Linking Pexels as a source
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Skip the manual setup — run this in your project and the wizard auto-detects your databases and APIs and connects them to PostHog.
This source is currently in alpha. The interface and available tables may change.
The Pexels connector syncs curated photos, popular videos, featured collections, and more into the PostHog data warehouse, so you can analyze them alongside your product data.
Prerequisites
Credentials that can read the data you want to sync. PostHog only reads data, so read access is enough.
Adding a data source
- In PostHog, go to the Sources tab of the data pipeline section.
- Click + New source and click Link next to this source.
- Enter your credentials (see Configuration below) and click Next.
- Select the tables you want to sync, choose a sync method and frequency, then click Import.
Once the syncs are complete, you can start querying this data in PostHog.
Enter your Pexels API key to pull Pexels stock photo and video catalog data.
Generate an API key from your Pexels API dashboard.
Attribution to Pexels and to the photographer/videographer is required when you use Pexels content - see the Pexels API guidelines.
You'll be asked for:
- API key: for example
Your Pexels API key.
Sync modes
Each table can be synced in one of several modes, depending on what the source supports:
- Webhook (when available) – the source pushes changes to PostHog in real time. Fastest freshness, lowest ongoing cost, and the only mode that reliably captures updates and deletes.
- Incremental – only new or updated rows are synced on each run, using a cursor field (such as an
updated_attimestamp). Cheaper than a full refresh, but deletes aren't captured. - Append only – new rows are appended using a cursor field; existing rows are never updated. Ideal for immutable, append-only tables like event logs.
- Full refresh – the whole table is reloaded on every sync. Use it when a table has no reliable cursor or when you need deletions reflected.
See sync methods for a full explanation of how each mode works and how to choose between them.
All Pexels tables are full refresh. Each sync replaces the contents of the table.
Configuration
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
API keyType: password Required: True | |
Search queryType: text Required: False | Optional. When set, the search_photos and search_videos tables become available and sync content matching this query. |
Supported tables
| Table | Description | Sync method | Incremental field | Primary key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
curated_photos | A real-time selection of photos curated by the Pexels team. | Full refresh | — | — |
popular_videos | The current most popular Pexels videos. | Full refresh | — | — |
featured_collections | Collections featured by the Pexels team. | Full refresh | — | — |
my_collections | Collections owned by the authenticated Pexels account. | Full refresh | — | — |
Troubleshooting
- If the connection fails with an authorization error, the API key is wrong, expired, or has been revoked. Create a new one, then reconnect the source.
- If a table syncs no rows, the credential may not have access to that data. Check its permissions, then reconnect the source.
If your sync is failing or data looks wrong, see the Data warehouse troubleshooting guide. If that doesn't help, contact support – we're happy to help.