Call External API

Connect to an external service or website to send or receive data. You can use this to integrate with other apps, send data to third-party services, or fetch information from external sources.

Technical Name: CallExternalApiFunc

Properties

Execution Mode: SYNC
Type: NATIVE
Category: External API
Function ID: 8f7a2ea8-6d8a-4f2b-b8f6-9f6b6d8a2ea8

Input Schema

Required Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`connectionId`	string (uuid)	Connection containing URL, method, auth, and defaults

Optional Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`headers`	object	Additional headers (overrides connection headers)
`queryParams`	object	Additional query params (overrides connection params)
`body`	string	JSON template with `{variable}` placeholders
`bodyVariables`	object	Variables for `{placeholder}` substitution in body
`timeoutSeconds`	integer	Request timeout in seconds (default: 30, max: 300)

[Image placeholder: CallExternalApi configuration panel]

Input Example

{
  "connectionId": "api-connection-uuid",
  "headers": {
    "X-Custom-Header": "value",
    "Accept": "application/json"
  },
  "queryParams": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 50
  },
  "body": "{\"customerId\": \"{customerId}\", \"orderAmount\": {amount}}",
  "bodyVariables": {
    "customerId": "cust-123",
    "amount": 250.00
  },
  "timeoutSeconds": 60
}

Connection Configuration

API connections store reusable configuration:

{
  "name": "Payment Gateway API",
  "url": "https://api.payment-gateway.com/v1",
  "method": "POST",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer ${API_KEY}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  "timeout": 30
}

[Image placeholder: Connection configuration screen]

Output Schema

Field	Type	Description
`success`	boolean	True if HTTP status 200-299
`statusCode`	integer	HTTP response status code
`headers`	object	Response headers
`responseBody`	any	Response body (parsed as JSON if possible)

Output Example

{
  "success": true,
  "statusCode": 200,
  "headers": {
    "content-type": "application/json",
    "x-rate-limit-remaining": "99"
  },
  "responseBody": {
    "transactionId": "txn-789",
    "status": "completed",
    "amount": 250.00,
    "currency": "USD",
    "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
  }
}

[Image placeholder: API response visualization]

Use Cases

Payment Processing

Integrate with payment gateways:

Start → ValidatePayment → CallExternalApi(ProcessPayment) → UpdateOrder → End

Data Synchronization

Sync data with external systems:

{
  "connectionId": "crm-api-connection",
  "body": "{\"name\": \"{customerName}\", \"email\": \"{email}\"}",
  "bodyVariables": {
    "customerName": "${fetchCustomer.output.name}",
    "email": "${fetchCustomer.output.email}"
  }
}

Webhook Callbacks

Send data to webhook endpoints:

{
  "connectionId": "webhook-connection",
  "body": "${prepareWebhookPayload.output.payload}"
}

[Image placeholder: External API integration patterns]

HTTP Methods

Supported HTTP methods:

GET: Retrieve data
POST: Create resources
PUT: Update resources (full)
PATCH: Update resources (partial)
DELETE: Remove resources
HEAD: Get headers only
OPTIONS: Get supported methods

Authentication

Bearer Token

{
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"
  }
}

API Key

{
  "headers": {
    "X-API-Key": "${API_KEY}"
  }
}

Basic Auth

{
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Basic ${BASE64_CREDENTIALS}"
  }
}

[Image placeholder: Authentication methods diagram]

Error Handling

HTTP Errors

{
  "success": false,
  "statusCode": 404,
  "headers": {...},
  "responseBody": {
    "error": "Resource not found",
    "code": "NOT_FOUND"
  }
}

Retry Logic

Implement retry with exponential backoff:

Start → CallExternalApi → CheckStatus → Retry(if failed) → End

[Image placeholder: Retry logic workflow]

Best Practices

Timeout Configuration: Set appropriate timeouts for different APIs
Error Handling: Always check success field and status code
Rate Limiting: Implement rate limiting for external APIs
Secrets Management: Store API keys in environment variables
Response Validation: Validate response structure before processing
Logging: Log requests and responses for debugging
Idempotency: Use idempotency keys for critical operations

EmailNotification - Send emails
JavaScript - Transform requests/responses
SubFlow - Modular API integration

Workflow Example

Start
  → FetchOrder
  → PreparePayload
  → CallExternalApi(Payment Gateway)
  → CheckResponse
  → UpdateOrderStatus
  → EmailNotification
→ End

[Image placeholder: Complete API integration workflow]

Limitations

Maximum request size: 10MB
Maximum response size: 50MB
Timeout range: 1-300 seconds
Maximum headers: 50 per request

[Image placeholder: API testing workflow]

Call External API

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