps
API middlewareIntercepts all Airflow API requests/responsesfastapi_root_middlewares
Jinja macrosReusable Python functions in DAG templatesmacros
Task instance buttonExtra link button in task Detail viewoperator_extra_links / global_operator_extra_links
Custom timetableCustom scheduling logictimetables
Event hooksListener callbacks for Airflow eventslisteners

Step 2: Plugin registration skeleton

Project file structure

Give each plugin its own subdirectory under plugins/ — this keeps the Python file, static assets, and templates together and makes multi-plugin projects manageable:

plugins/
  my-plugin/
    plugin.py       # AirflowPlugin subclass — auto-discovered by Airflow
    static/
      index.html
      app.js
    assets/
      icon.svg

BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).parent in plugin.py resolves to plugins/my-plugin/ — static and asset paths will be correct relative to that. Create the subdirectory and any static/assets folders before starting Airflow, or StaticFiles will raise on import.

python
from pathlib import Path
from airflow.plugins_manager import AirflowPlugin
from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
from fastapi.responses import FileResponse

BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).parent

app = FastAPI(title="My Plugin")

# Both directories must exist before Airflow starts or FastAPI raises on import
app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory=BASE_DIR / "static"), name="static")
app.mount("/assets", StaticFiles(directory=BASE_DIR / "assets"), name="assets")


class MyPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    name = "my_plugin"

    fastapi_apps = [
        {
            "app": app,
            "url_prefix": "/my-plugin",   # plugin available at {AIRFLOW_HOST}/my-plugin/
            "name": "My Plugin",
        }
    ]

    external_views = [
        {
            "name": "My Plugin",
            "href": "my-plugin/ui",              # NO leading slash — breaks on Astro and reverse proxies
            "destination": "nav",                # see locations table below
            "category": "browse",                # nav bar category (nav destination only)
            "url_route": "my-plugin",            # unique route name (required for React apps)
            "icon": "/my-plugin/static/icon.svg" # DOES use a leading slash — served by FastAPI
        }
    ]
External view locations
destinationWhere it appears
"nav"Left navigation bar (also set category)
"dag"Extra tab on every Dag page
"dag_run"Extra tab on every Dag run page
"task"Extra tab on every task page
"task_instance"Extra tab on every task instance page
Nav bar categories (destination: "nav")

Set "category" to place the link under a specific nav group: "browse", "admin", or omit for top-level.

External URLs and minimal plugins

href can be a relative path to an internal endpoint ("my-plugin/ui") or a full external URL. A plugin with only external_views and no fastapi_apps is valid — no backend needed for a simple link or tab:

python
from airflow.plugins_manager import AirflowPlugin

class LearnViewPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    name = "learn_view_plugin"

    external_views = [
        {
            "name": "Learn Airflow 3",
            "href": "https://www.astronomer.io/docs/learn",
            "destination": "dag",   # adds a tab to every Dag page
            "url_route": "learn"
        }
    ]

The no-leading-slash rule applies to internal paths only — full https:// URLs are fine.


Step 3: Serve the UI entry point

python
@app.get("/ui", response_class=FileResponse)
async def serve_ui():
    return FileResponse(BASE_DIR / "static" / "index.html")

In HTML, always use relative paths. Absolute paths break when Airflow is mounted at a sub-path:

html
<!-- correct -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="static/app.css" />
<script src="static/app.js?v=20240315"></script>

<!-- breaks behind a reverse proxy -->
<script src="/my-plugin/static/app.js"></script>

Same rule in JavaScript:

javascript
fetch('api/dags')           // correct — relative to current page
fetch('/my-plugin/api/dags') // breaks on Astro and sub-path deploys

Step 4: Call the Airflow API from your plugin

Only needed if your plugin calls the Airflow REST API. Plugins that only serve static files, register external_views, or use direct DB access do not need this step — skip to Step 5 or Step 6.

Add the dependency

Only if REST API communication is being implemented: add apache-airflow-client to the project's dependencies. Check which file exists and act accordingly:

File foundAction
requirements.txtAppend apache-airflow-client
pyproject.toml (uv / poetry)uv add apache-airflow-client or poetry add apache-airflow-client
None of the aboveTell the user: "Add apache-airflow-client to your dependencies before running the plugin."

Use apache-airflow-client to talk to Airflow's own REST API. The SDK is synchronous but FastAPI routes are async — never call blocking SDK methods directly inside async def or you will stall the event loop and freeze all concurrent requests.

JWT token management

Cache one token per process. Refresh 5 minutes before the 1-hour expiry. Use double-checked locking so multiple concurrent requests don't all race to refresh simultaneously:

Replace MYPLUGIN_ with a short uppercase prefix derived from the plugin name (e.g. if the plugin is called "Trip Analyzer", use TRIP_ANALYZER_). If no plugin name has been given yet, ask the user before writing env var names.

python
import asyncio
import os
import threading
import time
import airflow_client.client as airflow_sdk
import requests

AIRFLOW_HOST  = os.environ.get("MYPLUGIN_HOST",     "http://localhost:8080")
AIRFLOW_USER  = os.environ.get("MYPLUGIN_USERNAME", "admin")
AIRFLOW_PASS  = os.environ.get("MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD", "admin")
AIRFLOW_TOKEN = os.environ.get("MYPLUGIN_TOKEN")    # Astronomer Astro: Deployment API token

_cached_token: str | None = None
_token_expires_at: float  = 0.0
_token_lock = threading.Lock()


def _fetch_fresh_token() -> str:
    """Exchange username/password for a JWT via Airflow's auth endpoint."""
    response = requests.post(
        f"{AIRFLOW_HOST}/auth/token",
        json={"username": AIRFLOW_USER, "password": AIRFLOW_PASS},
        timeout=10,
    )
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.json()["access_token"]


def _get_token() -> str:
    # Astronomer Astro production: use static Deployment API token directly
    if AIRFLOW_TOKEN:
        return AIRFLOW_TOKEN
    global _cached_token, _token_expires_at
    now = time.monotonic()
    # Fast path — no lock if still valid
    if _cached_token and now < _token_expires_at:
        return _cached_token
    # Slow path — one thread refreshes, others wait
    with _token_lock:
        if _cached_token and now < _token_expires_at:
            return _cached_token
        _cached_token = _fetch_fresh_token()
        _token_expires_at = now + 55 * 60  # refresh 5 min before 1-hour expiry
    return _cached_token


def _make_config() -> airflow_sdk.Configuration:
    config = airflow_sdk.Configuration(host=AIRFLOW_HOST)
    config.access_token = _get_token()
    return config

After implementing auth, tell the user:

  • Local development: set MYPLUGIN_USERNAME and MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD in .env — JWT exchange happens automatically.

  • Astronomer Astro (production): create a Deployment API token and set it as MYPLUGIN_TOKEN — the JWT exchange is skipped entirely:

    1. Astro UI → open the Deployment → Access → API Tokens → + Deployment API Token
    2. Copy the token value (shown only once)
    3. astro deployment variable create MYPLUGIN_TOKEN=<token>

    MYPLUGIN_USERNAME and MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD are not needed on Astro.

Wrapping SDK calls with asyncio.to_thread
python
from fastapi import HTTPException
from airflow_client.client.api import DAGApi

@app.get("/api/dags")
async def list_dags():
    try:
        def _fetch():
            with airflow_sdk.ApiClient(_make_config()) as client:
                return DAGApi(client).get_dags(limit=100).dags
        dags = await asyncio.to_thread(_fetch)
        return [{"dag_id": d.dag_id, "is_paused": d.is_paused, "timetable_summary": d.timetable_summary} for d in dags]
    except Exception as e:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(e))

API field names: Never guess response field names — verify against the REST API reference. Key DAGResponse fields: dag_id, dag_display_name, description, is_paused, timetable_summary, timetable_description, fileloc, owners, tags.

The pattern is always: define a plain inner def _fetch() with all SDK logic, then await asyncio.to_thread(_fetch).

Show full SKILL.md (611 more words)Show less
Alternative: Direct database access

Warning — use with caution and tell the user. The Airflow metadb is not a public interface. Direct writes or poorly-formed queries can corrupt scheduler state. Whenever you use this pattern, explicitly tell the user: "This accesses Airflow's internal database directly. The internal models are not part of the public API, can change between Airflow versions, and incorrect queries can cause issues in the metadb. Prefer apache-airflow-client unless the operation is not exposed via the REST API."

Since FastAPI plugin endpoints run inside the API server process (not in a task worker), they have direct access to Airflow's internal SQLAlchemy models — no HTTP round-trip or JWT needed. Use only for read operations not exposed via the REST API, or when the extra HTTP overhead genuinely matters. Always wrap DB calls in asyncio.to_thread() — SQLAlchemy queries are blocking.

python
from airflow.models import DagBag, DagModel
from airflow.utils.db import provide_session

@app.get("/api/dags/status")
async def dag_status():
    def _fetch():
        @provide_session
        def _query(session=None):
            dagbag = DagBag()
            paused = sum(
                1 for dag_id in dagbag.dags
                if (m := session.query(DagModel).filter(DagModel.dag_id == dag_id).first())
                and m.is_paused
            )
            return {"total": len(dagbag.dags), "paused": paused}
        return _query()
    return await asyncio.to_thread(_fetch)

Step 5: Common API endpoint patterns

If you need an SDK method or field not shown in the examples below, verify it before generating code — do not guess. Either run python3 -c "from airflow_client.client.api import <Class>; print([m for m in dir(<Class>) if not m.startswith('_')])" in any environment where the SDK is installed, or search the apache/airflow-client-python repo for the class definition.

python
from airflow_client.client.api import DAGApi, DagRunApi
from airflow_client.client.models import TriggerDAGRunPostBody, DAGPatchBody


@app.post("/api/dags/{dag_id}/trigger")
async def trigger_dag(dag_id: str):
    def _run():
        with airflow_sdk.ApiClient(_make_config()) as client:
            return DagRunApi(client).trigger_dag_run(dag_id, TriggerDAGRunPostBody())
    result = await asyncio.to_thread(_run)
    return {"run_id": result.dag_run_id, "state": normalize_state(result.state)}


@app.patch("/api/dags/{dag_id}/pause")
async def toggle_pause(dag_id: str, is_paused: bool):
    def _run():
        with airflow_sdk.ApiClient(_make_config()) as client:
            DAGApi(client).patch_dag(dag_id, DAGPatchBody(is_paused=is_paused))
    await asyncio.to_thread(_run)
    return {"dag_id": dag_id, "is_paused": is_paused}


@app.delete("/api/dags/{dag_id}")
async def delete_dag(dag_id: str):
    def _run():
        with airflow_sdk.ApiClient(_make_config()) as client:
            DAGApi(client).delete_dag(dag_id)
    await asyncio.to_thread(_run)
    return {"deleted": dag_id}


def normalize_state(raw) -> str:
    """Convert SDK enum objects to plain strings before sending to the frontend."""
    if raw is None:
        return "never_run"
    return str(raw).lower()
DAG runs, task instances, and logs

These are the most common calls beyond basic DAG CRUD. For anything not shown here, consult the REST API reference for available endpoints and the matching Python SDK class/method names.

python
from airflow_client.client.api import DagRunApi, TaskInstanceApi

# Latest run for a DAG
@app.get("/api/dags/{dag_id}/runs/latest")
async def latest_run(dag_id: str):
    def _fetch():
        with airflow_sdk.ApiClient(_make_config()) as client:
            runs = DagRunApi(client).get_dag_runs(dag_id, limit=1, order_by="-start_date").dag_runs
            return runs[0] if runs else None
    run = await asyncio.to_thread(_fetch)
    if not run:
        return {"state": "never_run"}
    return {"run_id": run.dag_run_id, "state": normalize_state(run.state)}


# Task instances for a specific run
@app.get("/api/dags/{dag_id}/runs/{run_id}/tasks")
async def task_instances(dag_id: str, run_id: str):
    def _fetch():
        with airflow_sdk.ApiClient(_make_config()) as client:
            return TaskInstanceApi(client).get_task_instances(dag_id, run_id).task_instances
    tasks = await asyncio.to_thread(_fetch)
    return [{"task_id": t.task_id, "state": normalize_state(t.state)} for t in tasks]


# Task log (try_number starts at 1)
@app.get("/api/dags/{dag_id}/runs/{run_id}/tasks/{task_id}/logs/{try_number}")
async def task_log(dag_id: str, run_id: str, task_id: str, try_number: int):
    def _fetch():
        with airflow_sdk.ApiClient(_make_config()) as client:
            return TaskInstanceApi(client).get_log(
                dag_id, run_id, task_id, try_number, map_index=-1
            )
    result = await asyncio.to_thread(_fetch)
    return {"log": result.content if hasattr(result, "content") else str(result)}
Streaming proxy

Use StreamingResponse to proxy binary content from an external URL through the plugin — useful when the browser can't fetch the resource directly (CORS, auth, etc.):

python
import requests
from starlette.responses import StreamingResponse

@app.get("/api/files/{filename}")
async def proxy_file(filename: str):
    def _stream():
        r = requests.get(f"https://files.example.com/{filename}", stream=True)
        r.raise_for_status()
        return r
    response = await asyncio.to_thread(_stream)
    return StreamingResponse(
        response.iter_content(chunk_size=8192),
        media_type="application/octet-stream",
        headers={"Content-Disposition": f'attachment; filename="{filename}"'},
    )

Note that requests.get() is blocking — fetch in asyncio.to_thread so the event loop isn't stalled while waiting for the remote server.


Step 6: Other plugin component types

Macros

Macros are loaded by the scheduler (and DAG processor), not the API server. Restart the scheduler after changes.

python
from airflow.plugins_manager import AirflowPlugin

def format_confidence(confidence: float) -> str:
    return f"{confidence * 100:.2f}%"

class MyPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    name = "my_plugin"
    macros = [format_confidence]

Use in any templated field — including with XCom:

{{ macros.my_plugin.format_confidence(0.95) }}

{{ macros.my_plugin.format_confidence(ti.xcom_pull(task_ids='score_task')['confidence']) }}

The naming pattern is always macros.{plugin_name}.{function_name}.

Middleware

Middleware applies to all Airflow API requests, including the built-in REST API and any FastAPI plugins. Use sparingly and filter requests explicitly if needed:

python
from starlette.middleware.base import BaseHTTPMiddleware
from fastapi import Request, Response

class AuditMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
    async def dispatch(self, request: Request, call_next) -> Response:
        # runs before every request to the Airflow API server
        response = await call_next(request)
        return response

class MyPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    name = "my_plugin"
    fastapi_root_middlewares = [
        {"middleware": AuditMiddleware, "args": [], "kwargs": {}, "name": "Audit"}
    ]
python
from airflow.sdk.bases.operatorlink import BaseOperatorLink

class MyDashboardLink(BaseOperatorLink):
    name = "Open in Dashboard"

    def get_link(self, operator, *, ti_key, **context) -> str:
        return f"https://my-dashboard.example.com/tasks/{ti_key.task_id}"

class MyPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    name = "my_plugin"
    global_operator_extra_links = [MyDashboardLink()]  # appears on every task
    # operator_extra_links = [MyDashboardLink()]       # attach to specific operator instead
React apps

React apps are embedded as JavaScript bundles served via FastAPI. The bundle must expose itself as a global variable matching the plugin name:

javascript
// In your bundle (e.g. my-app.js)
globalThis['My Plugin'] = MyComponent;   // matches plugin name
globalThis.AirflowPlugin = MyComponent;  // fallback Airflow looks for
python
class MyPlugin(AirflowPlugin):
    name = "my_plugin"
    fastapi_apps = [{"app": app, "url_prefix": "/my-plugin", "name": "My Plugin"}]
    react_apps = [
        {
            "name": "My Plugin",
            "bundle_url": "/my-plugin/my-app.js",
            "destination": "nav",
            "category": "browse",
            "url_route": "my-plugin",
        }
    ]

The same bundle can be registered to multiple destinations by adding multiple entries — each needs a unique url_route:

python
react_apps = [
    {"name": "My Widget", "bundle_url": "/my-plugin/widget.js", "destination": "nav",  "url_route": "my-widget-nav"},
    {"name": "My Widget", "bundle_url": "/my-plugin/widget.js", "destination": "dag",  "url_route": "my-widget-dag"},
]

React app integration is experimental in Airflow 3.1. Interfaces may change in future releases.


Step 7: Environment variables and deployment

Never hardcode credentials:

python
AIRFLOW_HOST = os.environ.get("MYPLUGIN_HOST",     "http://localhost:8080")
AIRFLOW_USER = os.environ.get("MYPLUGIN_USERNAME", "admin")
AIRFLOW_PASS = os.environ.get("MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD", "admin")

Local Astro CLI:

# .env
MYPLUGIN_HOST=http://localhost:8080
MYPLUGIN_USERNAME=admin
MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD=admin
bash
astro dev restart              # required after any Python plugin change

# Check logs by component (Astro CLI):
astro dev logs --api-server    # FastAPI apps, external_views — plugin import errors show here
astro dev logs --scheduler     # macros, timetables, listeners, operator links
astro dev logs --dag-processor # DAG parsing errors

# Non-Astro:
airflow plugins                # CLI — lists all loaded plugins

Production Astronomer:

bash
astro deployment variable create --deployment-id <id> MYPLUGIN_HOST=https://airflow.example.com

Auto-reload during development (skips lazy loading):

AIRFLOW__CORE__LAZY_LOAD_PLUGINS=False

Cache busting for static files after deploy:

html
<script src="static/app.js?v=20240315-1"></script>

Verify the plugin loaded: open Admin > Plugins in the Airflow UI.

OpenAPI docs are auto-generated for FastAPI plugins:

  • Swagger UI: {AIRFLOW_HOST}/{url_prefix}/docs
  • OpenAPI JSON: {AIRFLOW_HOST}/{url_prefix}/openapi.json

Common pitfalls

ProblemCauseFix
Nav link goes to 404Leading / in href"my-plugin/ui" not "/my-plugin/ui"
Nav icon not showingMissing / in iconicon takes an absolute path: "/my-plugin/static/icon.svg"
Event loop freezes under loadSync SDK called directly in async defWrap with asyncio.to_thread()
401 errors after 1 hourJWT expires with no refreshUse the 5-minute pre-expiry refresh pattern
StaticFiles raises on startupDirectory missingCreate assets/ and static/ before starting
Plugin not showing upPython file changed without restartastro dev restart
Endpoints accessible without loginFastAPI apps are not auto-authenticatedAdd FastAPI security (e.g. OAuth2, API key) if endpoints must be private
Middleware affecting wrong routesMiddleware applies to all API trafficFilter by request.url.path inside dispatch()
JS fetch() breaks on AstroAbsolute path in fetch()Always use relative paths: fetch('api/dags')

References

© astronomer, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/airflow-plugins of astronomer/agents.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 486ee63

Compare with similar skills

Airflow Plugins next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Airflow Plugins compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Airflow Plugins this skillastronomer/agents451—~6kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Python Projectmajiayu000/spellbook286—~2.7kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Fix Slow Endpointvpcarlos/profyle123—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Azure Realtime Podcast Generationmicrosoft/skills3.1k1 repos~947Automated safety check: PassMIT
Framework Migration AssistantArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE253—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Sentry Python SDKgetsentry/sentry-for-ai268—~4.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Questions about Airflow Plugins

What does Airflow Plugins do?

Builds Airflow 3.1+ plugins that embed FastAPI apps, custom UI pages, React components, middleware, macros, and operator links directly into the Airflow UI. Airflow Plugins is an agent skill from astronomer/agents.1+ plugins that embed FastAPI apps, custom UI pages, React components, middleware, macros, and operator links directly into the Airflow UI.

When should I use Airflow Plugins?

Airflow Plugins fits situations like: building anything custom inside Airflow 3.1+ that involves Python and a browser-facing interface - creating an Airflow plugin; adding a custom UI page; building FastAPI-backed endpoints inside Airflow; serving static assets from a plugin.

How do I install Airflow Plugins in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill airflow-plugins -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/airflow-plugins in astronomer/agents) into .claude/skills/airflow-plugins in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Airflow Plugins in Codex?

Run `npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill airflow-plugins -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/airflow-plugins in astronomer/agents) into .agents/skills/airflow-plugins in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Airflow Plugins in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add astronomer/agents --skill airflow-plugins -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/airflow-plugins, .gemini/skills/airflow-plugins, .github/skills/airflow-plugins and .opencode/skills/airflow-plugins in your project.

What does Airflow Plugins need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Airflow Plugins needs the command-line tools its instructions call (airflow, uv, poetry and python3) and credentials named MYPLUGIN_PASSWORD, MYPLUGIN_TOKEN and AIRFLOW_TOKEN. Our summary lists: Python 3; A credential in AIRFLOW_TOKEN; A credential in MYPLUGIN_TOKEN.

Does Airflow Plugins access the network?

SKILL.md names 3 domains. In commands or code: astronomer.io; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. As links in the text: airflow.apache.org and github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Airflow Plugins safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (mentions a .env file), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Airflow Plugins use?

Airflow Plugins is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Airflow Plugins use?

About 6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 24k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Airflow Plugins?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Airflow Plugins: Python Project (majiayu000/spellbook, 286 stars), Fix Slow Endpoint (vpcarlos/profyle, 123 stars), Azure Realtime Podcast Generation (microsoft/skills, 3.1k stars) and Framework Migration Assistant (ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE, 253 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Airflow Plugins?

astronomer (a GitHub organization) maintains it in astronomer/agents, which has 451 GitHub stars. The repository holds 34 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: astronomer/agents on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.