API integrations

Expose, call and orchestrate APIs across business and technical systems from Python services.

Get started

Build a Python service that orchestrates two remote systems, secure it, expose it over REST and schedule it - in about 1-2 hours.

Main tutorial

Expose and call REST APIs

REST overview Expose services as REST endpoints and call external APIs, all from Python. Channels Expose a service as a REST endpoint - the channel authenticates each caller and maps JSON to Python objects. Outgoing connections Call external REST APIs through named connections - pooling and TLS included. Delivery retries and dead-letter queues Requests that could not be delivered are retried, queued and dead-lettered according to settings in the Dashboard. Authentication Secure channels with Basic Auth, API keys and bearer tokens - rejected callers never reach your service.

Popular technologies

Microsoft Send Teams messages, drive Power Automate flows and work with Microsoft 365 data from your services. Message queues Built-in pub/sub plus AMQP, Kafka, IBM MQ and Azure Service Bus. Databases Query PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server and other SQL and NoSQL databases from your services. AWS Store files in S3, send SQS messages and invoke Lambda functions from your services.

Write your services

Workflow Write, deploy and update services in a cycle with no restarts. Request and response Read each request's input and build its response through typed objects. Data models Define typed input and output once - validation and OpenAPI schemas follow from it. Configuration Keep configuration outside code - services read it from files you edit in the Dashboard.

Business systems

SAP Read and write S/4HANA and SuccessFactors business data from your services. Odoo Create, read and update Odoo records, and let Odoo call your services. Salesforce Query, create and update Salesforce records, and keep CRMs in sync on a schedule. Shopify Manage Shopify products, receive webhooks and keep ERP inventory in sync. OData Query OData systems such as SAP and Microsoft with a typed Python API.

Rule engine

Rule engine Keep business rules outside code and evaluate them from your services at runtime. Tutorial Business rules in plain English - the zrules syntax and how services match rules. Reference Every operator, block and literal of the rule language in one place.

File transfer

File transfer Receive and send files over SFTP, FTP, SMB and local directories, with schedules and feeds. Receiving files What each file transfer item contains and what happens when your service refuses a file. SFTP Server address, username and password, private key authentication and host key checking. Schedules Watching a directory, deciding when a file has finished uploading and invoking a service once per file.

SOAP and B2B

SOAP Call and receive SOAP as plain Python objects - no XML, schemas or WSDL compilation. SOAP mandates Meet the SOAP requirements of healthcare, immunization and national networks.

Secure your APIs

Bearer tokens Protect channels with OAuth-style bearer tokens and attach them to outgoing calls. mTLS Require client certificates on your APIs with mutual TLS. Kerberos Authenticate callers with Kerberos and SPNEGO in Windows environments. Cryptography Generate secrets, encrypt data and hash passwords with the platform's crypto API.

Test and automate

API testing Test REST, SQL, LDAP and business systems in plain English - no code required. CI/CD test pipelines Run API tests in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps and Jenkins. Connector SDK Build your own outgoing connection types on top of any client library.

More resources

Programming examples Ready-to-use examples for every connection type the platform ships with. Architecture Servers, load balancers, the message broker and the scheduler - what runs where and how the parts fit together. API Management Publish, secure and version your APIs, with quotas and usage analytics.