Set Up Airbyte on Your Laptop in 5 Minutes with abctl

Short answer: to run Airbyte on your laptop, install Docker Desktop, install Airbyte's command-line tool abctl, run abctl local install, get your login with abctl local credentials, and open http://localhost:8000. The first install can take a while, because it downloads everything Airbyte needs.

Airbyte is an open-source data integration tool. It copies data from hundreds of sources (databases, SaaS apps, APIs, files) into a warehouse, a lake or a database. The self-hosted open-source version is free. Airbyte Cloud is the paid, fully managed option.

Airbyte logo

What changed since the original post (2023): Airbyte no longer installs with git clone and docker compose up. The supported way to run it locally is now abctl. The old default login (airbyte / password) is also gone: you get your own credentials from abctl local credentials.

What do you need before you start?

A machine with 4 or more CPUs and at least 8 GB of memory. Airbyte can also run in a low-resource mode on 2 CPUs and 8 GB.
Docker Desktop, installed and running in the background. Download it from docker.com.
macOS or Linux for the commands below. Windows users can download abctl from its GitHub releases page.

Step 1: Install abctl

On macOS or Linux, the quickest way is Airbyte's install script:

curl -LsfS https://get.airbyte.com | bash -

On a Mac with Homebrew, you can use this instead:

brew tap airbytehq/tap
brew install abctl

Step 2: Install and start Airbyte

abctl local install

This sets up Airbyte inside Docker on your machine. The first run can take up to 30 minutes on a slow connection. Later starts are much faster.

If your machine has fewer than 4 CPUs, run it in low-resource mode:

abctl local install --low-resource-mode

Step 3: Get your login and open Airbyte

Print your email, password and API client details:

abctl local credentials

Then open http://localhost:8000 and sign in. To set a password you'll remember:

abctl local credentials --password YourStrongPassword

Step 4: Create your first connection

A connection has two sides: a source (where data comes from) and a destination (where it goes).

Click New connection.
Pick a source. To test without any accounts, use the Sample Data (Faker) source. To use real data, pick a connector such as Google Analytics 4, Postgres or Stripe and follow the on-screen setup.
Pick a destination, such as Postgres, BigQuery, Snowflake or DuckDB.
Choose how often to sync and which streams (tables) to copy.
Click Sync now and watch the job run.

The screenshots below show one example: pulling Google Analytics 4 data into CSV files. They come from an earlier Airbyte version, so your screens may look a little different.

Choosing a source in Airbyte's New connection screen Pick a source from the connector list.

Setting up the Google Analytics 4 source in Airbyte Fill in the source details. For Google Analytics 4 you sign in with Google and add your Property ID.

Setting up a Local CSV destination in Airbyte Set up the destination. Local CSV is handy for a quick test.

Airbyte connection page showing successful syncs Click Sync now. The sync history shows each run and how many records it moved.

CSV files created by an Airbyte sync A few minutes later, the extracted data shows up as CSV files.

How do you stop or remove Airbyte?

To remove the local install:

abctl local uninstall

Common problems

"Cannot connect to the Docker daemon": Docker Desktop isn't running. Start it and run the command again.
The install is very slow or times out: the first install downloads several GB. Run it again on a stable connection, or use --low-resource-mode on smaller laptops.
Something else already uses port 8000: stop that app first. Airbyte's web app runs on port 8000 by default.

FAQ

Is Airbyte free? The open-source, self-hosted version is free to use. Airbyte Cloud, the managed version, is paid.

What is the default Airbyte username and password? There isn't a fixed one any more. Run abctl local credentials to see the email and password for your install.

Can I still install Airbyte with Docker Compose? No. The old docker compose up method from our 2023 guide is no longer the supported way. Use abctl.

What's the difference between Airbyte and dbt? Airbyte moves data into your warehouse (the "EL" in ELT). dbt transforms it once it's there (the "T"). Many teams use both.