Product Information

Peter Engel

August 25, 2022 3 minute read

SAP Process Automation: How to test the API trigger with postman

In my last blog post I explained how to design a process with an API based trigger. Many of you are curious about how you can test this new feature.

I will describe the technical implementation and the testing procedure in this blog post.

Technical prerequisite

To use the API trigger you need a service instance with a service key in your sub-account where you are using SAP Process Automation.

Service instance

In your subaccount a service instance should be already exist. You can find the service instance in the Instances and Subscriptions section.

If you have no service instance please create a service instance by following the guided procedure after the click on the Create button.

Service key

If you have already the service instance or just created it, check if you have also created a service key.

If not please create a service key using the icon with three dots.

Using Postman

All information to call the API trigger are available in the service key. Therefor open the service key and use the following information:

endpoints api url
clientid
clientsecret
uaa url

Create a new post request in postman with the endpoints api url and add /workflow/rest/v1/workflow-instances to the url.

To get a token select Client Credentials as Grant Type, use the uaa url plus /oauth/token for the Access Token URL and fill in Client ID and the Client Secret.

For the Client Authentication use “Send as Basic Auth header”.

After maintaining the data click on Get New Access Token and use the token.

After this you switch to the Body tab and maintain the payload.

You can find the definition ID in the Monitoring section of SAP Process Automation. Go there to Manage and then to Processes and Workflows.

Copy the ID and paste the value into the payload. In the “context” of your payload you have to maintain all the fields you need.

Now you can execute the post request and you successfully create your first process instance via the API trigger.

Conclusion

You learned now how to test the API trigger in SAP Process Automation and you can start now integrate processes designed in SAP Process Automation in your applications.

Next Steps

You are curious now but do not how to start? Try it out now using our Free Tier offering.

You are interested in the bigger picture of LCNC?

To see LCNC in action, check out the SAP Low-Code/No-Code Learning Journey – designed to increase low-code/no-code skills and teach citizen developers the basic concepts of software development including SAP AppGyver, SAP Process Automation, and SAP Work Zone and learn how to build mobile apps for free. Check out LCNC and plus much more free learning for developers at SAP Learning site.

For more information on SAP Process Automation, please refer to the following sources:

Exchange knowledge: SAP Community | Q&A| Blogs
Explore: SAP Product Page | Product Demo
Learn more:  SAP Help Portal | SAP Learning Journey
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube

23 Comments

You must be Logged on to comment or reply to a post.

Antonio Maradiaga

September 1, 2022 at 8:05 pm

In case anyone is interested in a Postman collection and environment that can help you get started.... see the examples below. The collection includes OAuth 2.0 authentication. All you will need to update is the Postman environment details.

sample.postman_collection.json

{
	"info": {
		"_postman_id": "56c8577c-c9c9-4e6f-b08f-bd46892efe11",
		"name": "Process Automation - Trigger API",
		"schema": "https://schema.getpostman.com/json/collection/v2.1.0/collection.json",
		"_exporter_id": "372207"
	},
	"item": [
		{
			"name": "Trigger process",
			"request": {
				"method": "POST",
				"header": [],
				"body": {
					"mode": "raw",
					"raw": "{\n    \"definitionId\": \"region.yourinstance-spa.triggerapitest.myprocess\",\n    \"context\": {\n        \"field_1\": \"1007895\",\n        \"field_2\": \"Penn and Teller show\",\n        \"field_3\": 20\n    }\n}",
					"options": {
						"raw": {
							"language": "json"
						}
					}
				},
				"url": {
					"raw": "{{endpoint.api}}/workflow/rest/v1/workflow-instances",
					"host": [
						"{{endpoint.api}}"
					],
					"path": [
						"workflow",
						"rest",
						"v1",
						"workflow-instances"
					]
				}
			},
			"response": []
		}
	],
	"auth": {
		"type": "oauth2",
		"oauth2": [
			{
				"key": "clientSecret",
				"value": "{{uaa.clientsecret}}",
				"type": "string"
			},
			{
				"key": "clientId",
				"value": "{{uaa.clientid}}",
				"type": "string"
			},
			{
				"key": "accessTokenUrl",
				"value": "{{uaa.url}}/oauth/token",
				"type": "string"
			},
			{
				"key": "tokenName",
				"value": "spa-api-token",
				"type": "string"
			},
			{
				"key": "challengeAlgorithm",
				"value": "S256",
				"type": "string"
			},
			{
				"key": "grant_type",
				"value": "client_credentials",
				"type": "string"
			},
			{
				"key": "addTokenTo",
				"value": "header",
				"type": "string"
			},
			{
				"key": "client_authentication",
				"value": "header",
				"type": "string"
			}
		]
	},
	"event": [
		{
			"listen": "prerequest",
			"script": {
				"type": "text/javascript",
				"exec": [
					""
				]
			}
		},
		{
			"listen": "test",
			"script": {
				"type": "text/javascript",
				"exec": [
					""
				]
			}
		}
	]
}

sample.postman_environment.json

{
	"id": "e051fa16-0620-4d86-a9dd-0e8aed9047d7",
	"name": "process-automation-region-sk",
	"values": [
		{
			"key": "endpoint.api",
			"value": "https://the-endpoint-api-url-in-sk.cfapps.region.hana.ondemand.com",
			"type": "default",
			"enabled": true
		},
		{
			"key": "uaa.clientid",
			"value": "sb-btc564fq-u6xo-8063-h6cu-58ws3538201t!v808583|xsuaa!q467428",
			"type": "default",
			"enabled": true
		},
		{
			"key": "uaa.clientsecret",
			"value": "mEf2s0ldQbaqhVH/vmriBjBSO/Q=",
			"type": "default",
			"enabled": true
		},
		{
			"key": "uaa.url",
			"value": "https://yourinstance-spa.authentication.region.hana.ondemand.com",
			"type": "default",
			"enabled": true
		}
	],
	"_postman_variable_scope": "environment",
	"_postman_exported_at": "2022-09-01T19:54:10.857Z",
	"_postman_exported_using": "Postman/9.29.1"
}

Raghuraman Ramakrishnan

September 9, 2022 at 4:09 am

Great Blog Peter Engel . Thank you Antonio Maradiaga for thoughtfully sharing the postman collections

Nils Mentzel

September 27, 2022 at 7:01 am

Hello, is it possible to use a service instance of the service "ABAP environment" or any other environment, or is it only possible to generate a valid service key with a service instance of the type "SAP Process Automation"?

I'm asking this because I only have an Instance of the type "ABAP environment" installed on my subaccount and when I try to set up one for Process Automation, it won't let me, for the reason that I am subscribed to it already.

Peter Engel

Blog Post Author

November 2, 2022 at 7:24 am

Hi Nils,

you ned a process instance for SAP Process Automation. If you cannot create a service instance go to the entitlement section in menu -> configure entitlements -> add service plans. Search for SAP Process Automation and add the plan "standard" to your sub-account and save the new settings. Now you are able to add the service instance This plan is without any charges.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Br,

Peter

Nick Yang

November 2, 2022 at 6:54 am

Hi Peter,

Free tier SPA doesn't allow us to trigger automation via API from external.

Only SPA with standard edition can, it's also shown in your screenshot.

Any chance to lift the limitation?

Thanks.

Regards,

Nick

Peter Engel

Blog Post Author

November 2, 2022 at 7:25 am

Hi Nick,

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Br,

Peter

Nilesh Shah

December 8, 2022 at 5:42 am

Peter Engel Very informative blog.

I tried to execute API trigger with SAP Build Process Automation. The Trigger has worked and showing "Running Status"

In my workflow I have created a form which shows only information of received payload. However, I have not received anything in the inbox which displays this information.

Peter Engel

Blog Post Author

December 8, 2022 at 7:10 am

Hi Nilesh,

so you see no task in your inbox even not an empty one?

Do you see the created task in the log?

Br,

Peter

Nilesh Shah

December 8, 2022 at 12:00 pm

Peter Engel I don't see any task in my inbox. However, under Manage->Processes and workflow, definition ID is generated (which i have used it in postman payload)

Under Trigger option -> I can see trigger entry

My workflow is simple, I am receiving payload and displaying it on the form fields.

Am I missing any step?

Wilyereny Lorenzo Placencio

March 17, 2023 at 1:52 pm

Hello,

I tried using the APIHUB but my token expired, does the token created with Postman expire too?

Peter Engel

Blog Post Author

March 22, 2023 at 7:38 am

Hi,

yes the token created with postman will expire too.

Br,

Peter

Bohdan Kuzmenko

April 18, 2023 at 2:59 pm

Hello, thanks for your blog!

I'm testing a process that starts with an API trigger.
I was able to run it from API Business Hub, using the tutorial (Create an API Trigger for the Process | Tutorials for SAP Developers)

Then I tried to run it with Postman, I managed to pass the authorization and get the token using your blog, but then it asks for the CSRF token.

I tried to get it with a GET method asking for the token in the header with a "fetch" value, but it didn't work.

Am I doing something wrong?

Chaitanya Priya Puvvada

April 27, 2023 at 5:41 am

Bohdan Kuzmenko

The same credentials which you have used in API Business hub should work in POSTMAN.

Only an Authorization token is required.

Can you please share the screenshot which throws an error to add the CSRF token?

Bohdan Kuzmenko

April 27, 2023 at 2:32 pm

Sure, here are the screenshots:

After getting the token with authorization it generated the key and added it to "Params" section

Bohdan Kuzmenko

April 27, 2023 at 3:29 pm

I've created the request from scratch and somehow it worked for me, now it didn't create anything at the "Params" tab and automatically added Bearer token into Headers

Chaitanya Priya Puvvada

April 28, 2023 at 5:05 am

Hi Bohdan Kuzmenko

When you create an authorization token, it would automatically be added to the Header parameters.

Did you add the body of the call as mentioned in the blog post?

Can we connect offline to solve your issue?

Bohdan Kuzmenko

April 28, 2023 at 8:13 am

Yes, I've added the body, maybe I did something else wrong before, but now everything is fine.

Not sure that there is a possibility of an offline meeting for now, but we could make an online call, if you would like me to show you the request live.

Lin Lv

July 5, 2023 at 4:19 am

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the useful blog, I have test the process and created a very simple automation just about open excel instance and log a value. The steps worked well and in the monitor it shows the status of rpa was started and running but there's nothing happened.

Could you give me some advice if there's any steps I missed?

Peter Engel

Blog Post Author

July 5, 2023 at 6:10 am

Hi,

did you installed the Agent and the browser extension correctly? Is the Agent connected and registered in the settings? Does the Agent version fits to the settings of the project? Is the Agent in unattended mode?

For more information check our developer tutorials.

Br,

Peter

Lin Lv

July 5, 2023 at 6:14 am

Thanks for the reply.

I just check the agent and change the mode to unattended and it works.

Have a nice day!

Muhammad Ashraff Aqil Zahiruddin

July 11, 2023 at 4:16 am

Hey Peter,

Great blog as always, I'm wondering if we can pass any data during the API trigger?

For example some data will be pass through the API and the data will shown in a form.

Thanks,

Ashraff

Peter Engel

Blog Post Author

July 11, 2023 at 4:43 am

Hi Ashraff,

of course you can pass data through the API trigger. The payload is a json structure where you can use predefined data types or your own data types as well as lists.

Br,

Peter

Muhammad Ashraff Aqil Zahiruddin

July 11, 2023 at 5:56 am

Hi Peter,

That sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Ashraff

Product Information

SAP Process Automation: How to test the API trigger with postman

Technical prerequisite

Service instance

Service key

Using Postman

Conclusion

Next Steps

Assigned Tags