Custom Integrations

Data Source Integrations

Data source integrations connect Prolixis to external data repositories, allowing the platform to read from and write to these sources. These integrations enable data synchronization, analytics, and data-driven workflows. Examples include databases, file systems, cloud storage services, and data warehouses.

Data source integrations typically implement connection management, schema discovery, query execution, and data transformation capabilities. They must handle authentication, connection pooling, and error recovery to ensure reliable data access.

Service Integrations

Service integrations connect Prolixis to external services and APIs, allowing the platform to invoke operations and process responses. These integrations enable workflow automation, data enrichment, and cross-system processes. Examples include CRM systems, marketing platforms, communication tools, and enterprise applications.

Service integrations typically implement API client functionality, operation mapping, authentication, and response handling. They must manage rate limiting, retries, and error handling to ensure reliable service interaction.

Event Integrations

Event integrations enable Prolixis to receive and process events from external systems, as well as publish events to external consumers. These integrations facilitate real-time reactions to changes and notifications. Examples include webhooks, message queues, event streams, and pub/sub systems.

Event integrations typically implement event reception, validation, transformation, and routing. They must ensure event delivery, handle duplicates, and maintain ordering when required.

Authentication Integrations

Authentication integrations connect Prolixis to external identity providers and authentication systems, allowing the platform to delegate authentication and authorization. These integrations enable single sign-on, federated identity, and centralized access control. Examples include SAML providers, OAuth servers, and enterprise directory services.

Authentication integrations typically implement protocol-specific flows, token management, user provisioning, and session handling. They must prioritize security, privacy, and compliance with identity standards.

Integration Manifest

Every custom integration starts with a manifest file that defines its metadata, capabilities, configuration schema, and dependencies. The manifest serves as the integration's identity within the platform and provides the information needed to properly install, configure, and use the integration.

The manifest includes the integration's name, version, description, author, supported Prolixis versions, configuration parameters, authentication requirements, and capability declarations. It follows a JSON schema that ensures consistency and validation.

Connector Module

The connector module handles the communication between Prolixis and the external system. It implements the protocol-specific logic, authentication, and low-level operations required to interact with the external system's API or interface.

Connectors are responsible for establishing and maintaining connections, handling authentication flows, serializing and deserializing data, and managing communication errors. They abstract away the complexities of the external system's interface, providing a clean and consistent API for the rest of the integration.

Operation Handlers

Operation handlers implement the specific operations that the integration supports. Each handler corresponds to a discrete capability that the integration provides to the Prolixis platform, such as querying data, creating records, or processing events.

Handlers receive inputs from the platform, process them according to the operation's logic, interact with the connector to communicate with the external system, and return results back to the platform. They implement business logic, data transformations, and error handling specific to each operation.

Schema Providers

Schema providers define the data structures and types that the integration works with. They describe the shape of data that flows in and out of the integration, enabling the platform to validate inputs, format outputs, and provide a consistent data experience.

For data source integrations, schema providers may dynamically discover and expose the schema of the underlying data source. For service integrations, they define the structure of operation inputs and outputs. Schemas use a standard type system that maps to Prolixis's internal data model.

Configuration UI

The configuration UI provides a user interface for configuring the integration within the Prolixis platform. It allows users to enter connection details, authentication credentials, and operation-specific settings.

The UI is defined using a declarative schema that specifies form fields, validation rules, help text, and layout. The platform renders this schema into an interactive configuration experience that guides users through the setup process.

Planning and Requirements

Before writing any code, it's important to clearly define the requirements for your integration. Consider what systems you need to connect to, what operations you need to support, what data will flow through the integration, and what user experience you want to provide.

Key questions to answer during this phase include:

• What type of integration are you building (data source, service, event, authentication)?
• What specific capabilities will your integration provide to Prolixis users?
• What authentication mechanisms does the external system support?
• What data structures and operations does the external system expose?
• What configuration parameters will users need to provide?
• What error conditions need to be handled?

Setting Up the Development Environment

To develop a custom integration, you'll need to set up a development environment that includes the Prolixis Integration SDK and related tools. The SDK provides libraries, utilities, and templates that simplify integration development.

Steps to set up your development environment:

1. Install Node.js (version 16 or later) and npm
2. Install the Prolixis CLI tool: npm install -g prolixis-cli
3. Create a new integration project: prolixis-cli create-integration my-integration
4. Navigate to the project directory: cd my-integration
5. Install dependencies: npm install
6. Start the development server: npm run dev

The SDK includes a local development server that simulates the Prolixis platform environment, allowing you to test your integration without deploying it to a production environment.

Implementing the Integration

With your development environment set up, you can begin implementing the integration components. The SDK provides base classes and utilities that handle common tasks, allowing you to focus on the integration-specific logic.

Key implementation steps include:

1. Define the integration manifest in manifest.json
2. Implement the connector module to handle communication with the external system
3. Create operation handlers for each capability your integration provides
4. Define schemas for data structures and operation inputs/outputs
5. Implement configuration UI components
6. Add error handling, logging, and telemetry

The SDK provides a component-based architecture that encourages separation of concerns and testability. Each component has a well-defined responsibility and interface, making the integration easier to maintain and extend.

Testing

Thorough testing is essential to ensure that your integration works correctly and provides a good user experience. The SDK includes testing utilities that help you write unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests.

Testing approaches for custom integrations:

• Unit tests: Test individual components in isolation, using mocks for external dependencies
• Integration tests: Test the interaction between components, including the connector and operation handlers
• End-to-end tests: Test the complete integration within the simulated platform environment
• Manual testing: Verify the user experience, including configuration, error handling, and performance

The SDK provides mock implementations of platform services and external systems, allowing you to test your integration without depending on actual external services. This makes tests more reliable and faster to run.

Packaging and Deployment

Once your integration is implemented and tested, you need to package it for deployment to the Prolixis platform. The SDK includes tools for building, validating, and packaging your integration.

Deployment steps:

1. Build the integration package: npm run build
2. Validate the package: prolixis-cli validate-package
3. Publish to the Prolixis Integration Registry: prolixis-cli publish
4. Install the integration in your Prolixis environment through the platform's integration marketplace

For private integrations, you can also deploy directly to your organization's private registry or install the package manually in your Prolixis environment.

Security

Security is paramount when building integrations that handle sensitive data and credentials. Always follow these security best practices:

• Use the platform's secure credential storage for authentication tokens and secrets
• Implement proper authentication and authorization checks
• Validate and sanitize all inputs to prevent injection attacks
• Use HTTPS for all external communications
• Follow the principle of least privilege when requesting permissions
• Implement proper error handling that doesn't leak sensitive information

Performance

Performance issues in integrations can impact the entire platform experience. Optimize your integration for performance:

• Implement connection pooling for database and service connections
• Use caching for frequently accessed data and metadata
• Optimize queries and requests to minimize data transfer
• Implement pagination for large data sets
• Use asynchronous processing for long-running operations
• Monitor and log performance metrics

Error Handling

Robust error handling is essential for providing a good user experience and facilitating troubleshooting:

• Catch and handle all exceptions appropriately
• Provide clear, actionable error messages
• Implement retries with exponential backoff for transient errors
• Log detailed error information for troubleshooting
• Return appropriate HTTP status codes for API errors
• Validate inputs early to prevent downstream errors

User Experience

A good user experience is crucial for integration adoption and user satisfaction:

• Provide clear, concise documentation
• Design intuitive configuration interfaces with helpful guidance
• Implement validation with meaningful error messages
• Use consistent terminology and patterns
• Provide sensible defaults where possible
• Include test connection functionality

Maintainability

Integrations need to be maintained over time as external systems evolve:

• Follow a modular architecture with clear separation of concerns
• Write comprehensive tests for all components
• Document your code and design decisions
• Use version control and follow good branching practices
• Implement proper versioning for your integration
• Monitor for changes in the external system's API

Logging and Monitoring

Comprehensive logging and monitoring are crucial for identifying and diagnosing issues:

• Use the platform's logging framework to record significant events and errors
• Include contextual information in log entries (operation ID, user ID, etc.)
• Implement different log levels (debug, info, warning, error) and use them appropriately
• Set up alerts for critical errors and performance issues
• Monitor integration health and performance metrics

Common Issues and Solutions

Some issues occur frequently across different integrations. Being aware of these common problems and their solutions can save troubleshooting time:

• Authentication failures: Check credential validity, token expiration, and permission settings
• Connection timeouts: Verify network connectivity, firewall rules, and service availability
• Data format errors: Validate data against schemas, check for encoding issues
• Rate limiting: Implement backoff strategies, optimize request patterns
• Version compatibility: Verify compatibility with the external system's API version
• Configuration errors: Validate configuration parameters, provide clear guidance

Diagnostic Tools

The Prolixis platform provides several diagnostic tools to help troubleshoot integration issues:

• Integration Logs: View detailed logs for integration operations
• Request Tracing: Trace requests through the integration and external system
• Configuration Validator: Validate integration configuration against requirements
• Connection Tester: Test connectivity to external systems
• Performance Analyzer: Identify performance bottlenecks

Support Resources

When you encounter issues that you can't resolve on your own, several support resources are available:

• Developer Documentation: Comprehensive guides and reference material
• Knowledge Base: Articles addressing common issues and questions
• Community Forums: Connect with other integration developers
• Support Portal: Submit support tickets for technical assistance
• Integration Office Hours: Regular sessions with Prolixis integration experts

Enterprise CRM Integration

A global financial services company built a custom integration between Prolixis and their enterprise CRM system. The integration synchronizes customer data, transaction history, and support cases, enabling unified customer intelligence and automated workflows across systems.

Key features of this integration include bidirectional data synchronization, real-time event processing, and custom data transformations to align different data models. The integration handles millions of records and thousands of updates daily, with robust error handling and recovery mechanisms.

Manufacturing Systems Integration

A manufacturing company integrated Prolixis with their production systems, IoT devices, and quality control processes. The integration collects real-time data from manufacturing equipment, analyzes production metrics, and triggers automated workflows based on quality thresholds and maintenance schedules.

This integration demonstrates the platform's capability to handle high-volume, time-series data from diverse sources. It implements advanced data processing, anomaly detection, and predictive maintenance algorithms within the integration layer.

Healthcare Data Integration

A healthcare provider built a custom integration to connect Prolixis with their electronic health record (EHR) system and clinical applications. The integration enables secure access to patient data, clinical workflows, and healthcare analytics while maintaining compliance with healthcare regulations.

This case study highlights the importance of security, privacy, and compliance in integration design. The integration implements advanced authentication, data encryption, audit logging, and access controls to protect sensitive health information.