# Generating data from the API

## Sending the generation request <a href="#api-generation-request" id="api-generation-request"></a>

To generate data for an existing database:

```
POST /api/v1/generate_tasks
```

This method expects a JSON object as the request body with the following parameters:

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```json
{
  "workspace": string,
  "database": string,
  "format": string,
  "connection": string,
  "entity": string,
  "overrides": object
}
```

{% endcode %}

Where:

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th width="233.265625" valign="top"></th><th valign="top"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><code>workspace</code></td><td valign="top">The name of the workspace in which the database resides.</td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><code>database</code></td><td valign="top">The name of the database for which to generate data.</td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><code>format</code></td><td valign="top">(Optional) The format of the generated data.<br><br>Allows values are <code>"sql"</code>, <code>"sqlite",</code> <code>"postgres-optimized"</code>, <code>"csv"</code>, or <code>"jsonl"</code>.</td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><code>connection</code></td><td valign="top">(Optional) The name of the target database connection to insert the generated data into.<br><br>If you provide a format, then do not provide a connection.<br><br>When you provide a connection, the target database and all of the tables must already exist.</td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><code>entity</code></td><td valign="top">(Optional) The name of a table to generate.<br><br>When provided, Fabricate only generates data for that table, and the generated data is provided as plain text instead of a .zip file.</td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><code>overrides</code></td><td valign="top">(Optional) Overrides to variable values and table column configuration.<br><br>Only available for rule-based databases. Cannot use for Data Agent databases.<br><br>For more information, go to <a data-mention href="#generation-request-overrides">#generation-request-overrides</a>. </td></tr></tbody></table>

## Get the status of a data generation task <a href="#generation-get-status" id="generation-get-status"></a>

To check the status of a data generation task:

```
GET /api/v1/generate_tasks/:id
```

Where:

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th width="124.078125" valign="top">Name</th><th valign="top">Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><code>id</code></td><td valign="top">The UUID of the data generation task to get</td></tr></tbody></table>

The response is a JSON object in the same format as the response from the `POST /api/v1/generate_tasks` endpoint.

## Loading the generated data into your database <a href="#generation-load-data" id="generation-load-data"></a>

The `download_url` field in the response from `GET /api/v1/generate_tasks/:id` contains a URL to download the generated data.

Depending on the format of the data, to load it into your database, use the appropriate method:

#### PostgreSQL <a href="#postgres" id="postgres"></a>

The data is provided as a zip file.

To load the data into your database, unzip it and then run the following command:

```
psql -U <username> -d <database> -f path/to/dir/load.sql
```


---

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