LearningBuilder already supports integrations with third-party systems to keep data flowing through your certification management processes. With our latest release, your program staff can now configure API calls to outside systems directly inside LearningBuilder’s Workflow tools. No ticket, no waiting on our Integration Services team, and no advanced technical knowledge required.
The How, What, And Why of API Calls:
You’re likely fairly fluent in the language of integrations already, but just in case, here’s a quick reminder:
Application programming interfaces (APIs) are how one software program talks to another, and API calls are the actual back-and-forth of that conversation. An API call is a request sent to a server that asks the API to perform an action or return information.
For example, when you order at a restaurant, you don’t make the food yourself (unless, of course, it’s part of the dining experience). Rather, you tell the server what you want, they take the request to the kitchen, and the kitchen sends back your meal. You don’t need to know how the kitchen works; you only have to know how to place the order. APIs work the same way for software. The order is the API call.
APIs are woven into nearly every web application today, so API calls are happening constantly in the background. When, for example, a credential management platform needs to verify an applicant’s membership status, it sends an API call to the association’s AMS and receives a response in what feels like one seamless action.
Why the Change in LearningBuilder’s Approach to API Call Configuration?
We have built a number of “first-class” integrations, like the Credly integration we launched in 2024, directly into the LearningBuilder product.
But there are hundreds of systems out there that you might want to request data from, and for which we don’t have a first-class integration. We do have features that allow us to configure API calls to those systems, but instead of friendly point-and-click configuration screens, they require advanced technical configuration.
In the past, when you needed to set up or manage one of these integrations, you’d file a ticket. You’d wait for the Heuristics Integration Services team to review it and perform the configuration on your behalf — even for minor updates. We wanted to offer our clients more hands-on options for their third-party API calls. And that’s why we built LearningBuilder’s new OpenAI tools: Now, your program staff admins can configure Workflow Actions to perform API calls all on their own.
What does that mean for your organization?
- Faster turnaround times: You can skip the ticket queue for routine integration work.
- Enhanced self-service: Changes to API call configurations are in your hands and can be made at your convenience.
- Workflow-native tooling: Integration configuration lives alongside the rest of your workflow configuration, so the people who manage your processes can also manage the API calls that support them.
- Possibilities beyond point-and-click: If you’re feeling especially technical, you can do even more.
We Define the API Specifications, You Manage the Workflow Configuration
So what’s changed? LearningBuilder now supports OpenAPI Specifications, which are an open standard for defining API calls. Once those calls are defined, LearningBuilder admins can reference them in the Workflow configuration.
The short version? You no longer need our services team to configure those API calls.
The long version: With this configuration tooling available in the admin area, your team can take integration management into their own hands. Your admins can configure Workflow Actions to perform API calls against third-party services for which LearningBuilder does not have a built-in integration.
You don’t have to configure API specifications from scratch; you can now update credentials, swap server URLs, or adjust parameter mappings yourself using point-and-click tools (and without waiting on us).
For more technical details, see our LearningBuilder 13.5 Release Notes.
Inside the Workflow: An Interface to Configure API Calls
How can a LearningBuilder admin put these tools into practice? Within a Workflow pop-up, a button can be configured to trigger an API call to perform an action (like issuing a digital badge).
To configure that button, first choose the API you want to call. Next, select the operation to perform. Finally, map the API’s input parameters to the relevant LearningBuilder data fields. That’s that! Not only can your admins perform this configuration themselves, but they can also update it later if needed.
What’s not needed? A support ticket.
The Next Level: Self-Service API Specifications
If your organization can confidently configure Workflow Actions for your API calls and your staff are in a “technical DIY” frame of mind, they can go further on their own. The OpenAI specifications are now live in the Admin area, which means your staff can define them as well, if desired.
With that said, OpenAPI specifications are based on large, often complex JSON documents. You might never want to work with them, and that’s totally fine. Our team can configure the API Specification, and your team can maintain the configuration. Some of our more technically-inclined LearningBuilder admins, however, may feel confident in their ability to work with those specifications. Thus, we decided to stop hiding the means to do so away in LearningBuilder’s Sys Admin area.
We also know that many AI agents can comfortably handle OpenAPI specifications. If the API you want to use already publishes an OpenAPI specification, you can drop it straight into the system. If it doesn’t, you can offer your AI Agent a link to the API documentation, ask it to generate one for you, and then drop it into the system.
LearningBuilder: Low-Code Tools, Expert Technical Services
We’re always working to remove blocks to self-service and create opportunities for LearningBuilder users to do more in the system. This is a first step, but it’s far from the last.
If you’re a current LearningBuilder user and you want to explore the possibilities of these new tools for third-party API calls, let your Customer Success Lead know. If you’re still evaluating potential credential management solutions, schedule a discovery call with us to learn more about the LearningBuilder difference.
