API Questions

mjbernier

Hello, I'm new to Smartsheet but an old hand at data analytics. We have a group using Smartsheet to manage their project data, and they have asked to have their data merged with other in-house databases to provide consistent reporting. We are looking at using the API to set up an automated process to read their sheets and store the data in-house, and have been trying to decipher their documentation. We've got a couple of sticking points and wonder if anyone here might know how these work off the top of their heads:

1 - As I said, we want to set up an automated process where an in-house job kicks off a series of API calls to read the sheets and write the outputs to local files. What we understand is an API key needs to be generated to do this, but we're finding notes that also say those API keys have to be refreshed every few days? Is there any way we can accomplish the connectivity we're seeking without that hassle? Is the OAuth authentication I've seen a possible solution?

2 - We would like this automated process to be managed through a servicing account (i.e. an internal account that is not tied to a specific user as part of their daily work). We have such an account created and have a Smartsheet license assigned to it, but we are having trouble with getting through the process of validating it for use; Smartsheet wants us to respond to an e-mail being sent to the account, but for security reasons this type of account is not assigned a mailbox for sending or receiving messages. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

Krissia B.

Hello @mjbernier

I see that you have submitted a case ticket with Smartsheet Support regarding this topic. At this time, this is the better route to take for your specific question!

Kind regards~

Krissia

mjbernier

Thank you for your reply, but when should I expect a response on my ticket? Most of the vendors I've worked with respond within 24 hours at the most; I entered that latest ticket four days ago and have heard nothing. My previous ticket asking about the API waited for a week before I got a response that was nothing more than marketing fluff copied from the website.

Paul Newcome

Did you respond to that email response letting them know that it did not solve your problem?

mjbernier

Hi Paul,

Most definitely I did... and if someone there actually read that reply, they might have noticed I was not a very happy camper.

I did receive a reply after my second attempt at opening a case, and while I only received a clear answer to my first question above it was enough for us to continue moving forward (that answer, by the way, is that "once a token is created it does not expire unless you revoke it"). I still don't have any reply on my service account question, which I can still wait a little while longer on as we work on the API piece of our project.

Paul Newcome

In my experience, tokens don't expire. They may have something built in for an automatic expiration after so many days of not being used, but I am not sure on that one.

As for the servicing account... Are you able to get it temporarily turned on so that you can at least get it all validated and set up and then turn it back off?

mjbernier

Thanks for the confirmation on the tokens; that's what their customer support had said.

The catch with the service account is that we don't normally configure them to have mailboxes. I can have one added, but I was trying to avoid that if possible. If that's the route we need to take, I'll make it happen. Thanks for the suggestion.

bburrets

Hi @mjbernier, pleasure to meet you.

1 - As I said, we want to set up an automated process where an in-house job kicks off a series of API calls to read the sheets and write the outputs to local files. What we understand is an API key needs to be generated to do this, but we're finding notes that also say those API keys have to be refreshed every few days?

API keys shouldn't need to be refreshed every few days. If you generate one with an account in Smartsheet, the token will stay valid until that account holder revokes the token OR some other administrative action revokes said token.

Is there any way we can accomplish the connectivity we're seeking without that hassle? Is the OAuth authentication I've seen a possible solution?

OAuth authentication is a possible solution but will not get around the fact that a 'user' account that will own a token, must have an email address associated with it.

2 - We would like this automated process to be managed through a servicing account (i.e. an internal account that is not tied to a specific user as part of their daily work). We have such an account created and have a Smartsheet license assigned to it, but we are having trouble with getting through the process of validating it for use; Smartsheet wants us to respond to an e-mail being sent to the account, but for security reasons this type of account is not assigned a mailbox for sending or receiving messages. Any suggestions?

Like I stated above, you'll need to work to get a mailbox assigned to the account. We deal with this constantly with our clients. Also watch out for 2FA requirements for interactive users. We've run into this hurdle as well at times.