Review the following topics to learn how to use the Pega API for your business needs.

• Pega API system management privileges

  Each API in the System Management API has a specific privilege that you can add to a role to use that API. These privileges are useful when you only want a role to have access to specific APIs.

• Securing the Pega API

  To ensure the safety of Pega API credentials that are transferred through HTTP basic authentication, use TLS 1.2, a strong transport layer security, when installing your Pega application. You can also secure the Pega API by using OAuth 2.0.

• Pega API best practices

  When developing mobile and client applications that are powered by any Pega API, use the following best practices to ensure the best end-user experience.

• Data API performance and limitations

  You use data APIs to retrieve the contents and metadata of specific data pages. You can sort, filter, and group data that you request from Pega Platform to specify how you want your data to be organized in the response. To ensure the high performance of your data APIs, review the following guidelines.

• Retrieve a flat list of fields from Pega APIs

  Use the flatListOfFields parameter in Pega APIs to retrieve only a list of fields from a case instead of the full layout information that you do not plan to use. Use this parameter if you are building your own user interface (UI) and want to have more control over the look and feel of your application.

• Append or insert rows in page lists and page groups by using newRow

  Update the visible page list or page group without multiple trips to the server to insert or append multiple rows with a newRow object in the Pega APIs. Use newRow to insert or append a new row into a page list or page group. You can either send a full page list or page group in content or by using pageInstructions.

• Page-related operation queuing with page instructions in Pega APIs

  You can use the page instructions provided in Pega APIs so that your application queues a list of page-related operations and sends them to the server after the user performs a submit or refresh. The server then plays back the user operations in the order that they were received. For example, if the user edited a row, appended a row, and inserted a row, your application passes only the instructions and fields for those three rows to the server instead of the entire table.

• Pega API example use cases

  The following examples show some ways that you can use the Pega API in your application. You use multiple Pega API services as part of a single process or as part of multiple business application processes. For example, client applications can call a Pega API service to get a list of available cases, data, or assignments, and then make subsequent API calls to get further details or to make updates.