Alteryx and API Calls

[btthornhill]

hi all,

I am trying to figure out how to pull data from an API call into Alteryx. I have read a good bit of material but keep getting error messages with no data.

I have

A request URL

Username

Password

API/Subscription Key

content-type = application/json

and the GET/Post = Post

Can someone please help?

I go from Access Denied to  Resource Not Found

In the Download tool I have the following... the header has "Authorization" checked... Payload  is "Post" and has "Authorization" and "Subscription key" checked

 Im cannot get any data to come through

Thanks!

[BrandonB]

Do you have the API documentation available? There isn't really a standard set of API instructions so if you can provide information on the system that you are trying to connect to it would be most helpful. 

Also to your comment "In the Download tool I have the following... the header has "Authorization" checked... Payload  is "Post" and has "Authorization" and "Subscription key" checked" - you probably don't need authorization and subscription key checked in your payload tab. Normally you would have some type of API Key or Authorization component that is used in the Headers tab, but again that depends entirely on the API you are trying to access as each has its own nuance. 

[btthornhill]

Hi Brandon, thanks for the reply. The system is Raiser's Edge NXT

[BrandonB]

Its strange that their Authorization steps aren't more clearly indicated. This looks like their API reference site: https://developer.blackbaud.com/skyapi/products/renxt 

But if you click into any of the endpoint reference pages and look at where it says to use Authorization in the request headers it just says "OAuth 2.0 access token obtained from Blackbaud OAuth 2.0 Service. Supported grant types: Authorization code."

Have you found the webpage where it outlines how to go through their Oauth 2.0 process? 

[BrandonB]

Not sure if this will work for you but I located this page with the following cURL example of their authorization step against the token endpoint: https://developer.blackbaud.com/skyapi/products/bbem/oneroster/authorization 

POST /token HTTP/1.1
Host: https://oauth2.sky.blackbaud.com
Authorization: Basic base64EncodedKey:Secret
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

grant_type=client_credentials
&scope=scopename

Give the attached workflow a try swapping out your cliend id and secret in the Text Input tool

My hope is that returns an authorization token for you 

[btthornhill]

Brandon,

I put in  the client_id and client_secret and I am getting a 400. bad request  on grant type parameter...

grant_type=client_credentials
&scope=scopename

what is this doing?  

[BrandonB]

Assuming this is the proper endpoint, this is asking for it to return a bearer token. The Client Credentials grant type is used by clients to obtain an access token outside of the context of a user. This is typically used by clients to access resources about themselves rather than to access a user's resources. Did you use my workflow as a starting point?

[btthornhill]

i did  and replaced each point...

[btthornhill]

get this error...

{"error":"unsupported_grant_type","error_description":"The value specified for the grant_type parameter '' was not valid."}

[BrandonB]

Oh did you actually switch out the value that says client_credentials? That actually needs to stay as it is. It is a description of the grant type actually being queried. You don’t need to put your credentials in for that value.