Service Task — REST API 🌍

Makes HTTP calls to external REST APIs.

Node type: serviceTask (subtype: REST API) Category: Integration Actor: serviceTask (2 threads)

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Description

The REST API Service Task sends HTTP requests to external APIs and captures the response as workflow variables. It supports all standard HTTP methods, configurable headers, authentication, and request bodies.

Credentials (base URL, auth tokens) are stored in a REST API Integration — the node only configures the specific endpoint path and request details.

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Properties

Property	Type	Required	Description
restApiConnectionId	string	Yes	ID of the REST API integration (base URL + auth config)
endpointPath	text	Yes	Path appended to the base URL. Supports {varName} references
method	select	Yes	HTTP method: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
body	textarea	No	Request body (JSON string). Supports {varName} references

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Inputs

Use {varName} syntax in endpointPath and body:

endpointPath: /customers/{customerId}/orders
method: POST
body: {
  "orderId": "{orderId}",
  "amount": "{total}",
  "currency": "USD",
  "customerEmail": "{email}"
}

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Outputs

The Service Task captures the HTTP response and stores it as:

Variable	Type	Description
{serviceTaskResponse}	string/object	The response body (auto-parsed if JSON)
{serviceTaskStatusCode}	number	HTTP status code (e.g., 200, 404)
{serviceTaskHeaders}	object	Response headers

If the response body is valid JSON, individual fields are accessible:

• {serviceTaskResponse.id} — accesses the id field of the JSON response
• {serviceTaskResponse.data.name} — nested access

Custom Output Variable

You can configure a custom output variable name in the node properties to avoid conflicts when multiple service tasks run in sequence.

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Connection Flow

Condition	Connection Used
HTTP 2xx response	successFlow (or sequenceFlow if no success flow defined)
HTTP 4xx / 5xx response	errorFlow
Request timeout	timeoutFlow

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Example: Fetch Customer Data

{
  "nodeId": "fetch-customer-1",
  "name": "Fetch Customer Details",
  "nodeType": "serviceTask",
  "properties": {
    "restApiConnectionId": "int_crm_api",
    "endpointPath": "/v2/customers/{customerId}",
    "method": "GET"
  },
  "timeout": {
    "duration": 10,
    "durationUom": "SECONDS",
    "action": "FAIL"
  },
  "retry": {
    "maxAttempts": 3,
    "delay": 2,
    "delayUom": "SECONDS"
  }
}

The response is stored as {serviceTaskResponse}. Access fields like {serviceTaskResponse.name}, {serviceTaskResponse.email} in downstream nodes.

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Example: Create Order (POST)

{
  "nodeId": "create-order-1",
  "name": "Create Order in ERP",
  "nodeType": "serviceTask",
  "properties": {
    "restApiConnectionId": "int_erp_api",
    "endpointPath": "/orders",
    "method": "POST",
    "body": "{\"customerId\": \"{customerId}\", \"items\": {orderItems}, \"total\": {orderTotal}}"
  }
}

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Authentication

Authentication is configured at the Integration level, not the node level:

Auth Type	How Configured
None	No auth header sent
Bearer Token	Adds Authorization: Bearer {token} header automatically
Basic Auth	Adds Authorization: Basic {base64} header
API Key Header	Adds custom header (e.g., X-API-Key: {value})
OAuth2 Client Credentials	Fetches + caches access token before each call

You can also add static headers at the integration level (e.g., Accept: application/json).

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Error Handling

Scenario	Variable	Value
HTTP 4xx error	{serviceTaskStatusCode}	400, 401, 404, etc.
HTTP 5xx error	{serviceTaskStatusCode}	500, 502, 503, etc.
Response body on error	{serviceTaskResponse}	Error response body from the API
Connection timeout	Takes timeoutFlow	—
DNS resolution failure	Takes errorFlow	_error = CONNECTION_ERROR

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Best Practices

• Always configure successFlow and errorFlow connections for production workflows
• Set a timeout — external APIs can hang indefinitely without one
• Use retry (2–3 attempts) for idempotent GET requests; be careful with POST/PUT
• Store API base URLs and credentials in integrations, not in node properties
• Use {serviceTaskStatusCode} in downstream If/Else nodes to handle specific HTTP error codes differently
• For APIs that return paginated results, use a Loop node to iterate through pages