The document provides an overview of Administrate's API platform. It describes the key components of the Administrate API, including the GraphQL API, developer portal, and webhooks. It then discusses how webhooks allow for real-time notifications when events occur, using an example of integrating with Acclaim for digital badges. Finally, it introduces the Piston design system for building consistent user interfaces and how customers can use the platform to build custom solutions that integrate with Administrate.

1. A Deep Dive into the API
- Iain Brown

3. What Do We Mean Platform?

4. What Do We Mean Platform?

5. Platform - How We Got Here
Products Exist to Solve Problems:
• Outlook - Email
• Zoom/GoToMeeting - Video Conferencing
• Xero/Quickbooks - Manage Finances

6. Products Exist to Solve Problems:
• Outlook - Email
• Zoom/GoToMeeting - Video Conferencing
• Xero/Quickbooks - Manage Finances
Companies will use many of
these Product to solve their
problems.
This can lead to isolated pockets
of information or functionality.
Platform - How We Got Here

7. Enterprise Resource Planning
In Theory:
✓Dedicated Software designed to
do everything for everyone
✓No more pockets of information
✓Streamline business processes

8. Enterprise Resource Planning
In Practice:
- Can’t possibly fulfil every
business’s needs
- Very Expensive
- Difficult to set up
- Even More Expensive to
leave/migrate

9. What Do We Mean Platform?
A Platform enables you to connect
the various workflows and tools to
make your business efficient and
effective
So You Can Continue to:
✓To use the product you love
✓Without isolating information to
one island
✓Without locking yourself into
expensive, overly complicated
solutions.

10. What Is The Platform?

11. What Is The Platform?
•The Administrate API
•Piston Design System

12. The Administrate API
The Administrate API has three main Components:
➡ GraphQL API
➡ The Developer Portal
➡ Webhooks

13. The Administrate API
GraphQL API
• GraphQL is a new technology we are using to solve our API woes.
• Developed by Facebook
• It’s a dramatic departure from REST
• It has live up-to-date documentation
• You get exactly what you ask for

14. The Administrate API
The Developer Portal
• A Playground to test out GraphQL queries
• Use Sandbox Data to test against
• Copy/Paste Queries directly into your code
• Living Documentation which is up to date at all times
• Cut out the middle man - You don’t need a developer to create
queries of your own

16. The Administrate API
Webhooks
• Get notified when things happen in Administrate in real time
• Leverage the API to execute queries and forward data on
• Integrate far more easily with external services

17. The Administrate API
Webhooks
No more continuous polling API’s every 5 minutes to check “Are we
there yet”!

18. The Administrate API
A Case Study - Acclaim
The Problem
Forgerock wanted to integrate Administrate with Acclaim - An Open Digital Badge Product in order to globally
recognise they had completed their courses.
"A digital badge is a credential, backed up by an awarding organisation (the badge issuer) that can be
validated."
They wanted to integrate Administrate with Acclaim to connect these pockets of information together, in
order to seamlessly add value to their business and end users

19. The Administrate API
A Case Study - Acclaim
Before Webhooks:

20. The Administrate API
A Case Study - Acclaim
Before Webhooks:
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?” “Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”

21. The Administrate API
A Case Study - Acclaim
Before Webhooks:
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?” “Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
“Have they completed the thing yet?”
…For every student in the system, every 5 minutes

22. The Administrate API
A Case Study - Acclaim
How we solved this with Webhooks:
1. We added a webhook to fire when a student ‘Completes’ a piece of work in Administrate
2. We have a small service which queries our API to check if the student has met sufficient criteria
3. It then issues a globally recognised badge within Acclaim
4. It also marks the Student as having passed the course within Administrate

23. The Administrate API
A Case Study - Acclaim

24. Piston Design System
• Piston is a UI Toolkit built to provide a consistent Administrate Experience
• Defines reusable components that can be combined to build up a page
• It’s components, but it’s also the patterns and relationships between them
• Guidelines between what when and why
• It will be used internally by the TMS, and by Pro-Services
• ‘Plays nicely’ with GraphQL
• We wanted to extract out Design Language into a reusable system for Customers, Third
Parties and ourselves

25. Piston Design System

26. Piston Design System

27. Piston Design System
• This is our Sales Opportunities Page
• Recreated very quickly using Piston
• Powered by the Administrate
GraphQL API

28. Piston Design System
• Now, with Piston it is comprised of a
small set of components linked
together
• Rather than a fully custom page

29. The Platform
•The Administrate API
•Piston Design System

30. How Does This Work In Practice
• We have a very real Customer Problem
• Our data visualisation within Administrate isn’t fantastic
• e.g Resource Bookings, Instructor Holidays, Instructor Bookings
• For most customers, it doesn’t solve their problems
• They need a richer, more powerful experience

31. How Does This Work In Practice

32. How Does This Work In Practice
• We can launch our customers over to a page built using the Piston
Design System
• We can use our API to query data within Administrate
• We display that in a manner consistent with our design ethos
• We can add much richer and more powerful User Experience

33. How Does This Work In Practice
Benefits for Users:
✓ Continue using the software they love
✓ Consistent, yet tailored experience
✓ Don’t have to re-learn the system after every
new feature
✓ Less frustration
✓ Less jarring

34. How Does This Work In Practice
Benefits for Administrate:
✓ Don’t build something that might not make
sense for every user, leading to a better overall
Product
✓ Reduces bottlenecks for building new features
for the application
✓ We can continue focusing on expanding the
Platform, without disruption to the roadmap
✓ Can take this in-house to the application if it
does make sense for users
Benefits for Users:
✓ Continue using the software they love
✓ Consistent, yet tailored experience
✓ Don’t have to re-learn the system after every
new feature
✓ Less frustration
✓ Less jarring

35. We have a dedicated team to help if you:
• Have a custom workflow that is critical to your
business
• Don’t have the resources or know-how to build
an integration
• Don’t want to manage a full on project as well
as running your business
proservices@getadministrate.com
Pro Services

36. A couple of examples:
• Zoom/Cloudshare/GoToTraining Integrations
With Administrate
• Custom Websites to Market and Sell your
training
• Moodle Integration with the LMS
Pro Services

37. The Platform
If you’re buying into a platform, it enables you to connect the
various workflows and ticks to make your business efficient and
effective

38. A Deep Dive into the API
- Iain Brown