Linking RKI COVID-19 as a source
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Contents
This source is currently in alpha. The interface and available tables may change.
The RKI COVID-19 connector syncs germany, germany age groups, germany history cases, and more into the PostHog data warehouse, so you can analyze them alongside your product data.
Prerequisites
None. The RKI COVID-19 API is public, so no account or API key is needed.
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.
Pull German COVID-19 statistics (nationwide, per state, and per district) from the public RKI COVID-19 API at api.corona-zahlen.org.
No credentials are needed. The API is a community-maintained wrapper (by Marlon Lückert) over published Robert Koch-Institut figures, not an official RKI service.
Optionally limit the history tables to the last N days; leave empty to sync the full history.
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 RKI COVID-19 tables are full refresh. Each sync replaces the contents of the table.
Configuration
| Option | Type | Required |
|---|---|---|
History window (days) | number | No |
Supported tables
| Table | Description | Sync method | Incremental field | Primary key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
germany | Current nationwide COVID-19 snapshot for Germany: cumulative cases, deaths, recoveries, week incidence, R value, and hospitalization. One row, replaced on every sync. | Full refresh | — | — |
germany_age_groups | Nationwide cases, deaths, and hospitalization broken down by age group and sex. One row per age group. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | age_group |
germany_history_cases | Daily new reported COVID-19 cases for Germany. One row per day. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | date |
germany_history_incidence | Daily 7-day incidence per 100k inhabitants for Germany. One row per day. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | date |
germany_history_deaths | Daily new reported COVID-19 deaths for Germany. One row per day. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | date |
germany_history_recovered | Daily newly recovered COVID-19 cases for Germany. One row per day. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | date |
germany_history_frozen_incidence | Daily 7-day incidence for Germany as originally published (not retroactively corrected). One row per day. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | date |
germany_history_hospitalization | Daily 7-day hospitalization cases and incidence for Germany, including reporting-delay adjusted values. One row per day. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | date |
states | Current COVID-19 snapshot per German federal state (Bundesland): cases, deaths, recoveries, week incidence, and hospitalization. One row per state. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | abbreviation |
districts | Current COVID-19 snapshot per German district (Landkreis), keyed by the official municipality key (AGS). One row per district. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | ags |
testing_history | Weekly PCR testing figures for Germany: performed tests, positive tests, positivity rate, and reporting laboratories. One row per calendar week. Full refresh. | Full refresh | — | calendarWeek |
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.