Airflow Studio
Manage Apache Airflow environments directly from Visual Studio Code
Airflow Studio is a comprehensive VS Code extension that brings the power of Apache Airflow management into your IDE. Connect to self-hosted Airflow instances or AWS MWAA environments, manage DAGs, monitor task execution, and configure admin resources—all without leaving your development environment.
✨ Features
🌐 Multi-Environment Support
- Self-Hosted Airflow: Connect to any Airflow 2.x or 3.x instance
- AWS MWAA: Native integration with Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow
- Automatic API Detection: Seamlessly supports both Airflow API v1 (2.x) and v2 (3.x)
- Multiple Servers: Manage multiple environments simultaneously with easy switching
📊 DAG Management
- Browse DAGs: View all DAGs with status indicators (active/paused)
- Trigger Runs: Execute DAGs with optional JSON configuration and custom logical dates
- Pause/Unpause: Control DAG scheduling with one click
- Delete DAGs: Remove unwanted DAGs from your environment
- View Details: Inspect DAG runs, task instances, and execution history
- Source Code Viewer: View DAG Python source code directly in VS Code
- Favorites System: Mark favorite DAGs with ❤️ for quick access and filtering
🔧 Task Operations
- Task Instances: View all tasks for any DAG run with state visualization
- Clear Tasks: Re-run failed or completed tasks with upstream/downstream options
- Change State: Manually set task states (success, failed, skipped)
- Multi-Try Logs: View logs from different retry attempts
- Real-Time Logs: Stream logs for running tasks with auto-refresh
- Rendered Templates: View rendered Jinja2 templates for task parameters (Airflow 3.x)
- Variables: Create, edit, and delete Airflow variables with descriptions
- Pools: Manage task execution pools with slot monitoring
- Connections: Configure connections with automatic secret masking
- Configuration: View Airflow configuration (if enabled by admin)
- Plugins: List installed Airflow plugins
- Providers: View provider packages and versions
- Health Check: Monitor scheduler, metadata database, triggerer, and DAG processor status
🎯 User Experience
- Hierarchical Tree View: Servers → DAGs/Admin → Resources
- Health Status Indicators: Visual icons (✓ healthy, ✗ down, ⚠ degraded, ○ unknown)
- Favorites & Filtering: Star servers ⭐ and heart DAGs ❤️ for quick filtering
- Hide/Show Folders: Collapse server sections to reduce clutter
- Automatic Health Checks: Background monitoring every 30 seconds
- Inline Actions: Quick access buttons in tree view
- Tooltips: Hover guidance on all buttons and actions
- Comprehensive Logging: Debug mode for troubleshooting (configurable)
🚀 Getting Started
Installation
From VS Code Marketplace
- Search for "Airflow Studio" in Extensions
- Click Install
From VSIX File
code --install-extension airflow-studio-0.1.0.vsix
Prerequisites
- VS Code: Version 1.80.0 or higher
- Airflow Access: REST API enabled on your Airflow instance
- For MWAA: AWS credentials configured (AWS CLI, environment variables, or IAM role)
First-Time Setup
Open Airflow Studio
- Click the Airflow icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
- Or open Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and search "Airflow"
Add Your First Server
- Click the + button in the tree view
- Or run command:
Airflow Studio: Add Server
Configure Server
For Self-Hosted Airflow:
- Name: Friendly name (e.g., "Production", "Local Dev")
- Base URL: Full URL including protocol (e.g.,
http://localhost:8080)
- Username: Airflow web UI username
- Password: Airflow web UI password
- API Mode: Auto-detect (recommended) or manually select v1/v2
For AWS MWAA:
- Name: Friendly name (e.g., "MWAA Production")
- Environment Name: MWAA environment name from AWS Console
- AWS Region: Region where MWAA is deployed (e.g.,
us-east-1)
- API Mode: Auto-detect (recommended)
Start Managing
- Expand your server in the tree view
- Browse DAGs and Admin resources
- Click any item to view details
📖 Usage Guide
Managing Servers
Add Server: Click + button or run Airflow Studio: Add Server
Edit Server: Right-click server → "Edit Server" or click pencil icon
Delete Server: Right-click server → "Delete Server"
Test Connection: Right-click server → "Test Connection"
Mark as Favorite: Click star icon next to server name
Filter Favorites: Click filter icon in tree view to show only favorite servers
Hide/Show: Click eye icon to collapse/expand server sections
Working with DAGs
View DAG Details: Click on any DAG name to open details panel
Trigger DAG:
- Right-click DAG → "Trigger DAG with Config"
- Enter JSON configuration (optional)
- Specify logical date (optional)
Pause/Unpause DAG: Right-click DAG → "Pause DAG" or "Unpause DAG"
Delete DAG: Right-click DAG → "Delete DAG" (requires confirmation)
View Source Code: In DAG details panel, click "View Source"
Mark as Favorite: Click heart icon next to DAG name
Filter Favorite DAGs: Click filter icon next to DAGs folder to show only favorites
Monitoring DAG Runs
View Recent Runs: Open DAG details panel to see recent executions
Adjust Run Limit: Use dropdown to show 25, 100, or 365 recent runs
View Task Instances: Click on any DAG run to expand and see all tasks
Task States: Color-coded indicators (success, failed, running, queued, etc.)
View Task Logs: Click on task instance → "View Logs"
Change Log Try: Use dropdown to view logs from different retry attempts
Clear Tasks: Right-click task → "Clear Task" to re-run
Change Task State: Right-click task → "Set State" → Select new state
View Rendered Templates: Click "View Rendered" to see Jinja2 template output (Airflow 3.x only)
Managing Variables
Open Variables Panel: Click Admin → Variables
Create Variable: Click "Create" button, enter key/value/description
Edit Variable: Click "Edit" button next to variable
Delete Variable: Click "Delete" button (requires confirmation)
Refresh: Click 🔄 button to reload variables
Managing Pools
Open Pools Panel: Click Admin → Pools
Create Pool: Click "Create" button, enter name/slots/description
Edit Pool: Click "Edit" button next to pool
Monitor Usage: View occupied, running, and queued slots in real-time
Delete Pool: Click "Delete" button (requires confirmation)
Managing Connections
Open Connections Panel: Click Admin → Connections
Create Connection: Click "Create" button, fill in connection details
Edit Connection: Click "Edit" button next to connection
Delete Connection: Click "Delete" button (requires confirmation)
Connection Types: Supports all Airflow connection types (HTTP, Postgres, S3, etc.)
Configuration: Click Admin → Config to view Airflow configuration (if enabled)
Plugins: Click Admin → Plugins to see installed plugins
Providers: Click Admin → Providers to view provider packages and versions
Health Check: Click Admin → Health Check to monitor system components
🎮 Commands
Access all commands via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):
Server Commands
Airflow Studio: Add Server - Add new Airflow environmentAirflow Studio: Edit Server - Modify server configurationAirflow Studio: Delete Server - Remove serverAirflow Studio: Test Server Connection - Verify connectivityAirflow Studio: Toggle Favorite Server - Mark/unmark server as favoriteAirflow Studio: Toggle Show Only Favorite Servers - Filter server list
DAG Commands
Airflow Studio: Refresh DAGs - Reload DAG listAirflow Studio: Trigger DAG with Config - Execute DAG with optional configAirflow Studio: Pause DAG - Pause DAG schedulingAirflow Studio: Unpause DAG - Resume DAG schedulingAirflow Studio: Delete DAG - Remove DAGAirflow Studio: Toggle Favorite DAG - Mark/unmark DAG as favoriteAirflow Studio: Toggle Show Only Favorite DAGs - Filter DAG list per server
Task Commands
Airflow Studio: View Task Logs - Open log viewer for taskAirflow Studio: Clear Task - Re-run task instanceAirflow Studio: Set Task State - Manually change task state
Admin Commands
Airflow Studio: Open Variables - Manage Airflow variablesAirflow Studio: Open Pools - Manage connection poolsAirflow Studio: Open Connections - Manage connectionsAirflow Studio: Open Config - View Airflow configurationAirflow Studio: Open Plugins - List installed pluginsAirflow Studio: Open Providers - View provider packagesAirflow Studio: Open Health Check - Monitor system health
⚙️ Configuration
Extension Settings
Access via File → Preferences → Settings → Search "Airflow Studio"
airflowStudio.verboseLogging (boolean, default: false)
- Enable debug-level logging in Output panel
- Useful for troubleshooting connection or API issues
- When enabled, logs all HTTP requests and responses
Stored Data
Server Profiles: Stored in VS Code Global State (persists across workspaces)
Credentials: Encrypted in VS Code Secret Storage (secure, isolated per workspace)
Favorites: Saved with server profiles (syncs with VS Code Settings Sync if enabled)
🔒 Security
Credential Storage
- All passwords and tokens stored using VS Code Secret Storage API
- Encrypted at rest using OS-level keychain (Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, Secret Service on Linux)
- Never stored in plain text or logged to output
API Communication
- HTTPS enforced for production servers
- Basic Authentication over TLS for Airflow 2.x
- JWT Token Authentication for Airflow 3.x with automatic refresh
- AWS SigV4 for MWAA with temporary tokens (60-minute validity)
Data Privacy
- Sensitive data (passwords, connection extras) masked in UI
- No credentials or tokens logged to output channel
- Error messages sanitized before display
🐛 Troubleshooting
Connection Issues
Problem: "Failed to connect to server"
- Verify base URL is correct and includes protocol (
http:// or https://)
- Check username and password are correct
- Ensure Airflow REST API is enabled
- Run
Airflow Studio: Test Server Connection for detailed error
Problem: "401 Unauthorized"
- Verify credentials are correct
- For Airflow 3.x, ensure JWT authentication is enabled
- For MWAA, check AWS credentials are configured
Problem: "CORS errors"
- Add CORS headers to Airflow configuration
- For local development, use
--cors-allow-all flag
DAG Issues
Problem: "DAGs not loading"
- Check server health status (icon next to server name)
- Verify DAGs are parsed and visible in Airflow web UI
- Click refresh button (🔄) to reload
- Check Output panel (
View → Output → "Airflow Studio") for errors
Problem: "Trigger DAG fails"
- Ensure DAG is not paused
- Validate JSON configuration syntax
- Check DAG accepts the provided configuration parameters
MWAA-Specific Issues
Problem: "Failed to get MWAA token"
- Verify AWS credentials are configured (
aws configure or environment variables)
- Check IAM permissions include
airflow:CreateWebLoginToken
- Ensure environment name and region are correct
- Verify MWAA environment is in "Available" state
Problem: "Token expired"
- Tokens automatically refresh every 50 minutes
- If issues persist, delete and re-add the server
Problem: "Extension is slow"
- Enable client caching (enabled by default, 5-minute cache)
- Reduce DAG run limit in details panel (use 25 instead of 365)
- Disable verbose logging if enabled
Getting Help
- Check Logs:
View → Output → Select "Airflow Studio"
- Enable Verbose Logging: Settings →
airflowStudio.verboseLogging → Enable
- Reload Window:
Ctrl+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window"
- Report Issues: Include logs and steps to reproduce
📋 Changelog
See CHANGELOG.md for detailed version history.
v0.1.0 (Current Release)
🎉 Major Features
- Unified Tree View: Hierarchical structure with servers containing DAGs and Admin sections
- Favorites System: Mark favorite servers (⭐) and DAGs (❤️) with filtering options
- Health Monitoring: Automatic health checks every 30 seconds with visual status indicators
- Add/Edit Server Panel: Rich webview interface for server configuration
- Hide/Show Functionality: Collapse server and DAG sections to reduce clutter
- DAG Details Panel: Comprehensive view of DAG runs, tasks, and operations
- Admin Panels: Full CRUD for Variables, Pools, Connections, plus Config/Plugins/Providers viewers
- Automatic API Version Detection: Detects and uses correct API (v1 or v2) for all server types
- JWT Token Caching: 50-minute cache for Airflow 3.x tokens with automatic refresh
- API Client Caching: 5-minute cache to reduce redundant API calls
- MWAA Token Authentication: Proper CreateWebLoginToken implementation with v1/v2 support
- Error Handling: Graceful handling of 401 (token refresh) and 403 (disabled endpoints)
🎨 UI/UX Improvements
- DAG Run Sorting: Descending order (newest first)
- Run Limit Selector: Choose 25, 100, or 365 recent runs
- Logical Date Input: Specify custom execution dates when triggering
- Rendered Template Viewer: View Jinja2 template output (Airflow 3.x)
- Dynamic Task Count: Real-time task count updates
- Confirmation Dialogs: Moved from webview to extension for better UX
- Button Tooltips: Hover guidance on all interactive elements
🐛 Bug Fixes
- Fixed clear task API to include
dry_run: false and reset_dag_runs: true
- Fixed set task state to use
new_state field for Airflow v2 API
- Fixed pool edit to include
include_deferred field
- Fixed delete button parameter mismatch in admin panels
- Fixed config panel 403 error handling when endpoint is disabled
- Fixed DAG favorite icon from star to heart for consistency
🔐 Security
- Credentials stored in VS Code Secret Storage (encrypted)
- Secrets masked in UI by default
- No sensitive data in logs or error messages
- HTTPS enforced for production environments
📦 Package Optimization
- Reduced package size from 5.26MB to 4.02MB
- Changed activation event from
* to onView:airflowServers
- Added LICENSE file
- Excluded unnecessary files from package
🛠️ Developer Experience
- Verbose logging configuration option
- Comprehensive debug logging for all operations
- Output channel renamed to "Airflow Studio"
- Structured logging with context objects
🔧 Requirements
- VS Code: 1.80.0 or higher
- Airflow: 2.0+ (API v1) or 3.0+ (API v2)
- For MWAA: AWS credentials with
airflow:CreateWebLoginToken permission
📚 Support
Documentation
- README.md: This file - user guide and feature overview
- Output Logs:
View → Output → "Airflow Studio"
- Verbose Logging: Enable in Settings for detailed debugging
Common Questions
Q: Can I connect to multiple Airflow environments?
A: Yes! Add multiple servers and switch between them easily.
Q: Does this work with Airflow 3.x?
A: Yes! Automatic API version detection supports both 2.x and 3.x.
Q: Is my password stored securely?
A: Yes! All credentials are encrypted using VS Code Secret Storage API.
Q: Can I use this with AWS MWAA?
A: Yes! Native MWAA support with automatic AWS authentication.
Q: Why can't I see the Config panel?
A: Some Airflow admins disable the config endpoint for security. This is normal.
Q: How do I enable debug logging?
A: Settings → Search "Airflow Studio" → Enable "Verbose Logging"
🤝 Contributing
Contributions are welcome! This is an open-source project.
📄 License
MIT License - See LICENSE for details
🙏 Acknowledgments
Built with ❤️ for the Apache Airflow community
- Apache Airflow: The platform that powers data orchestration
- VS Code: The extensible IDE that makes this possible
- AWS MWAA: Managed Airflow service integration
Made with ❤️ for Data Engineers
