| title | description | author | manager | editor | services | documentationcenter | ms.assetid | ms.service | ms.workload | ms.tgt_pltfrm | ms.devlang | ms.topic | ms.date | ms.author |
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Custom connectors overview - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Docs |
Overview about creating custom connectors for supporting and expanding integration scenarios |
ecfan |
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logic-apps |
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logic-apps |
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article |
09/22/2017 |
LADocs; estfan |
Without writing any code, you can build workflows or apps with Azure Logic Apps, Microsoft Flow, or Microsoft PowerApps. To help you integrate your data and business processes, these services offer 100+ connectors, not only for Microsoft services and products like Azure and SQL Server, but other services too, like GitHub, Salesforce, Twitter, and more.
Sometimes though, you might want to call APIs, services, and systems that aren't available as prebuilt connectors. To support more tailored scenarios for your users' business and productivity needs, you can build custom connectors with their own triggers and actions. Custom connectors expand the integrations, reach, discoverability, and use for your service or product, which can help increase and accelerate customer adoption.
For example, this diagram shows the interaction between a Web API, a custom Logic Apps connector created for that API, and a logic app that works with that API by using the custom connector:
This overview outlines the general high-level tasks for creating, securing, registering, and using plus optionally sharing or certifying your connectors:
To build your connector from start to finish, you need these items:
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An Azure subscription. If you don't have a subscription, you can start with a free Azure account. Otherwise, sign up for a Pay-As-You-Go subscription.
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A RESTful API with some type of authenticated access. For more information, see Create custom connectors from Web APIs. For patterns that you can use for your connector's triggers and actions, see Create custom APIs that you can call from logic app workflows.
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Any item here:
- An OpenAPI 2.0 file, previously known as Swagger
- A URL to an OpenAPI definition
- A Postman collection for your API
If you don't have any of these items, we provide guidance for you.
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Optional: An image to use as an icon for your custom connector
Technically, a connector is a wrapper around a REST API that's based on an OpenAPI (formerly Swagger) specification and lets your underlying service talk to Logic Apps, Flow, or PowerApps. So first, you need a fully functioning API before you create your custom connector.
You can use any language and platform for your API. For Microsoft technologies, we recommend one of these platforms:
For example, this tutorial shows how to build a custom connector from a Web API. For patterns that you can use for your connector's triggers and actions, see Create custom APIs that you can call from logic app workflows.
You can use these authentication standards for your APIs and connectors:
- OAuth 2.0, including Azure Active Directory or specific services, such as Dropbox, GitHub, and SalesForce
- Generic OAuth 2.0
- Basic authentication
- API Key
You can set up Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication for your API in the Azure portal so you don't have to implement authentication through code. Or, you can require and enforce authentication through your API's code.
For more information, follow the appropriate tutorials:
- Logic Apps: Secure your custom connector
- Flow: Secure your custom connector
- PowerApps: Secure your custom connector
Assuming that your API has some type of authenticated access, you need to describe your API's interface and operations so that Logic Apps, Flow, or PowerApps can communicate with your API. Use one of these industry standard definitions:
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An OpenAPI 2.0 file You can start by building with an existing OpenAPI file.
If you're new to OpenAPI, visit Getting started with Swagger on the swagger.io site. For an example OpenAPI file, see the Text Analytics API documentation.
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A Postman collection, which automatically generates an OpenAPI file for you. When you don't already have an OpenAPI file and don't want to create one, you can still easily create a custom connector by using a Postman collection.
If you're new to Postman, install the Postman app from their site. For more information, see Describe custom connectors with Postman.
Important
Your file size must be less than 1 MB.
Behind the scenes, Logic Apps, Flow, and PowerApps ultimately use OpenAPI, parses a Postman collection, and translates the collection to an OpenAPI definition file. Although OpenAPI 2.0 and Postman collections use different formats, both are language-agnostic, machine-readable documents that describe your API's operations and parameters. You can generate these documents from various tools, based on the language and platform used your API. You can also build an OpenAPI file when you register your connector.
For example, you can create an OpenAPI file or a Postman collection from any REST API endpoint, including:
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Publicly available connectors, for example, Spotify, Slack, Rackspace, and so on
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An API that you created and deployed to any cloud hosting provider, such as Azure, Heroku, Google Cloud, and more
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A custom line-of-business API that's deployed to your network but only if that API is exposed on the public internet
The registration process helps Logic Apps, Flow, or PowerApps understand your API's characteristics, including the description, required authentication, and operations, including the parameters and outputs for each operation. When you start the registration process, you can provide either an OpenAPI file or a Postman collection, which automatically populates the metadata fields in the registration wizard. You can edit these fields' values at any time.
To register your connector, follow the appropriate tutorial:
- Logic Apps: Register your connector
- Flow: Register your connector
- PowerApps: Register your connector
You can use your connector in the same way that you use Microsoft-managed connectors. For example, in a logic app workflow, add your custom connector so you can create a connection to your API, and call any operations that the API provides in the same way that you call operations for Microsoft-managed connectors.
You can share your connector with users in your organization in the same way that you share resources in Logic Apps, Flow, or PowerApps. Although sharing is optional, you might have scenarios where you want to share your connectors with other users.
Registered but uncertified custom connectors work like Microsoft-managed connectors, but are visible and available only to the connector's author and users who have the same Azure Active Directory tenant and Azure subscription for logic apps in the region where those apps are deployed. The next step discusses how you can share your connector with external users outside these boundaries, for example, with all Logic Apps, Flow, and PowerApps users.
Important
If you share a connector, others might start to depend on that connector. Deleting your connector deletes all connections to that connector.
To optionally share your connector with all users in Logic Apps, Flow, and PowerApps, submit your connector for Microsoft certification. This process reviews your connector, checks for technical and content compliance, and validates functionality for Logic Apps, Flow, and PowerApps before Microsoft can publish your connector. Learn how to submit your connector for Microsoft certification.
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For support with onboarding and development, email [email protected]. Microsoft actively monitors this account for developer questions and problems, and routes them to the appropriate team.
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For frequently asked questions, see the Custom connector FAQ