Operate API (REST)
Introduction​
Operate API is a REST API and provides searching, getting, and changing Operate data.
Requests and responses are in JSON notation. Some objects have additional endpoints.
For example, process-definitions
has an endpoint to get the process-definition as XML representation.
In case of errors, Operate API returns an error object.
API documentation as Swagger​
A detailed API description is also available as Swagger UI at ${base-url}/swagger-ui.html
.
For example: http://localhost:8080/swagger-ui.html
Authentication​
You need authentication to access the API endpoints.
Authentication for SaaS​
Authentication via JWT access token​
You must pass an access token as a header in each request to the SaaS Operate API. When you create an Operate client, you get all the information needed to connect to Operate.
The following settings are needed to request a token:
Name | Description | Default value |
---|---|---|
client id | Name of your registered client | - |
client secret | Password for your registered client | - |
audience | Permission name; if not given use default value | operate.camunda.io |
authorization server url | Token issuer server | - |
For more information on how to get these values for Camunda 8, read Manage API Clients.
Send a token issue POST request to the authorization server with the required settings:
curl -X POST -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{"client_id": "RgVdPv...", "client_secret":"eDS1~Hg...","audience":"operate.camunda.io","grant_type":"client_credentials"}' https://login.cloud.camunda.io/oauth/token
You will get something like the following:
{
"access_token": "eyJhbG...",
"scope": "f408ca38-....",
"expires_in": 58847,
"token_type": "Bearer"
}
Capture the access_token
value from the response object. In each request to the Operate API, include it as an authorization header:
Authorization: Bearer eyJHb...
Authentication for Self-Managed cluster​
Authentication via Identity JWT access token​
This authentication method is described in Operate Configuration - Authentication.
Authentication via cookie​
Another way to access the Operate API in a Self-Managed cluster is to send cookie headers in each request. The cookie can be obtained by using the API endpoint /api/login
. Take the steps in the following example:
Example:
- Log in as user 'demo' and store the cookie in the file
cookie.txt
.
curl -c cookie.txt -X POST 'http://localhost:8080/api/login?username=demo&password=demo'
- Send the cookie (as a header) in each API request. In this case, request all process definitions.
curl -b cookie.txt -X POST 'http://localhost:8080/v1/process-definitions/search' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{}'
Endpoints​
Endpoint (HTTP verb + URL path) | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|
Process definitions | ||
POST /v1/process-definitions/search | Search for process definitions | |
GET /v1/process-definitions/{key} | Get process definition by key | |
GET /v1/process-definitions/{key}/xml | Get process definition by key as XML | |
Process instances | ||
POST /v1/process-instances/search | Search for process instances | New fields added: flowNodeId flowNodeName processDefinitionKey Warning 1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used. 2. processDefinitionKey field will only contain data from version 8.1.8 onward |
GET /v1/process-instances/{key} | Get process instance by key | New fields added: flowNodeId flowNodeName processDefinitionKey Warning 1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used. 2. processDefinitionKey field will only contain data from version 8.1.8 onward |
DELETE /v1/process-instances/{key} | Delete process instance and dependant data by key | |
Incidents | ||
POST /v1/incidents/search | Search for incidents | |
GET /v1/incidents/{key} | Get incident by key | |
Flownode instances | ||
POST /v1/flownode-instances/search | Search for flow node instances | |
GET /v1/flownode-instances/{key} | Get flow node instance by key | |
Variables | ||
POST /v1/variables/search | Search for variables; results can contain truncated variable values | |
GET /v1/variables/{key} | Get variable by key; contains the full value of variable |
Search​
Every object has a search /v1/<object>/search
endpoint which can be requested by POST
and a given query request.
Query​
The query request consists of components for filter, size, sort, and pagination.
{
"filter": { object fields to match },
"size": <number of items to return>,
"sort": [ {"field":"<name of field to sort on>", "order": "<ASC|DESC>" ],
"searchAfter": [ <identifier of item from which next search should start> ]
}
Filter​
Specifies which fields should match. Only items that match the given fields will be returned. The section on object schemas lists all available fields for each object.
Filter strings, numbers, and booleans​
Fields of type string, number, and boolean need the exact value to match.
Examples​
Return all items with field processInstanceKey
equals 235
:
{ "filter": { "processInstanceKey": 235 } }
Return all items with field processInstanceKey
equals 235
, state
equals ACTIVE
and incidents
equals true
:
{
"filter": { "processInstanceKey": 235, "state": "ACTIVE", "incidents": true }
}
Filter dates​
Date fields need to be specified in format: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ
; for example, 2022-03-17T11:50:25.729+0000
.
You can use modifier to match date ranges:
Modifier | Description |
---|---|
||/y | Within a year |
||/M | Within a month |
||/w | Within a week |
||/d | Within a day |
||/h | Within an hour |
||/m | Within a minute |
||/s | Within a second |
Example​
Return all items with field startDate
within a minute (||/m
) for 2022-03-17 11:50:25
.
{
"filter": {
"startDate": "2022-03-17T11:50:25.729+0000||/m"
}
}
Size​
Maximum items should be returned and must be a number.
Example​
Return maximum 23
items:
{ "size": 23 }
Sort​
Specify which field of the object should be sorted and whether ascending (ASC
) or descending (DESC
).
Example​
Sort by name
descending:
{ "sort": [{ "field": "name", "order": "DESC" }] }
Pagination​
Specify the item where the next search should start. For this, you need the values from previous results.
Copy the values from sortValues
field from the previous results into the searchAfter
value of query.
See also results.
Example​
Get next 10 results for previous query by copying the value of sortValues
of the previous results object.
Assuming the sortValues
value was ["the-name",12345]
, put it as value for searchAfter
in the next query.
{
"sort": [{ "field": "name", "order": "DESC" }],
"searchAfter": ["the-name", 12345]
}
Query components combined​
The query components filter
, size
, sort
, and searchAfter
can be combined.
Default values are:
Component | Default value | Description |
---|---|---|
filter | null | Empty (all fields match) |
size | 10 | |
sort | [{"field":"key","order":"ASC"}] | Sorted ascending by key |
searchAfter | null | First items will be returned |
Example​
Get max 50
process instances with processVersion
equals 2
sorted asc
ending by bpmnProcessId
:
POST /v1/process-instances/search
{
"filter": {
"processVersion": 2
},
"size": 50,
"sort": [
{
"field": "bpmnProcessId",
"order": "ASC"
}
]
}
Results are:
...
{
"key": 2251799813699162,
"processVersion": 2,
"bpmnProcessId": "called-process",
"startDate": "2022-03-17T11:53:41.581+0000",
"state": "ACTIVE",
"processDefinitionKey": 2251799813695996
}
],
"sortValues": [
"called-process",
2251799813699162
],
"total": 654
}
Take the value of sortValues
and copy it to searchAfter
for the next 50
items:
{
"filter": {
"processVersion": 2
},
"size": 50,
"sort": [
{
"field": "bpmnProcessId",
"order": "ASC"
}
],
"searchAfter": ["called-process", 2251799813699162]
}
Results​
The API responds with a Results
object. It contains an items
array, total
amount of found items,
and sortValues
for pagination.
{
"items": [ { item 1 } , { item 2 } ... ],
"total": <number of found items>,
"sortValues": [<array of values to retrieve next page of results>]
}
Items​
An array of objects that matches the query.
Total​
The total amount of found objects. This is an exact value until 10,000. If more than this, try to make your query more specific.
See also Elasticsearch max results.
sortValues (Pagination)​
Use the value (an array) of this field to get the next page of results in your next query.
Copy the value to searchAfter
in your next query to get the next page.
See also Elasticsearch search after.
Example​
Results for process-instances
:
{
"items": [
{
"key": 2251799813699213,
"processVersion": 2,
"bpmnProcessId": "called-process",
"startDate": "2022-03-17T11:53:41.758+0000",
"state": "ACTIVE",
"processDefinitionKey": 2251799813695996
},
{
"key": 2251799813699262,
"processVersion": 2,
"bpmnProcessId": "called-process",
"startDate": "2022-03-17T11:53:41.853+0000",
"state": "ACTIVE",
"processDefinitionKey": 2251799813695996
}
],
"sortValues": ["called-process", 2251799813699262],
"total": 654
}
Get object by key​
Every object has a GET /v1/<object>/{key}
endpoint where {key}
is the identifier of the object.
Every object has a key
field.
Example​
Get the data for process instance with key 2251799813699213
:
GET /v1/process-instances/2251799813699213
Result:​
{
"key": 2251799813699213,
"processVersion": 2,
"bpmnProcessId": "called-process",
"startDate": "2022-03-17T11:53:41.758+0000",
"state": "ACTIVE",
"processDefinitionKey": 2251799813695996
}
Change objects​
Some objects can be changed (for example, deleted).
The endpoint is the same as getting the object, but with HTTP DELETE
instead of HTTP GET
.
The response is a ChangeStatus
object which describes what happened and how many objects were changed.
Example​
Delete the data for process instance (and all dependant data) with key 2251799813699213
:
DELETE /v1/process-instances/2251799813699213
Result​
{
"message": "1 process instance and dependant data was delete",
"deleted": 1
}
Object schemas​
Each object has a set of fields with values.
These values could be of type string
, number
, boolean
, and dateString
.
Type | Example | |
---|---|---|
string | "Operate" | |
number | 235 | |
boolean | true | false |
dateString | "2022-03-23T11:50:25.729+0000" |
Process definition​
{
"key": <number>
"name": <string>
"version": <number>
"bpmnProcessId": <string>
}
Process instance​
{
"key": <number>
"processVersion": <number>
"bpmnProcessId": <string>
"parentKey": <number>
"startDate": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"endDate": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"state": <string>
"processDefinitionKey": <number>
}
Incident​
{
"key": <number>
"processDefinitionKey": <number>
"processInstanceKey": <number>
"type": <string>
"message": <string>
"creationTime": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"state": <string>
}
Flow node instance​
{
"key": <number>
"processInstanceKey": <number>
"startDate": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"endDate": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"incidentKey": <number>
"type": <string>
"state": <string>
"incident": <boolean>
}
Variable​
{
"key": <number>
"processInstanceKey": <number>
"scopeKey": <number>
"name": <string>
"value": <string> - Always truncated if value is too big in "search" results. In "get object" result it is not truncated.
"truncated": <boolean> - If true 'value' is truncated.
}
Change status​
{
"message": <string> - What was changed
"deleted": <number> - How many items were deleted
}
Error​
{
"status": <number> - HTTP Status
"message": <string> - Details about the error.
"instance": <string> - UUID for look up eg. in log messages
"type": <string> - Type of error. Could be ServerException, ClientException, ValidationException, ResourceNotFoundException
}