Navan connector

Set up the Navan connector in Kaivo: authentication, configuration, the 1 BigQuery tables it syncs, and answers to common questions.

Written By Lauri Raivio

Last updated About 5 hours ago

Kaivo is a fully managed data platform that syncs your Navan data into a Google BigQuery warehouse and keeps it up to date automatically. There is no pipeline to build and no infrastructure to run, so you can spend your time analysing your data from Navan instead of moving it.

What is the Navan connector

Sync your Navan travel and expense data into BigQuery with Kaivo to analyse travel bookings and spend.

Category	Other
Status	Generally available
Authentication	API key
Setup	Self-service

Getting started with the Navan connector

Sign up for Kaivo and create a workspace.
Connect your Navan account.
Choose which tables to sync.
Wait for the initial sync to finish.
Query your data in BigQuery or your favourite AI or BI tool.

Authenticating Navan

Authenticate with your OAuth Client Secret.

Field	Description
OAuth Client Secret	The Secret Key of your Navan API credential. Copy it when the credential is created, as it is shown only once.

Prerequisites

Navan authenticates with OAuth client credentials, which a Navan administrator can create:

In the Navan Admin Dashboard, go to Travel → Settings → Integrations and, under Navan API Credentials, click Create New.
Copy the Client ID and Secret Key right away — the secret is shown only once.

Then enter those values below.

Need help? Reach our team via the chat in the bottom-right corner.

Configuring the Navan connector

When you set up the connector, you provide:

Field	Description
OAuth Client ID	The Client ID of your Navan API credential.
Start Date	Any data before this date will not be fetched.

Tables and columns synced from Navan

Kaivo syncs 1 table from Navan into a dedicated dataset in your BigQuery warehouse. Click any table to see its columns and types.

How the Navan sync works

After the first load, Kaivo keeps your BigQuery warehouse up to date for you. Where Navan supports it, each sync pulls only new and changed records so it stays fast; otherwise it refreshes the whole table. Every record keeps its original ID, so you won't get duplicate rows.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the initial sync take for Navan?

It depends on how much history is in your Navan account. Most initial syncs finish within minutes, while large accounts can take a few hours. After that, syncs only fetch new and changed records, so they're much faster.

Can I sync only some tables or columns?

Yes. You pick which tables to sync when you set up the connection and can change the selection later. Tables you don't select are never copied to your warehouse.

What happens when Navan's schema changes?

New fields are never added automatically. You choose which fields to sync, so data you haven't selected (sensitive personal data, for example) never lands in your warehouse. When a new field appears, it becomes available for you to add. What happens to removed or renamed fields depends on a table's sync mode: full-refresh tables always match what's currently in Navan, so dropped fields disappear, while incremental tables keep their existing columns and history, so an old field stays and newly added fields fill in over time.

Your data lives in your own Kaivo-managed BigQuery warehouse, so the most direct option is to delete or anonymise specific records right in BigQuery. If you delete data in Navan instead, full-refresh tables drop it on the next sync, while incremental tables keep it, so you would remove the row in BigQuery or ask us to run a full refresh. To remove everything, delete the Navan connector in Kaivo and all of its synced data is deleted with it.

Common use cases for Navan data

Travel spend

Use bookings to track travel volume and cost over time.

Booking analysis

Analyse bookings to understand travel patterns across the business.

Finance context

Join travel data with your finance data to see travel against budget.

Use Navan data in your AI and BI tools

Once Navan data lands in your Kaivo-managed BigQuery warehouse, you can explore it with AI tools or any BI tool that connects to BigQuery. Here's how the most common destinations work with Navan data.

Claude

Use Kaivo's MCP server to give Claude secure, workspace-scoped access to your data. Setup guide →

Power BI

Microsoft's BI tool with a native BigQuery connector. Supports direct query and scheduled refresh. Setup guide →

Data Studio

Free Google BI tool with native BigQuery support. One-click connection to your Kaivo warehouse; great for SMB teams on Google Workspace. Setup guide →

Tableau

The premium analytics standard, with native BigQuery integration. Setup guide →

Google Sheets

Use Connected Sheets to query BigQuery directly from a spreadsheet, with no SQL. Setup guide →

Excel

Connect via Power Query's BigQuery connector. Setup guide →

Metabase

Open-source BI tool with strong BigQuery support. Setup guide →

See our pricing page for Navan connector pricing and plan details.

Demo: Sync Demo to BigQuery.
Eventbrite: Sync Eventbrite to BigQuery.
Fleetio: Sync Fleetio to BigQuery.
Google Classroom: Sync Google Classroom to BigQuery.
Granola: Sync Granola to BigQuery.
Humanitix: Sync Humanitix to BigQuery.