How-toIFS CloudREST API / Projections

IFS Cloud REST API Documentation: Projections, OData and How to Explore Them

Question
ifs cloud rest api documentation

Also searched as

  • ifs cloud api documentation
  • ifs cloud documentation
  • ifs cloud api explorer
  • ifs cloud odata metadata

Short answer

IFS Cloud APIs are projections served as OData v4 REST services. General product documentation is published by IFS, but the authoritative description of the API for your environment comes from the environment itself: the projection metadata document and the API exploration tools in the client. Authenticate with a token from IFS IAM, then read entity sets with standard OData query options.

Applies to: IFS Cloud 21R1 and later. Service paths and the location of the explorer can differ by release, so confirm in your documentation.

How to find and try an IFS Cloud API

  1. 1Start with IFS's published technical documentation for your release to learn the platform concepts and the projection model.
  2. 2Look for the API exploration feature in your Aurena client, which lists the projections available to your user.
  3. 3Request a service client in IAM and obtain an access token with the client credentials flow or a user flow as appropriate.
  4. 4Call the projection metadata document to see entity sets, fields, keys and actions.
  5. 5Read data with OData query options such as filter, select, top, orderby and expand.
  6. 6Create or change records with the documented POST, PATCH and action calls, once you have tested reads.

Where the documentation lives

Two sources matter. IFS publishes product and technical documentation for each release, which covers concepts, installation and the platform. Your running environment adds the exact truth for your configuration: the projections you can call, their fields including custom fields, and the actions available. Prefer the second when they differ.

Because projections are generated from the application model, the metadata is always current for your installed release and for the permissions of the calling user, which is why the explorer and metadata are the quickest way to learn an API.

Calling a projection

The URL follows a pattern with the host, the application path, the projection name and the entity set. Use the metadata endpoint to confirm names. Filters and field selection reduce payload size, and paging with top and skip protects the server.

Permissions come from the calling user or service client. A call that works in the explorer for an administrator may be refused for an integration client, so test with the real client.

GET https://IFS_HOST/main/ifsapplications/projection/v1/<ProjectionName>.svc/$metadata
GET https://IFS_HOST/main/ifsapplications/projection/v1/<ProjectionName>.svc/<EntitySet>?$top=10&$select=<Field1>,<Field2>
Authorization: Bearer <token>

Good practice

Create a dedicated service client per integration with the least permissions, and store the secret in a vault. Version your calls by release, since field and projection changes can occur between releases.

Use read access for reporting and analytics, and keep write calls for processes that have a business owner. If you need analytics outside IFS, extract on a schedule instead of querying live projections for large reports.

Try it here, free

IFS Cloud Projection OData URL Builder

Open full tool

Fill in host, realm, projection and entity set to generate the token request and a ready OData GET URL for IFS Cloud projections.

Common pitfalls

  • !Testing as an administrator and then failing under the integration client.
  • !Fetching entire entity sets with no filter or paging.
  • !Hard coding projection names and fields without checking after an update.
  • !Sharing one service client across several integrations.
  • !Treating public documentation as authoritative over your environment metadata.

How an ERP-grounded AI assistant handles this

Learning an API by reading metadata is slow. A private assistant that reads your projection metadata and has a read-only service client can answer a question like which projection holds open purchase orders and draft the OData query, then show it so a developer can verify. Run on your own network, it never sends metadata or results outside.

See ERPray

Frequently asked questions

Does IFS Cloud have a REST API?

Yes. Its APIs are projections exposed as OData REST services. They are the same layer that the web client uses, with security enforced by permission sets.

How do I authenticate to the IFS Cloud API?

With an access token from IFS IAM. Integrations normally use a dedicated service client, and interactive tools use a user flow. If you receive a 401, see our page on projection token errors.

Where do I see the available projections?

In the API exploration feature in the client and through the metadata document of each projection. These reflect your installed release and your user's rights.

Can I call the API for custom fields?

Custom fields configured on a page or entity can usually be exposed through the projection once configured, but check the metadata of your environment to confirm they appear.

Related

Error fix

IFS Cloud OData Projection API: Fixing 401 and 403 Errors

IFS Cloud exposes its data through OData v4 projections under /main/ifsapplications/projection/v1/, secured by OAuth2 tokens from IFS IAM. A 401 almost always means the token is missing, expired or issued by the wrong realm; a 403 means the identity is authenticated but its permission sets do not grant that projection or its entity actions.

Advanced

IFS Cloud Integration Options: Projections, Connect, Events and a MES Example

IFS Cloud offers four main integration routes. Projections expose data and actions as OData services for request and response, IFS Connect handles message-based and file-based exchange with transformation, business events push notifications out when data changes, and workflows orchestrate steps. For a MES, the common pattern is orders and BOMs out by projection or event, and confirmations and quantities back in through a projection or a message.

How-to

IFS Cloud: Add a Permission Set, What an IAM User Is and Linking an Employee to a Supervisor

An IAM user is the sign-in identity held in IFS Identity and Access Management, which authenticates the person. The IFS application user and its permission sets decide what that person may do. To add access, grant a permission set to the application user and make sure the identity maps to it; the supervisor relationship is an employee and organization setting, not a security one.

How-to

How to Add a Custom Field to an IFS Cloud Page

In IFS Cloud you add a custom field by opening the page in configuration mode, choosing to add a field, defining its name, type and placement, and publishing the configuration. The field is stored by the platform as configuration, not as a code change, which is why it normally survives upgrades.

Error fix

IFS Cloud: Unable to Save, Internal Server Error and Quick Report Problems

In IFS Cloud a save failure or internal server error is almost always a server-side exception returned through the projection the page calls. Read the error detail, reproduce it in the browser network tab, then check the middleware and database logs for the real cause, which is typically a business rule, a missing permission, a bad customization or a stale cache. Quick Report problems are usually a missing permission grant or mismatched bind parameters.

How-to

IFS Cloud Workflow Example, External File Templates, Update Analyzer and PO Status

Treat IFS Cloud configuration as a set of building blocks: workflows or business events to react to changes, external file templates to load or send flat files, an update analysis step to check what a release will touch in your customizations, and the supported database views for reading data such as purchase order status. This page shows how each fits together with a worked approval example.

AI for ERP

AI for IFS Cloud in aerospace and defense manufacturing

Add AI to IFS Cloud for aerospace and defense: projections, Aurena UX, Lobby, and engineer-to-order data, deployed on-prem or in your private cloud.

AI for ERP

A Private LLM Grounded on Your ERP Data

How a private LLM answers questions on your ERP data: RAG plus text-to-SQL, role-based permissions inherited from the ERP, and where each fits.

Stuck on IFS Cloud?

Talk to engineers who work inside IFS Cloud every week, and who build private AI that answers these questions from your own ERP data.

Talk to an ERP engineerBrowse ERP Help
All ERP Help articles

Keep exploring

Free tools

ERP fixes and how-tos

Guides

AI on your ERP

Integrations

Software

TermsOData (Open Data Protocol)