What is the ahead API?

By default, ahead provides access to all common fields stored in the Azure Active Directory (AAD, or via its new product name, MS Entra). By providing additional values through the API described in this document.

 🧑🏻‍💻 For admins

Authentication & Authorization

Authentication & Authorization is done by generating an API-Key through ahead’s administration settings. There it is possible to:

• obtain one or several API-Keys and give them a descriptive name to be able to identify import protocols (see chapter on “Responses”)
• delete an API-Key in case that it is not in use anymore or has otherwise leaked into a system with unrestricted visibility.

Please take care of your API-Keys. They allow you to import data into the profiles of your users that use ahead. If you suspect that the key has been compromised, use the ahead administration interface to revoke the API-Key in question.

When calling the API, you need to provide the API-Key as copied out from ahead as value to the custom “x-functions-key” HTTP-Header.

Endpoint

The ahead REST API accepts PUT requests. Get in touch with your Customer Success Manager (CSM) to get to know the API URL for the import. Any request should contain the following headers:

• x-functions-key (with the API key from your ahead tenant as value to authenticate the request)
• Content-Type: multipart/form-data or application/json

Accepted Values for Field Types

Most field types are string-based and hence accept any string. Some of those types will be used in a different way in ahead’s UI:

• Text
• Email: will be rendered as link with “mailto:” prefix
• Phone: will be rendered as link with “tel:” prefix
• Link: will be rendered as link
• List: comma-separated values will be visually separated