Month: May 2021

Pathfix Automation runs on APIs only (think: if Zapier and Postman had a baby), so it made sense for us to spend a lot of time to build out a slick and easy to use API builder.

With Automation, we want to give our users the ability to:

• build complex workflows (both internal and user-facing)
• call any API
• enrich the data
• transform data
• send to the next API

……..and essentially, work the way they wanted – without any limitations!

This made the API builder a very cruicial feature in our platform.

What is Pathfix Automation?

Automation is an API based automation platform that allows users to build flows using only APIs. Users can add multiple APIs and then stitch them all together to build out any automation they want.

The Automation platform came from the idea that existing tools are a bit too restrictive and doesn't allow you to simply work with APIs.

So, based on many (many!) user requests, we decided to build a platform that ran purely on APIs, this meant that you can automate any process with any provider that has an API available.

Not just internal automation – More exciting is that you would be able to add user facing automation (integration) to your platform.

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The API Builder

We needed to start by answering the basic questions:

• How many APIs will our users have
• Should we have one dedicated page for APIs built (or, have it accessible from a popup)
• Allow for Search by multiple methods (keywords, url etc.)

We knew our users will have multiple APIs (I mean, ours is an API ONLY automation platform) but, we did not want them to lose context by leaving their design environment.

Enter – Single Page App

We added Design, Connections, Constants and the most important APIs as a quick popup – all without the user ever leaving their design environment.

Et Voila!

Design With Function

We just had one goal – make adding APIs effortless!

To achieve this, we started to look at other API builders and connectors. Read reviews, researched on forums to understand what users wanted and what caused them the most pain while adding APIs.

Here’s where we settled:

• It needed to be nocode (read: no nonsense)
• Postman was the standard when it came to working with APIs. It’s ease of use and general ‘known’ feel was unmatched of course
• Bubble.io’s API Connector was simple, to the point and had a few elements we knew we could use (yes, the API Connector is a bit complex and has wayyy too many options that complicate makers. But we’re not gonna go there 🙂 )

With this in mind, we started building out the API Builder. We knew we had to have the basic functionality including calling multiple methods, endpoint, Body, Headers and Query Params

Here’s what the builder looks like:

Apart from these, we added a few features that checked the ‘convenience factor’ box.

• Import configuration from library (ours and yours)
• Import from CURL
• Import from JSON
• Export to JSON

This just made it super easy to work with APIs. So if you are not familiar with working with APIs, simply import a curl and we will get you all sorted!

Dynamic Values

The power of Pathfix Automation was in the fact that we allowed users to play with the data received, handle the transformation and push dynamic data to another API.

Since Dynamic Values was pretty important, we added the easiest way for users to add this – add <> brackets to any dynamic field.

Once added, users can simply select the dynamic values for these fields from any API calls made in the flow.

See what we did there? Our 4th task used data pulled from our 2nd and 3rd task. Just select the API and select the field.

Automation takes care of the rest!

API Builder Video

We created a video that details how you can use the API builder and walks through how it works.

Conclusion

Building the API Builder was definitely a challenge. The team at Pathfix took on the challenge head-on and fun along the way!

Sign up free for our Automation platform and take the Builder for a spin.

Building a software company is hard work.

• You build your software
• reach Product-Market fit
• hire employees

…… all the while trying to grow your software platform to include all the bells and whistles your customers expect from your platform.

One of the key features that is always on top of your list is Integrations.

Customers love your product and the data they get from you, but they also want to be able to work with data they get from other software solution that they already use.

So, the question is – should you add those integrations natively or do you just add one integration to Zapier and let your customers work outside your software?

As an integration and automation platform, we at Pathfix absolutely love Zapier (hey, we built our Automation platform that directly competes with them, so they are definitely doing something right that we absolutely love!).

But the question remains, should you send your customers to a Zapier to figure out their automations?

Is Zapier the right solution for you?

We spoke to hundreds of founders, developers, nocode makers and found that the number one reason they think of adding Zapier to their integration is convenience. The fact that you can add 1 integration that gives your customers access to 1500+ app is unmatched.

While true, there is a huge downside to this thinking. You are essentially doing one of these 3 things:

1. Ownership: You are transferring the responsibility and ownership of integrations to your customer (read: hey user, there is another software that can do this for you, go there and figure out what you want).
2. Time spent on your app: You have essentially sent your customers outside your platform (read: they now spend less time on your platform)
3. Cost: You are asking your users to incur additional cost, the cost of integrating into your app by subscribing to a 3rdparty integrator.

This doesn’t sound right, does it?

Successful companies grow and maintain that growth by keeping their customers within their platform.

The more time and dependency they build with your platform, the longer they stay (look at that, you solved a potential retention issue as well!).

Should you still integrate with Zapier?

Absolutely!

Zapier is a powerful platform that gives your customers unmatched flexibility and connectivity.

However, it should not be a permanent/only integration connection. Here’s when you should consider it:

1. You are an early startup with no devs to spare and a deadline (that possibly ended yesterday)
2. You are looking for a short term quick fix (keyword: short term) to your integration needs

Lets face it, you are not going to build integrations to all hundreds of platforms, include all possible scenarios.

But, does this mean you only add 1 integration and move on? Absolutely not!

You cannot transfer ownership and costs over to your customers and call it a day. You need to start thinking working on your integration strategy.

So, what does it take for you to add native integrations to your platform?

Adding Integrations To Your Platform

Any user facing integration starts with data access. This is solved via OAuth.

Simply put, oauth is an open authorization framework built to enable secure access od data from one provider to another.

Here is how a typical oauth process works (don’t worry about memorizing it):

Now I am not going to tell you building oauth an easy process (well, before Pathfix at least). It’s not.

Hell, we have built our whole business on oauth and the simplification of the oauth process.

Building out an oauth framework is time consuming, costs a lot and requires a certain skill set (apart from the fact that most devs absolutely hate working on it).

But since we have built the Pathfix OAuth Platform to handle oauth, you can save hours of dev time and just skip to the front of the line (yes, we handle all of the above complexity).

Essentially, you can get connected to multiple apps and have your Integrations section look something like this:

Then it all comes down to the nuances of your integrations:

• What data do you want to share
• What data do you want to get
• Is it read only or do you want to write to other apps

And so on…

Apart from the UI, the rest can get done by building/leveraging automations.

Got APIs ready to connect?

If you have APIs that are ready to consume, you can easily build out your data automation using Pathfix Automation. You simply run the oauth for your users using the Pathfix OAuth platform and trigger user specific automations in Pathfix Automation.

No APIs?

If you are serious about integrations, you need to be integration ready. This means building out a few basic APIs (even if its not public). This will allow you to be integration ready and start offering integrations to your users.

Build out your Automation

Add user facing integrations quickly with the Pathfix Automation platform. Trigger an automation flow by calling an Endpoint or by Event (scheduled).

Since OAuth and Automation are both tools by Pathfix, building your integrations are super easy!

Conclusion

Integrations are crucial. While there are workflow and integration platforms that your users can always turn to, you still need to think Integration.

Software platforms have seen tremendous growth by simply implementing an integration strategy.

If you are ready to build out your integrations, check out the Pathfix platforms for your specific needs:

• OAuth platform: solve your oauth connectivity
• Automation platform: Build out your business automation with APIs

Need help with your integrations? Reach out to us and we will be happy to set this up for you.