Learn how to connect a custom integration using the API in FireMate Desktop!
Product: FireMate Desktop
Contents
- Understanding custom integrations using the FireMate API
- How to locate the API key within FireMate
- How to create an API key within FireMate
- How to change the API Key and Password
- How to remove/delete an existing API key
Understanding custom integrations using the FireMate API
API stands for application programming interface, which is a set of definitions and protocols for building and integrating application software.
FireMate Desktop includes an API that customers can use to integrate with third-party systems. To make use of the API, you will first need to generate an API key within FireMate. The API key is used to authenticate requests to the API to ensure only legitimate sources can access your data.
If you have an idea for an integration, please get in touch with us to explore our options!
To be able to generate an API key for your system, you must have appropriate permissions as a FireMate Administrator in FireMate Desktop.
How to locate the API key within FireMate
To locate (or begin creating) an API key within FireMate Desktop, please follow the steps below:
To be able to generate an API key for your system, you must have appropriate permissions as a FireMate Administrator in FireMate Desktop.
- Log in to FireMate Desktop
- Within the main FireMate navigation bar, select [Admin]
- From the dropdown, select [System Configuration]
- Within the pop-up, select the [FireMate APIs] tab
How to create an API key within FireMate
To create an API key within FireMate Desktop, please follow the steps below:
- Locate the API section within FireMate. Click here to learn how.
- To generate a new API key, select [Generate New Key & Password] at the bottom of the window
- the key and password will be displayed in the FireMate API Access text box.
- When making an API request, the authentication type should be set to basic with the API key input into the username field and the API password into the password field.
- Check out the note below for API Endpoint documentation
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Once an API key and password have been generated, there are some additional options that will appear at the bottom of the window. Use these as required.
- Copy Key to Clipboard allows you to copy the API key to your clipboard and paste it into the appropriate credentials store or API testing tool such as Postman.
- Copy Password to Clipboard allows you to copy the API password to your clipboard and paste it into the appropriate credentials store or API testing tool such as Postman.
- Delete Key allows you to delete the API key and password.
It is very important that the API key and password are not saved in plain text in a cloud storage service such as OneDrive or checked in to your source control system as this poses a security risk.
How to change the API Key and Password
An additional recommendation is the periodic rotation of your API key and password to ensure protection of your data that is accessible via the API.
This can be achieved using the following steps:
- Locate the API section within FireMate Desktop. Click here to learn how.
- Select [Generate New Key & Password]
- Update the integration(s) to use the new API key and password
- Once all integrations have been updated with the new credentials and verified to be working, delete the old API key and password.
How to remove/delete an existing API key
Where an API is no longer required, it is recommended to delete the API key and password. However, it is important to ensure that you no longer have any integrations running that require the API key and password as they will fail if the API key and password are deleted.
To delete the API key and password, please follow the steps below:
- Locate the API section within FireMate Desktop. Click here to learn how.
- Select the API key and password that requires deleting.
- Select [Delete Key]
