[1] Introduction
akaBot App Connect is the component of the akaBot Platform that makes the automation of third-party applications much easier by standardizing authorization and authentication, helping you manage API connections, and also allowing faster integration into SaaS platforms.
By using pre-built APIs, the development of automation projects in akaBot Studio is more simple and more consistent, regardless of the third-party applications you are automating.
In a nutshell, App Connect does the following:
- Enables automation with an out-of-the-box library of connectors.
- Helps set up and manage connections easily with standardized authentication.
- Enables kicking off automation with server-side triggers or events.
- Provides curated activities and events (with additional data filters) for ease of use.
- Simplifies automation design by providing a uniform experience across all Studio designers.
The three components of App Connect are:
- Connectors
- Connections
- Triggers
Connectors
App Connect comes with a large and growing catalog of popular, pre-built connectors. Any third-party application can be coupled with the specific connector and server-side triggers so that robots react and respond automatically. Once set up, these connectors can be used in akaBot Studio and other products as well, such as akaBot Apps. Each connector has its own separate section in this user guide, so check out the documentation for the connectors you want to use.
Activity packages
Each third-party application connector comes with a dedicated set of activities that allows you to combine automation at the API level with regular UI automation for that specific application.
The activity packages help you reduce the process development efforts for API-based native integrations. These native integrations allow robots to seamlessly communicate directly with third-party systems as part of an automated process.
Compared to UI Automation, API Automation often requires specific target platform knowledge and API automation development skills. Nevertheless, once implemented, API automations typically run a lot faster than UI-based automations and usually require significant less maintenance.
Connections
Connections allow you to establish tasks and exchanges between single users and external applications using the authentication process of the API provider.
When you select a connector, the connections for that specific connector are displayed. In the Connections tab, however, you can see a list of all the defined connections for all the connectors. If the connection status indicates Success, it means that the connections are functional and you can start using them in akaBot Studio to create automation projects.
For more information, check out the Connections page.
Triggers
Triggers provide a mechanism for subscribing to specific events from the third-party applications, giving you the flexibility to automatically start processes in Orchestrator. Automation can be kicked off based on events in connected systems by using triggers. Before using triggers, you need to have an automation project created, published and a trigger configured for that specific context. For more information, check out the Triggers page.