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Looking to connect to a third party application beyond Workiva's prebuilt Premium Connectors? You can achieve this by leveraging the HTTP Request Connector Commands to interact with REST APIs. 

Note: Although this is labeled as HTTP Request, HTTPS (Secure HTTP) is supported (and recommended).

In this Connected Learning Path, we will update our Chain to use Runtime Inputs where we can specify which spreadsheet we want to retrieve.

Step 1: Copy and Modify a Chain

1. Navigate to Chain Builder and locate the Chain CLP | HTTP Request List Spreadsheets.
2. Click the vertical ellipse to Copy the chain.
3. Click the pencil icon to edit the Chain.
4. Click Chain Settings in the top right, and rename the Chain: CLP | HTTP Request Get a Single Spreadsheet.
5. (Optional) Enter a Description: "This chain generates a new Workiva API Access Token. You must provide a valid Client ID and Client Secret from a previously generated API Grant in the variable values below. When the Chain is executed, it will prompt the user to enter a Spreadsheet ID.  The Chain will retrieve the Spreadsheet."
6. Save the Chain.

Step 2: Runtime Inputs

Use the Runtime Inputs Chain Event to kick off the Chain.
This allows us to specify the Spreadsheet ID of the Spreadsheet we want to get. Read more about Runtime Inputs.

1. Move the POST - Retrieve a Token Command off the Start Node.
2. Add a Runtime Inputs Chain Event from Chain Trigger Events to the Start Node.
3. Double click the link that joins Runtime Inputs to the Get - List Spreadsheets Command and delete the link.
4. Connect Runtime Inputs to the POST - Retrieve a Token Command.

5. Connect the POST - Retrieve a Token Command to the GET - List Spreadsheets Command.

   

6. Double-click the Runtime Inputs Chain Event to configure it.
7. Click Add Input and configure the following fields:
   • Type: Text field
   • Display Name: Spreadsheet ID - check out this document for help finding the ID
   • Required: Mark this checkbox
8. (Optional) Enter a Description: "This command allows the user to specify values of required runtime inputs."
9. Save the Command.

Step 3: Update Get Command

We will update the HTTP Request Get Command in order to give us the details about a single Spreadsheet instead of listing all Spreadsheets in the Workspace.

1. Double click on the Get - List of Spreadsheets Command to configure it.
   1. Name the Command: Get - Retrieve a Single Spreadsheet.

   2. Use the Spreadsheet ID variable from Runtime Inputs within the URL field to specify which Spreadsheet to retrieve.
      To do this, click on the URL field, and after /spreadsheets add "/< Spreadsheet ID >", 
      replacing <Spreadsheet ID> with the Variable from Runtime Inputs as follows:

      

      1. In the left panel, expand the Trigger dropdown.
      2. Expand the Runtime Inputs dropdown.
      3. Select the Spreadsheet ID variable.

2. (Optional) Enter a Description: "This command returns a single Spreadsheet. For more information, see the developer documentation at https://developers.workiva.com/platform-v1/platform-getspreadsheetbyid/"
3. Save the Command.

Step 4: Test the Exercise

Now that the Chain is complete, we can test the result.

1. Publish the Chain.
2. Click Execute, and then Run with Inputs.
3. Find a Spreadsheet ID, by navigating to a Spreadsheet in the Workiva Platform.  Ensure the grant user has permission to this spreadsheet.
4. Click Start.
5. Once the Chain completes its run, you can see that the spreadsheet details have been generated within the Outputs tab - Response Body of the Get Command.