Astro Project Setup

---
name: setting-up-astro-project-ab31a07aab30
description: Initialize and configure Astro/Airflow projects. Use when the user wants to create a new project, set up dependencies, configure connections/variables, or understand project structure. For running the local environment, see managing-astro-local-env.
---

# Astro Project Setup

This skill helps initialize and configure Airflow projects using the Astro CLI.

Note: These are external CLI actions. For runtime inspection inside the VS Code extension, use the extension tools.

## Initialize a New Project

```bash
astro dev init
```

Creates this structure:
```
project/
├── dags/                # DAG files
├── include/             # SQL, configs, supporting files
├── plugins/             # Custom Airflow plugins
├── tests/               # Unit tests
├── Dockerfile           # Image customization
├── packages.txt         # OS-level packages
├── requirements.txt     # Python packages
└── airflow_settings.yaml # Connections, variables, pools
```

## Adding Dependencies

### Python Packages (requirements.txt)

```
apache-airflow-providers-snowflake==5.3.0
pandas==2.1.0
requests>=2.28.0
```

### OS Packages (packages.txt)

```
gcc
libpq-dev
```

### Custom Dockerfile

```dockerfile
FROM quay.io/astronomer/astro-runtime:12.4.0

RUN pip install --extra-index-url https://pypi.example.com/simple my-package
```

After modifying dependencies: run `astro dev restart`.

## Configuring Connections and Variables

### airflow_settings.yaml

Loaded automatically on environment start:

```yaml
airflow:
  connections:
    - conn_id: my_postgres
      conn_type: postgres
      host: host.docker.internal
      port: 5432
      login: user
      password: pass
      schema: mydb

  variables:
    - variable_name: env
      variable_value: dev

  pools:
    - pool_name: limited_pool
      pool_slot: 5
```

### Export/Import

```bash
# Export from running environment
astro dev object export --connections --file connections.yaml

# Import to environment
astro dev object import --connections --file connections.yaml
```

## Validate Before Running

Parse DAGs to catch errors without starting the full environment:

```bash
astro dev parse
```

## Related Skills

- managing-astro-local-env
- authoring-dags
- testing-dags