You will need to obtain developer accounts and API keys for each of the services listed below that you wish to use, except for GitHub, which does not require any authentication for public repos. Google Analytics will require some additional steps to use OAuth2 to authenticate; see the section below for instructions on what to do.
You will need to obtain developer accounts and API keys for each of the services listed below that you wish to use, except for GitHub, which does not require any authentication for public repos. Google Analytics will require some additional steps to use OAuth2 to authenticate; see the section below for instructions on what to do.
For each API you are using, you will add an API Map to your BitScoop account using the “Add to BitScoop” buttons. You can either enter any required API keys and User information when you create the map or edit the source of that map later.
You need to create a BitScoop account via (https://bitscoop.com/signup) as well as an AWS account. You will need to create a Postman Pro account, a Google account, and/or a StatusCake account to use those services in this demo. For the sake of brevity we will not cover the specifics here, but you can find step-by-step instructions in our blog post about this demo at <INSERT_LINK_HERE>.
To quickly get started with what you'll need on BitScoop, you can add the following API Maps using the buttons below. Note that you do not need to use all of these services for the demo to run, as the Amazon Lambda function that powers the Alexa Skill will adjust automatically based on how you configure it. So you only need to add the ones to BitScoop that you want to try for yourself. Make sure to substitute the values for the API keys, client IDs, and client secrets where appropriate.
| API Map | File Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Postman Pro API Monitors | postman.json |  |
| Google Analytics Data | google_analytics.json | |
| StatusCake Health Alerts | statuscake.json | |
| GitHub Issues | github.json | |
You will need a Postman Pro account and a Postman API key. In Postman, create a Monitor for an API you wish to test, then click on the Monitor. The Monitor’s ID should be the last thing in the URL path. When you create the Lambda function, you will need to add the Environment Variable ‘POSTMAN_MONITOR_ID’ and set the value to be this ID.
Go to “Integrations” on the main menu, select “Postman Pro API”, and then create a new key. This key will be used in an Environment Variable in Lambda.
On our GitHub page, click the ‘Add to BitScoop’ button next to Postman. You will be redirected to BitScoop. (Make sure you are logged in to BitScoop) You will see the JSON for the map you just added. Edit the JSON to insert your API key. Then click the ‘+ Create’ button in the upper right-hand corner to save the map.
-
Postman Pro API Documentation: https://docs.api.getpostman.com/
-
Postman Monitor: https://www.getpostman.com/docs/monitors
-
Postman Documentation: https://www.getpostman.com/docs/
On our GitHub page, click the ‘Add to BitScoop’ button next to Google Analytics. You will be redirected to BitScoop. (Make sure you are logged in to BitScoop.) You will see the JSON for the map you just added. We don’t have an auth_key or auth_secret yet, so leave those fields as is. Then click the ‘+ Create’ button in the upper right-hand corner to save the map.
Calling the Google Analytics API requires OAuth2 authentication, which BitScoop handles for you with minimal work on your end. You’ll need to add a Google OAuth2 auth_key and auth_secret to the API Map and then create a Connection that is authorized to access your Google Analytics data, which we will walk you through now.
Go to the Google API Console for Analytics and make sure Analytics is enabled. Next click on ‘Credentials’ on the left-hand side, underneath ‘Dashboard’ and ‘Library’. Click on the blue button ‘Create Credentials’ and select ‘OAuth client id’. Choose application type ‘Web application’, then in ‘Authorized redirect URIs’ enter the Callback URL that can be found on the Details page for the Map you created for Google Analytics; it should be in the form https://auth.api.bitscoop.com/done/<map_id>. Click ‘Create’ twice; it should show a pop-up with your client ID and secret. These will be entered in the API Map as the auth_key and auth_secret, respectively, in the ‘auth’ portion of the map.
You will also need to go to https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/#management/Settings/, then select the View you want to use in the right-hand column and then ‘View Settings’ underneath that. Under Basic Settings you should see the View ID, which you you set as the value for the Environment Variable ‘GOOGLE_GA_VIEW_ID’. It should look like ga:123456789.
You now need to create a Connection to the Map. Make a POST request to the Connection URL shown on the Details page for the map; it will be in the form https://api.bitscoop.com/<map_id>/connections. The response body will contain two fields, ‘redirectUrl’ and ‘id’. Save ‘id’, which is the ID of the new connection, for a couple steps later, and go to the redirectUrl in a browser. Google should request authorization for the Analytics API for one of your Google accounts. If successful, you should be able to make calls via that map with the header ‘X-Connection-Id: <connection_id>’.
The process described above walks you through how to easily handle OAuth 2 Authorization using the Bitscoop platform. We have more documentation and a video tutorial on this topic if you wish to learn more.
- Google Analytics API Documentation:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/
- Google API Console for Analytics:
https://console.developers.google.com/apis/api/analytics.googleapis.com/overview
StatusCake delivers accurate global website monitoring and downtime alerts.
You will need a StatusCake account and a StatusCake API Key. You should create alerts on your vital dependent services and your public site. Go to “User Details” on the main menu and take note of your Username, and then select “API Keys” to find your API key. Get the Test ID by selecting ‘Tests’ from the main menu and select the test you wish to use. The Test ID can be found in the URL under the ‘tid’ parameter.
Example: Test ID 7654321 is derived from
https://app.statuscake.com/AllStatus.php?tid=7654321
On our GitHub page, click the ‘Add to BitScoop’ button next to StatusCake. You will be redirected to BitScoop. (Make sure you are logged in to BitScoop.) You will see the JSON for the map you just added. Edit the JSON to insert your StatusCake Auth Key and Username. Then click the ‘+ Create’ button in the upper right-hand corner to save the map.
- StatusCake API Documentation: https://www.statuscake.com/api/
The GitHub endpoint used for this example is publicly accessible and does not require an API key or GitHub account, but you will need to add the repo’s name and repo’s owner name as Environment Variables in the Lambda function. This call will only succeed if the repo in question is public, otherwise you would have to add an OAuth2 auth block similar to the one found in the Google Analytics map and then perform similar steps to authenticate your GitHub account.
On our GitHub page, click the ‘Add to BitScoop’ button next to the map for GitHub Demo. You will be redirected to BitScoop. (Make sure you are logged in on BitScoop.) You will see the JSON for the map you just added. You do not need to add any information to this map. Click the ‘+ Create’ button in the upper right-hand corner to save the map.
- GitHub API Documentation https://developer.github.com/
Also make sure that you have created an API key for BitScoop with full permissions to access data, maps and connections, as all calls to the BitScoop API must be signed with one.