Training Call an External API with a Flow

Training: Call an External API with a Flow

What you'll learn: how to set up a simple HTTP connection to a public API and call it from a data flow, viewing the response in the flow console. You need: Administrator or Developer access type in an application (UI label "Tenant"). Time: 15 minutes. Example API used: the free, no-auth Cat Facts API (https://catfact.ninja, GET /fact).

1. Create the HTTP connection

1. Go to Left menu → Integrations → Connections → +.
2. Fill the dialog:
   • Name: Cat Facts API
   • Connector: HTTP
   • Url: https://catfact.ninja (the base URL)
   • Optionally turn on Response Payload Logging to see full responses while testing.
   • Leave Credentials (Username/Password) blank — this API needs no auth.
3. Click the orange +. The connection appears in the table (Active ✓, Connector HTTP).

2. Build the flow

1. Go to Left menu → Flows & Scripts → Data Flows → +. Name it Cat Facts Flow, Type System, Module, → create. Open the flow designer (⑂).
2. Drag a Source node (Debugging) onto the canvas — it triggers the flow with a test payload.
3. Search the Toolbox for "HTTP", expand Integration, and drag the HTTP node onto the canvas. Configure it:
   • Connection: Cat Facts API
   • Method: Get
   • Path: click the </> toggle to open the code editor, then enter the JSONata '/fact' (a quoted string literal).
4. Drag a Log node (Debugging) onto the canvas. Set its Message Transform to 'Cat fact: ' & fact and check Include Payload so the response is logged.
5. Wire Source.Output → HTTP.Input, then HTTP.Output → Log.Input.
6. File → Save.

3. Run it and read the response

Click the orange trigger square on the Source node to run the flow. The Console (right panel, or pop it out to its own tab) shows each node's result:

• HTTP → output: { fact: "The average lifespan of an outdoor-only cat is about 3 to 5 years…", length: 124 }
• Log → the same payload, logged

The HTTP node called https://catfact.ninja/fact and the cat fact came back in the console.

Check your work

The console shows a fact value from the API and no errors. (If the Log node reports "No transform was provided," set its Message Transform as in step 4.)

Try it yourself

Change the Path to '/facts?limit=3' to fetch several facts, or point a new connection at another no-auth API and call it the same way. To pass dynamic values, build the Path with a JSONata expression that references the incoming payload (e.g. '/breeds?limit=' & $string(limit)).

Related training

Training: Connect to External Systems · Training: Create a Data Flow · Training: Save Queries, Scripts, and Data Mappings