Glossary

An action is the task that you want your connector to complete. An action can create, retrieve, update, or delete something.

A web or mobile device application.

The process of verifying the identity of a user or system before granting access to resources. Common authentication methods include Basic authentication, Bearer token, API key, and OAuth 2.0.

The process of granting or denying access to specific resources or operations after authentication. Authorization determines what an authenticated user is allowed to do.

An action that is performed in response to an event or schedule. For example, sending an email on a weekly basis, or sending an email in response to an incoming email.

Attended or unattended software that automates repetitive, tedious, and time-consuming backend office tasks while you focus on high-value tasks. Bots can be created to complete a wide variety of tasks, as well as manage and schedule the bots based on the nature of the task.

The means by which a data source is connected to a product or service. For example, when you add an app, you are configuring a connector between the app and Connector Development Kit.

The four basic operations for managing data: Create (add new data), Read (retrieve data), Update (modify existing data), and Delete (remove data). These operations form the foundation of most API interactions.

An action that retrieves a list of available values for a parameter. Discovery actions are used to populate dropdown menus when defining relationships, allowing users to select from existing objects.

The process of linking connector-specific error codes to standardized IBM App Connect error codes. This ensures consistency in error handling and helps users understand what went wrong.

Any change or activity that takes place in an application. Events can trigger flows in App Connect.

An automated sequence of actions in App Connect that is triggered by an event or schedule. Flows connect different applications to automate business processes.

A global parameter can be used with any action. It can only be created in the Schema tab for a connector. For more information see, Global parameters.

A group is a container for actions. Before you can add an action you must create a group.

A parameter that is used to provide metadata about the request, such as the format of the request body, authentication credentials, or authorization. Header parameters are included in the request header and are not visible in the URL.

A local parameters is only available within the action that you created it for. It cannot be used with other actions. For more information, see Adding query and header parameters.

A data entity in an application, such as Account, Contact, or Order. Objects contain properties and can be manipulated through actions.

A definition format for describing REST APIs, previously known as the Swagger Specification. OpenAPI documents can be imported into the Connector Development Kit to create connectors. Must conform to OpenAPI Specification Version 2.0 or 3.0.x.

A process that breaks up the number of records returned from a retrieve action into more manageable chunks. Common pagination types include page-based, skip and limit (offset), and token-based (seek) pagination.

A parameter that points to a specific resource. For more information, see Adding an action.

An event that is triggered by periodically checking for new or updated objects in an application. Polled events can initiate flows in App Connect.

A field or attribute of an object that holds data. For example, a Contact object might have properties such as name, email, and phone number.

A parameter that is used to sort or filter resources.

When you define a relationship, you are specifying the parent and grandparent relationships to get to the target object. For more information, see Defining relationships.

Data sent to an API when calling an action. A request typically includes parameters, headers, and a body containing the data to be processed.

Data returned from an API after processing a request. A response includes a status code, headers, and a body containing the requested data or error information.

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface. A web service that uses HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to perform operations on resources.

An action that gets data from an application. Retrieve actions with the action type 'RetrieveWithWhere' can be used to create polled events and support pagination.

Software that is fully managed by a provider, such as IBM, and available to customers on the cloud.

A structure that defines the format and data types of request and response payloads for an action.

A date and time value that indicates when an event occurred. Timestamps are used in polled events to track when objects were created or updated.

A security credential used for authentication and authorization. Tokens can be access tokens, refresh tokens, or bearer tokens used to access protected resources.

The process of creating and managing multiple versions of a connector. Versioning allows you to update connectors while maintaining backward compatibility and preserving existing flows and connections.

A pattern matching character used in error code mapping. For example, 4XX matches all error codes from 400 to 499, and 5XX matches all error codes from 500 to 599.