Aiq Add Data Source

Add an AI-Q Data Source

Use this skill when a developer wants to add a retrieval or search source to AI-Q and expose it as a toggleable source in the UI. A data source is a NeMo Agent Toolkit (NAT) function package under sources/, registered in the data_source_registry.

Start Here

• Confirm this is a new retrieval/search source (not a UI, auth, or prompt change). For a general utility function, use aiq-add-tool instead.
• Read the authoritative files below before editing.
• Copy the closest existing source package rather than inventing a new shape.
• Never print or commit API keys; resolve secrets at runtime via SecretStr.

Authoritative References

• docs/source/extending/adding-a-data-source.md: canonical package and registration walkthrough (the steps below mirror it).
• sources/google_scholar_paper_search/: complete example package with a client, a config + registration, a graceful missing-secret stub, and tests.
• sources/tavily_web_search/: minimal source package for comparison.
• src/aiq_agent/common/data_source_registry.py: the data_source_registry config (name="data_source_registry") that drives GET /v1/data_sources.
• docs/source/customization/tools-and-sources.md: how the registry maps to UI toggles and per-request filtering.
• frontends/ui/src/features/layout/data-sources.ts: the UI DataSource type; sources are fetched dynamically, so usually no UI code change is needed.

Longer procedures live in this bundle:

• references/package-layout.md: package files, pyproject.toml, config class, @register_function, and the missing-secret stub.
• references/registry-and-ui.md: registering in YAML and how the registry surfaces toggles and filtering.
• references/validation.md: install, test, and lint commands with expected results.

Workflow

1. Pick the closest existing package under sources/ and inspect its layout.
2. Create sources/<my_data_source>/ with src/register.py, the client module, pyproject.toml, and tests/ (see package-layout reference).
3. Define a FunctionBaseConfig subclass with a stable name= and resolve any API key via SecretStr; register it with @register_function.
4. Yield a graceful stub when the required secret is missing.
5. Install the package editable and add it to the data_source_registry in the relevant config under configs/.
6. Add focused tests; run the validation commands below.
7. Summarize changed files and paste the test/lint evidence.

Validation

Run the narrowest commands first; broaden only if the change touches shared code.

uv pip install -e ./sources/my_data_source
uv run pytest sources/my_data_source/tests
uv run ruff check sources/my_data_source
uv run ruff format --check sources/my_data_source

Expected: the package installs, its tests pass, and Ruff reports no lint or format failures for the new source package.

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting to add the source to the data_source_registry, so the UI cannot toggle it and agents do not inherit the tool.
• Omitting the [project.entry-points."nat.plugins"] entry in pyproject.toml, so NAT never discovers the registration.
• Crashing on a missing API key instead of yielding a stub that returns a clear error message.
• Returning unstructured or citation-poor output, which weakens report grounding.
• Printing API keys or embedding secrets in YAML instead of using environment variables or SecretStr.

Related Skills

• aiq-configure-workflow
• aiq-add-tool
• aiq-release-qa
• aiq-prepare-pr