Answer
Before using the ANVL REST API, confirm that your team has a defined business use case, clear data or record scope, technical ownership, destination or source system, security plan, refresh or sync cadence, validation approach, and support owner.
The API is best used when your team needs repeatable access to ANVL data for reporting, analytics, data warehouse loading, or supported integration workflows. It may also support documented record creation or sync workflows where available, such as supported Work Item automation. Common API areas include organization data, Groups/sites, users, workflows, workflow responses, Work Items, and Work Item Categories.
Do not assume the API can create, update, delete, modify, or write back to all ANVL records. For any record creation, sync, update, or automation use case, confirm that the specific behavior is documented in the ANVL API documentation and approved through the appropriate support, account, or integration request process.
Follow the steps below before building an API connection, expanding an existing API use case, or relying on API data or API-created records in a production report, dashboard, data pipeline, workflow, or integration.
Steps
1. Review the business goal.
Confirm what business question, reporting need, process, or integration the API will support.
Ask:
What decision, report, workflow, or operational process will improve once the API is in use?
Is this for reporting, analytics, data warehouse loading, system integration, data extraction, supported record creation, or supported Work Item automation?
Is the need already covered by ANVL standard reports, Power BI reports, exports, or custom reporting support?
For record creation or sync workflows, is the specific API behavior documented and approved?
2. Confirm the data or record scope.
Identify the ANVL data your team needs to extract or the ANVL records your team needs to create or sync.
Ask:
Which Groups or sites are in scope?
Which workflows are in scope?
Do you need workflow records, workflow responses, users, Groups, Work Items, or Work Item Categories?
For record creation or sync workflows, what records will be created or synced in ANVL?
What historical date range is needed, if data will be extracted?
Is this a one-time backfill, ongoing sync, record creation workflow, or a combination?
3. Identify the destination or source system.
For data extraction, confirm where the ANVL data will go.
Examples include:
Power BI
Tableau
Snowflake
Azure
SQL Server
Data lake
ERP
Work order system
Internal application
For record creation or sync workflows, confirm where the source data will come from.
Examples include:
ERP
Work order system
Maintenance system
Scheduling system
Internal application
Middleware or integration platform
4. Define the refresh or sync cadence.
Confirm how often data needs to update or records need to sync.
Ask:
Does the data need to refresh daily, hourly, weekly, or near-real-time?
Does the record creation or sync process need to run on a schedule, event trigger, or manual trigger?
Is near-real-time truly required?
Would a scheduled refresh or sync meet the business need?
What business risk exists if the refresh or sync is delayed?
5. Assign ownership.
Confirm who owns each part of the API use case.
Identify:
Business owner
Technical owner
Destination system owner, if data is being extracted
Source system owner, if records are being created or synced
Analytics or BI owner, if reporting is involved
Security owner
Validation owner
Support owner after go-live
6. Confirm security expectations.
Confirm how credentials, extracted ANVL data, source data, and created or synced ANVL records will be protected.
Ask:
Who will receive and manage API credentials?
Where will credentials be stored?
Has internal IT or security review been completed?
Who can access the extracted ANVL data?
Who can access the source data used for record creation or sync?
How will credential rotation or revocation be handled?
Do not store API credentials in source code, Excel files, shared folders, emails, BI report files, or other unmanaged locations.
7. Plan validation.
Decide how your team will confirm that API data or API-created records are correct.
For data extraction, compare API results to an ANVL report, Power BI report, export, or screen using the same:
Group/site
Date range
Workflow
Status
User, if applicable
Timezone assumptions
For record creation or sync workflows, confirm:
The record was created or synced in the correct Group/site
Required fields are populated correctly
Source system values match ANVL values
Duplicate records were not created
Errors or rejected records are logged and reviewed
8. Confirm support readiness.
Confirm who will troubleshoot subscriber-side issues after the API is in use.
Ask:
Who will troubleshoot code, jobs, dashboards, data pipelines, source systems, destination systems, or sync processes?
What logs will be captured?
Who will review failed records or failed API jobs?
Who will open support requests if escalation is needed?
What information will be provided to ANVL Support?
Helpful logs may include:
Endpoint
Timestamp
Status code
Record count
Source record ID
ANVL record ID, if available
Job or run ID
Failure reason
Error message
Retry attempts
9. Review the API documentation.
Use the ANVL API documentation site and OpenAPI documentation to confirm available endpoints, schemas, parameters, required fields, accepted values, request examples, and response examples before building.
For record creation, update, sync, or automation workflows, confirm that the specific method and behavior are documented before implementation.
10. Decide whether the use case is ready.
Your team is likely ready to use the API when:
The use case is defined
A technical owner is assigned
Data or record scope is clear
The destination system, source system, or both are known
Security owner is identified
Refresh or sync cadence is defined
Validation method is defined
Support owner is assigned
Any record creation, sync, update, or automation behavior is documented and approved
Your team is likely not ready if:
The request is exploratory and not tied to a defined business process
No technical owner exists
Scope is “all data” without a clear business reason
The source or destination system is unknown
Required fields, filters, or accepted values are unclear
No validation owner exists
No support owner exists
The use case assumes unsupported write-back, record modification, or automation behavior