GoMaskData Factory
Documentation

Quick Start

Create your first synthetic data routine in 5 minutes

Quick Start: Your First Routine in 5 Minutes

This guide walks you through creating and running your first synthetic data routine using the GoMask CLI.

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.8+
  • Database connection details (host, port, credentials)
  • GoMask API key (get one here)

Step 1: Install (30 seconds)

pip install gomask-cli

Step 2: Initialize (30 seconds)

gomask init

When prompted, enter your API secret from datafactory.gomask.ai/settings/api-keys.

This creates a gomask.toml file with your encrypted credentials.

Important: Add gomask.toml to your .gitignore to keep credentials secure.

Step 3: Create a Database Connector (1 minute)

Connect to your database:

gomask connectors create \
  --name my-database \
  --type postgresql \
  --host localhost \
  --port 5432 \
  --database mydb \
  --username myuser

Enter your password when prompted. The CLI will test the connection automatically.

Or list existing connectors:

gomask connectors list

Step 4: Create a Routine with the Wizard (2 minutes)

Use the interactive setup wizard:

gomask setup

The wizard will:

  1. Show available database connectors
  2. Let you select a schema
  3. Display tables and let you choose which to include
  4. Detect foreign key relationships automatically
  5. Ask for routine type (synthetic or masking)
  6. Generate appropriate data functions for each column
  7. Export a ready-to-run YAML configuration

Output: routine_123_complete.yaml

Step 5: Run Your Routine (1 minute)

Execute with live progress monitoring:

gomask run routine_123_complete.yaml --watch

You'll see real-time progress:

Executing routine: My First Routine
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 100% 0:00:45
✓ Generated 1,000 records in users
✓ Generated 5,000 records in orders
✓ Generated 12,000 records in order_items

Execution completed successfully!

What Just Happened?

  1. gomask init - Authenticated you with the GoMask platform
  2. gomask connectors create - Registered your database connection
  3. gomask setup - Scanned your database schema and created a routine
  4. gomask run - Executed the routine and generated synthetic data

Alternative: Manual YAML Creation

If you prefer to write YAML manually:

# Create an example template
gomask example --type synthetic --name "My Routine"

# Edit the generated file
vim my-routine.yaml

# Validate your changes
gomask validate my-routine.yaml

# Run the routine
gomask run my-routine.yaml --watch

Example YAML Configuration

Here's what a minimal routine looks like:

routine:
  name: "My First Routine"
  type: synthetic
  connector_id: 1  # Your connector ID from 'gomask connectors list'

tables:
  - table_name: users
    schema_name: public
    target_record_count: 1000
    columns:
      - column_name: email
        generation_function: generate_email
      - column_name: first_name
        generation_function: generate_first_name
      - column_name: last_name
        generation_function: generate_last_name
      - column_name: created_at
        generation_function: generate_datetime

Next Steps

Now that you've created your first routine:

Troubleshooting

Authentication Failed

# Reinitialize credentials
gomask init --force

Connection Issues

# Test your connector
gomask connectors test my-database

Validation Errors

# Get detailed error information
gomask validate routine.yaml --detailed

See Common Errors for more help.

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