# CData Sync: Configuring the API Connector **URL:** \ **Category:** How-to with CData\ **Tags:** article, sync, api\ **Created:** [October 25, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://community.cdata.com/t/cdata-sync-configuring-the-api-connector/489 "2023-10-25T15:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jerodj-cdata](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cdata/user_avatar/community.cdata.com/jerodj-cdata/32/7_2.png) [@jerodj-cdata](https://community.cdata.com/u/jerodj-cdata)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://community.cdata.com/t/cdata-sync-configuring-the-api-connector/489/1 "2023-10-25T15:12:56Z")
​The API Connector in CData Sync lets you connect to any API (on-premises or cloud-based) that produces XML or JSON data. This means that you can replicate data from custom or proprietary APIs from your preferred tools and applications, just like you can with data from any of the 250+ natively supported sources. This article guides you through the process of creating a connection to an API and creating tables for various API endpoints. In this article, we will use the Trip Pin RW [OData reference services](https://www.odata.org/getting-started/understand-odata-in-6-steps/), but the principles apply to any API. ## **Create the connection and configure API settings**   1. Navigate to the **Connections** page of CData Sync and click **+ Add Connection**. Search for “API” and choose the API connector. 2. Next name the connection and configure the top-level API Settings. ### **Auth Scheme** By default, an API connector is set to “None” for its **Auth Scheme**. The sample OData API doesn’t require authentication, so we will leave **Auth Scheme** as “None.” For more information on the different authentication types available, refer to our [documentation](https://cdn.cdata.com/help/ASJ/sync/API-Connector.html#set-auth-scheme). ### **Test URL** The **Test URL** is the URL that CData Sync uses to test authentication. Set this to the top-most URL or base URL for your API. For the sample OData API, we use [https://services.odata.org/TripPinRESTierService/](https://services.odata.org/TripPinRESTierService/) ### **Headers**   To add HTTP headers that are sent with all API calls, click **+ Add Header** and set the properties: 1. Enter the header name in the **Name** field. 2. Specify the value of the header in the **Value** field. To add additional headers, click **+ Add Header** and repeat the above steps as required. Since the sample OData API doesn’t require any headers, we can leave this section blank. ### **Create & Test** After configuring the top-level settings, click **Create & Test** to ensure the connection is configured properly. Re-open the connection to add tables. ## **Creating tables**   When creating tables for API Connector, it is important to remember that each table must be created individually to be listed in the Connector’s catalog. To do so, navigate to the **Tables** tab for your connection, click **+ Add Table** , and follow the steps below. ### **Request Details** Choose either Get or Post for the request type, depending on your API specification. Then enter the URL of your API endpoint (e.g. “[https://services.odata.org/v4/TripPinServiceRW/People](https://services.odata.org/v4/TripPinServiceRW/People)”). If you select Post, supply the **Body** to include in the API request. Set the **Format** of the API response. We use **JSON** for the OData API. ![gnL4BvjsDYxdrn7LEA4VT_s-Ehga0ocPJUI-bwROkNg4wBtpos6MaQNnlLMweIpE0W-4r3rIS3JXmX7R6wfgqcLUI9d3eBO9HTwRblw6shtQm0BLtN22MTKIH2tRxmZ3gaa4wBoP6Ibaxa310O4L4Ug](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cdata/original/1X/35cb79b3adfb1d69321c3b2e3700a2c4d7b6e7ef.png) **Parameters** You can add URL parameters to be sent with all API requests for this table. To create a parameter: 1. Enter the parameter **Name**. 2. Specify the parameter **Value**. To add additional parameters, click **Add Param** and repeat the steps above. **Headers** You can add HTTP headers that are sent with all API requests for this table. These headers are in addition to the headers configured when configuring the API connector itself. To add a new header: 1. Enter the header **Name**. 2. Specify the **Value** of the header. To add additional headers, click **Add Header** and repeat the steps above. ### **Table Details** Next you must tell the connector how to model the API’s response into a table. You can use the wizard to make this easier or directly edit the table data settings. **Configure table details using the wizard** 1. Click **Configure Table** in Table Details section to open the configuration wizard. 2. In the configuration wizard, verify the API response, and click **Next**. 3. Use the checkboxes to specify the **Repeat Elements**. These are the elements in your API endpoint response which contains the repeating items to be used as rows. You can select multiple repeat elements if there are repeated elements within multiple paths in the response. 4. Use the checkboxes on the left to select the columns to include in your table. Once you have selected your columns, click **Next**. 5. Double check the preview of your table, set the **Table Name** (e.g. “People”) and click **Confirm**. The Configuration Wizard automatically imports all selected columns into the correct fields, using the path to the field in the response. You can also edit these fields as needed or add new ones manually outside the wizard. **Filters** After creating the table with columns, you can create filters to define the behavior of the API Connector when a WHERE clause is issued during a query. Filters can improve performance by delegating filtering to the API. If no filters are included, query options are processed by CData Sync instead. We won’t enable filters in this example, but to learn more, refer to our [documentation](https://cdn.cdata.com/help/ASJ/sync/API-Connector.html#add-filters). **Pagination** After creating the table with columns, you can configure pagination for your API responses (managing when multiple responses are required to return all of the results of a query). We won’t enable filters in this example, but you can select from a variety of pagination types, supporting the vast majority of APIs.You can choose from these types: - **None** - Select this type if the API request returns the full data set in one response. - **Offset** - Select this type when the API request provides a record offset parameter for paging. For more details, see [Offset Type](https://cdn.cdata.com/help/ASJ/sync/API-Connector.html#offset-type). - **Number** - Select this type when the API request includes a parameter to specify the current page number. For more details, see [Number Type](https://cdn.cdata.com/help/ASJ/sync/API-Connector.html#number-type). - **Token** - Select this type when the API response includes a token for the next page. For more details, see [Token Type](https://cdn.cdata.com/help/ASJ/sync/API-Connector.html#token-type). - **URL** - Select this type when the API response includes a URL for the next page. For more details, see [URL Type](https://cdn.cdata.com/help/ASJ/sync/API-Connector.html#url-type). To learn more about pagination with the API Connector, refer to our [documentation](https://cdn.cdata.com/help/ASJ/sync/API-Connector.html#add-pagination). ## **Free trial & more information**   To learn more about CData Sync and start replicating data from your API data (and data from 250+ other SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources) directly to your preferred data store, visit our [CData Sync](https://www.cdata.com/sync) page or [sign up for a free trial](https://www.cdata.com/sync/start/) today!