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Version: 8.3

Overview

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.

Context paths

For SaaS: https://${REGION}.operate.camunda.io:443/${CLUSTER_ID}/v1/, and for Self-Managed installations: http://localhost:8080/v1/.

note

Find your region and cluster id under Connection information in your client credentials (revealed when you click on your client under the API tab within your cluster).

For Self-Managed, the host and port depend on your configuration. The context path mentioned here is the default for the Operate component.

API documentation as Swagger

A detailed API description is also available as Swagger UI at https://${base-url}/swagger-ui/index.html.

For SaaS: https://${REGION}.operate.camunda.io/${CLUSTER_ID}/swagger-ui.html, and for Self-Managed installations: http://localhost:8080/swagger-ui.html.

note

Find your region and cluster id under Connection information in your client credentials (revealed when you click on your client under the API tab within your cluster).

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:

NameDescriptionDefault value
client idName of your registered client-
client secretPassword for your registered client-
audiencePermission name; if not given use default valueoperate.camunda.io
authorization server urlToken issuer server-
note

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.

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:

  1. 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'
  1. 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)DescriptionNotes
Process definitions
POST /v1/process-definitions/searchSearch for process definitions
GET /v1/process-definitions/{key}Get process definition by key
GET /v1/process-definitions/{key}/xmlGet process definition by key as XML
Process instances
POST /v1/process-instances/searchSearch for process instancesNew field added: processDefinitionKey
New field added: parentFlowNodeInstanceKey

Warning
1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used.
2. The processDefinitionKey field will only contain data from version 8.1.8 onward
GET /v1/process-instances/{key}Get process instance by keyNew field added: processDefinitionKey
New field added: parentFlowNodeInstanceKey

Warning
1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used.
2. The processDefinitionKey field will only contain data from version 8.1.8 onward
DELETE /v1/process-instances/{key}Delete process instance and dependent data by key
GET /v1/process-instances/{key}/statisticsGet flow node statistic by process instance keyNew endpoint
GET /v1/process-instances/{key}/sequence-flowsGet sequence flows of process instance by keyNew endpoint
Incidents
POST /v1/incidents/searchSearch for incidentsNew field added: jobKey

Warning
1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used.<br/
GET /v1/incidents/{key}Get incident by keyNew field added: jobKey

Warning
1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used.<br/
Flownode instances
POST /v1/flownode-instances/searchSearch for flow node instancesNew fields added:
flowNodeId
flowNodeName
processDefinitionKey

Warning
1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used.
2. The processDefinitionKey field will only contain data from version 8.1.8 onward
3. The field flowNodeName is only returned if set in the BPMN diagram, so no flowNodeName is returned for flow nodes that do not have it set in the diagram.
GET /v1/flownode-instances/{key}Get flow node instance by keyNew fields added:
flowNodeId
flowNodeName
processDefinitionKey

Warning
1. New fields could break deserialization, so ignore fields not used.
2. The processDefinitionKey field will only contain data from version 8.1.8 onward
3. The field flowNodeName is only returned if set in the BPMN diagram, so no flowNodeName is returned for flow nodes that do not have it set in the diagram.
Variables
POST /v1/variables/searchSearch for variables; results can contain truncated variable values
GET /v1/variables/{key}Get variable by key; contains the full value of variable
Decision definitions
POST /v1/decision-definitions/searchSearch for decision definitions
GET /v1/decision-definitions/{key}Get decision definition by key
Decision requirements
POST /v1/drd/searchSearch for decision requirements
GET /v1/drd/{key}Get decision requirements by key
GET /v1/drd/{key}/xmlGet decision requirements by key as XML
Decision instances
POST /v1/decision-instances/searchSearch for decision instances
GET /v1/decision-instances/{id}Get decision instance by idThe field id must be used here as path variable, because the key field is not unique for decision instances

Multi-tenancy

note

The multi-tenancy feature is available in Self-Managed setups only.

All Operate endpoints for which tenant assignment is relevant will:

  • Return tenantId field in response
  • Provide tenantId search parameter

Review the Swagger documentation for the exact request and response structure.

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.

note

When filtering process instances, parentProcessInstanceKey can be used instead of parentKey in the request JSON. The response JSON for a process instance will contain the field parentKey, even when parentProcessInstanceKey is used during input filtering.

Examples

Return all items with field processInstanceKey equals 235:

{ "filter": { "processInstanceKey": 235 } }

Return all items with field parentKey equals 123. Note: parentProcessInstanceKey can also be used as an alias for parentKey and filters identically:

{ "filter": { "parentKey": 123 } }
{ "filter": { "parentProcessInstanceKey": 123 } }

A filter that could be used to search for all flow node instances with field processInstanceKey equals 235, state equals ACTIVE and incident equals true:

{
"filter": { "processInstanceKey": 235, "state": "ACTIVE", "incident": 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:

ModifierDescription
||/yWithin a year
||/MWithin a month
||/wWithin a week
||/dWithin a day
||/hWithin an hour
||/mWithin a minute
||/sWithin 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. Refer also to 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:

ComponentDefault valueDescription
filternullEmpty (all fields match)
size10
sort[{"field":"key","order":"ASC"}]Sorted ascending by key
searchAfternullFirst items will be returned
Example

Get max 50 process instances with processVersion equals 2 sorted ascending 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.

Refer also to 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.

Refer also to 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,
"parentKey": 4503599627370497,
"parentFlowNodeInstanceKey": 4503599627370535
},
{
"key": 2251799813699262,
"processVersion": 2,
"bpmnProcessId": "called-process",
"startDate": "2022-03-17T11:53:41.853+0000",
"state": "ACTIVE",
"processDefinitionKey": 2251799813695996,
"parentKey": 4503599627370497,
"parentFlowNodeInstanceKey": 4503599627370535
}
],
"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. One special case is for decision instances, where the identifier is the id field, because the key field is not unique.

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,
"parentKey": 4503599627370497,
"parentFlowNodeInstanceKey": 4503599627370535
}

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 deleted",
"deleted": 1
}

Object schemas

Each object has a set of fields with values. These values could be of type string, number, boolean, and dateString.

TypeExample
string"Operate"
number235
booleantruefalse
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>
"parentFlowNodeInstanceKey": <number>
}

Incident

{
"key": <number>
"processDefinitionKey": <number>
"processInstanceKey": <number>
"type": <string>
"message": <string>
"creationTime": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"state": <string>
"jobKey": <number>
}

Flow node instance

{
"key": <number>
"processInstanceKey": <number>
"processDefinitionKey": <number>
"startDate": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"endDate": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"flowNodeId": <string>
"flowNodeName": <string>
"incidentKey": <number>
"type": <string>
"state": <string>
"incident": <boolean>
}

The field flowNodeName is only returned if set in the BPMN diagram, so no flowNodeName is returned for flow nodes that do not have it set in the diagram.

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.
}

Decision definition

{
"id": <string>
"key": <number> - Same as "id"
"decisionId": <string>
"name": <string>
"version": <number>
"decisionRequirementsId": <string>
"decisionRequirementsKey": <number>
"decisionRequirementsName": <string>
"decisionRequirementsVersion": <number>
}

Decision requirements

{
"id": <string>
"key": <number> - Same as "id"
"decisionRequirementsId": <string>
"name": <string>
"version": <number>
"resourceName": <string>
}

Decision instance

{
"id": <string> - Unique identifier
"key": <number> - Not unique for decision instances
"state": <string> - Possible values are "FAILED", "EVALUATED", "UNKNOWN", "UNSPECIFIED"
"evaluationDate": <dateString: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZZ>
"evaluationFailure": <string>
"processDefinitionKey": <number>
"processInstanceKey": <number>
"decisionId": <string>
"decisionDefinitionId": <string>
"decisionName": <string>
"decisionVersion": <number>
"decisionType": <string> - Possible values are "DECISION_TABLE", "LITERAL_EXPRESSION", "UNKNOWN", "UNSPECIFIED"
"result": <string>
"evaluatedInputs": <array> - See note below
"evaluatedOutputs": <array> - See note below
}

The field evaluatedInputs is an array of objects, where each object has the following fields:

{
"id": <string>
"name": <string>
"value": <string>
}

The field evaluatedOutputs is an array of objects, where each object has the following fields:

{
"id": <string>
"name": <string>
"value": <string>
"ruleId": <string>
"ruleIndex": <number>
}

The fields evaluatedInputs and evaluatedOutputs are not returned in search results, because they can be very large. They are only returned when requesting a specific decision instance by identifier. The fields result, evaluatedInputs, and evaluatedOutputs cannot be used to filter the search results.

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
}