Starting a process by using a REST API call

External services, such as an IBM® App Connect event-driven flow, can interact with IBM BPM by using a REST API call to start a process.

Calling the IBM BPM API to start a process has the following structure:

Table 1.
API	Description
HTTP method	`POST`
URL	The fully qualified URL has the following structure: `https://hostname/bpm/dev/rest/bpm/wle/v1/process?action=start&bpdId=BPD_ID&branchId=Branch_ID` Where `hostname` is the hostname of the IBM BPM on Cloud or on prem server, `BPD_ID` is the BPD ID (which starts with '25.'), and `Branch_ID` is the branch ID (which starts with '2063.').
Request headers	The header must be in the following JSON format `{"Authorization":"Basic credentials"}` Where `credentials` is a base64 encoded string that is constructed from `userName:password`. If you are connecting to an IBM BPM on prem server use the appropriate username and password for your IBM BPM system. If you are connecting to an IBM BPM on Cloud server, the user name is a functional ID, and the password is a generated character string. You must make sure that the functional ID is granted access to the necessary operating environments. For more information about creating service accounts for IBM BPM on Cloud, see Managing service accounts for IBM BPM on Cloud.
Request body	(empty)