Third Party Data Access and Analytics Integration

Owned by Len Payne
Last updated: 12 Apr, 2023
3 min read

Link2Feed has a data access method for connecting Link2Feed data to other systems. To use this feature, please speak with your account manager to discuss pricing and implementation.

General Details

There are two general data access suites available for networks. They are both based on the same dataset, the “snapshot” dataset, that is used for Exports and Reports within the Link2Feed UI. Clients can request access to this resource and use it to incorporate Link2Feed data streams into their own data strategy, including third party analytics tools and other systems. Those two solutions are:

  1. Database Access Suite – for integrating into query and analytics solutions

  2. HTTP Export API – for synchronizing Link2Feed into a data repository using differential data

Data Security and Privacy

Both solutions are provided using secure data transfer and access methods. They are also both available either as anonymized or fully identified data.

Integrating into Food Bank Systems

These solutions can be integrated with a suite of standard data tools. Access is provided by the Link2Feed team, but integration into existing Food Bank systems is the responsibility of the Food Bank. The tested and verified integrations include:

  • Jitterbit

  • Informatica

  • Tableau

  • AWS Glue

  • AWS Redshift

  • AWS Athena

  • AWS Quicksight

Other integrations may function without any changes. Please see technical details as below for verifying if the access solutions work for your need.

How Do I Turn This On?

Work with your Food Bank’s technical team to identify if either of these solutions fit your data access needs. The features must be turned on/off for the whole network, and cannot be fine-grained to only allow access to specific agencies.

At Link2Feed we strongly suggest using the Database Access Suite, as it is a more robust and versatile solution. Once your team has determined if this is a good fit, reach out to your account manager to discuss pricing and rollout strategies.

Technical Details

Database Access Suite

The core mechanism behind this suite is providing access via a TLS/SSL-secured connection to a set of secure MySQL/MariaDB views on a read-replica of the Link2Feed Intake database systems. The connection, data formatting, and access is all managed through existing MySQL standards that can connect seamlessly into a large number of data tools.

Data is available either anonymized, or fully identified. Access security is managed through MySQL standard tools and an IP address allow-list.

The system is useful as either a fully queryable data access tool, or as a base point for a synchronization system.

The Link2Feed team is able to provide the following technical documentation:

  • An Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) for understanding the connections between raw tables

  • A MySQL .SQL file for replicating the structure of the dataset, including foreign keys

For more details please see: Link2Feed Database Access Suite

HTTP Export API - Discontinued

NOTE: This API has been discontinued. If you are interested in receiving data from Link2Feed, please contact your account manager for alternative options.

The core mechanism behind this suite is providing a JSON payload from a TLS/SSL-secured connection to a RESTful HTTP API. This system has access to both Intake and CACFP/SFSP data.

Data is available either anonymized, or fully identified. The connection security is managed through an IP address allow-list and an API key.

The system’s query access is very limited: it can only return the results of “Which records were updated during a given time period?” It is designed as a synchronization endpoint for data warehouse/lake/repository solutions.

The Link2Feed team is able to provide the following technical documentation:

  • An Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) for understanding the connections between entities

  • A Swagger YML file to document the API access methods and intended results

For more details please see: Link2Feed HTTP Export API (Discontinued)