Linking Census as a source
This source is currently in beta. It works end to end, but you may still hit rough edges. Let us know if you do.
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Contents
The Census (Fivetran) connector syncs your reverse-ETL workspace metadata into PostHog, including syncs, sync runs, sources, destinations, and datasets. New sources use the Fivetran Activations API V2, which requires an Activations personal access token.
Fivetran is retiring the Activations API V1 on January 15, 2027. Existing V1 sources continue to work until then, but you should migrate to V2 before the sunset. To migrate, create an Activations personal access token in your Fivetran user settings and set up a new Census source in PostHog with it.
Adding a data source
Go to the Data pipeline page and select the Sources tab.
Click + New source and select Census (Fivetran) by clicking the Link button.
Select your Workspace region from the dropdown:
| Label | Connects to |
|---|---|
| US | app.getcensus.com |
| EU | app-eu.getcensus.com |
Enter your API access token. New sources require an Activations personal access token (see Getting your API access token below).
Click Next.
Select the tables you want to import, set the sync method and frequency, then click Import.
The data warehouse then starts syncing your Census data. You can see details and progress in the data pipeline sources tab.
Getting your API access token
New Census sources use the Activations API V2, which requires an Activations personal access token:
Log in to your Fivetran account.
Go to your Activations User settings > Personal access tokens.
Create a new personal access token.
Copy the token – you'll need it when linking the source in PostHog.
Activations personal access tokens are separate from Fivetran API keys and Fivetran personal access tokens.
Configuration
| Option | Type | Required |
|---|---|---|
API access token | password | Yes |
Workspace region | select | Yes |
Supported tables
| Table | Description | Sync method | Incremental field | Primary key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
syncs | A Census sync: the configuration that moves data from a source model to a destination object, including its schedule, field mappings, and alerting. | Full refresh | — | — |
sync_runs | A single execution of a Census sync, including its status, timing, and per-run record counts. | Full refresh | — | — |
sources | A Census data source: a connected warehouse or database Census reads records from. | Full refresh | — | — |
destinations | A Census destination: a connected SaaS tool or warehouse Census writes records to. On API V2 each row is an activation, which pairs a source connection with the service it writes to. | Full refresh | — | — |
datasets | A Census dataset: the SQL query against a source connection that defines the records a sync reads. | Full refresh | — | — |
Sync modes
All Census tables use full refresh. Census's API does not expose a server-side filter for update time, so incremental syncing is not available.
| Table | Sync method |
|---|---|
syncs | Full refresh |
sync_runs | Full refresh |
sources | Full refresh |
destinations | Full refresh |
datasets | Full refresh |
workspaces | Full refresh |
Full refresh syncs reload all data on each run.
Available tables
| Table | Description |
|---|---|
syncs | Census sync configurations that move data from a source model to a destination object, including schedule, field mappings, and alerting. |
sync_runs | Execution records of Census syncs, including status, timing, and per-run record counts. |
sources | Data sources connected to Census – warehouses or databases that Census reads from. |
destinations | Destinations connected to Census – SaaS tools or warehouses that Census writes to. |
datasets | Datasets configured in Census. |
workspaces | Workspaces in your Census organization. Only available on legacy V1 sources – V2 does not include this table. |
The connection_details field is automatically removed from the sources and destinations tables. This field contains warehouse account identifiers (account name, user, warehouse name) that shouldn't be accessible to all project members.
On V2 sources, the notification_emails and storage_backend fields are also removed from the sources table.