100% Free Forever
AI-Powered Learning
Industry Expert Content
Certificates & Badges
Learn At Your Own Pace

Airflow Cheat Sheet

Airflow Cheat Sheet

A cheat sheet for Apache Airflow covering DAG authoring with the TaskFlow API, operators, task dependencies, and essential CLI commands.

2 PagesIntermediateMar 12, 2026

TaskFlow API DAG

Define a DAG with Python-native task decorators.

python
from airflow.decorators import dag, taskfrom datetime import datetime@dag(schedule='@daily', start_date=datetime(2024, 1, 1), catchup=False)def etl_pipeline():    @task    def extract():        return {'rows': 100}    @task    def transform(data):        data['rows'] *= 2        return data    @task    def load(data):        print(f"Loaded {data['rows']} rows")    load(transform(extract()))etl_pipeline()

Classic Operators

Traditional operator-based DAG with explicit dependencies.

python
from airflow import DAGfrom airflow.operators.python import PythonOperatorfrom airflow.operators.bash import BashOperatorfrom datetime import datetimewith DAG('classic_dag', start_date=datetime(2024, 1, 1), schedule='0 6 * * *') as dag:    t1 = BashOperator(task_id='print_date', bash_command='date')    t2 = PythonOperator(task_id='say_hi', python_callable=lambda: print('hi'))    t1 >> t2   # t1 must run before t2

CLI Commands

Manage the webserver, scheduler, and DAG runs.

bash
airflow webserver -p 8080              # Start the UIairflow scheduler                      # Start the schedulerairflow dags list                      # List all DAGsairflow dags trigger etl_pipeline      # Manually trigger a DAG runairflow tasks test etl_pipeline extract 2024-01-01   # Test a single task

Core Concepts

Key Airflow terminology.

  • DAG- Directed Acyclic Graph describing task dependencies and a schedule
  • Operator- Template for a single task, e.g. BashOperator, PythonOperator, KubernetesPodOperator
  • Task Instance- A specific run of a task for a given execution/logical date
  • XCom- Mechanism for passing small pieces of data between tasks
  • Sensor- Special operator that waits for a condition, like a file arriving, before continuing
  • Executor- Determines how tasks run: LocalExecutor, CeleryExecutor, or KubernetesExecutor
Pro Tip

Keep DAG files lightweight and free of heavy top-level computation or database calls — the scheduler re-parses every DAG file on a short interval, so slow imports or expensive logic at import time will bottleneck the entire scheduler, not just one DAG.

Was this cheat sheet helpful?

Explore Topics

#Airflow#AirflowCheatSheet#DataScience#Intermediate#TaskFlowAPIDAG#ClassicOperators#CLICommands#CoreConcepts#MachineLearning#APIs#CommandLine#CheatSheet#SkillVeris
Advertisement
Sri Hayavadhana Info-Tech

Professional Web Designing Services

  • Responsive Websites
  • E-commerce Solutions
  • SEO Friendly Design
  • Fast & Secure
  • Support & Maintenance
Get a Free Quote

Share this Cheat Sheet