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Configuring a custom API key

A custom API key is a private key you can configure in Ortto to allow 3rd-party applications to interact and perform activities with your Ortto account’s data through Ortto’s public application programming interface (API), known as the Ortto API.

Custom (private) API keys are required to authenticate each HTTP request made to your Ortto account (via the Ortto API). Learn more about the Ortto API in the Ortto developer documentation.

Each custom API key:

  • does not require or involve any user authentication, but in itself, the key should be treated as a private key,
  • contains its own configurable default merge_by settings, when updating one or more people via the Ortto API, and
  • as a data source, can be disconnected at any time through your Ortto account’s user interface (UI), thereby preventing and rejecting any requests made to the Ortto API until the custom API key is reconnected.

Therefore, create a separate custom API key for each 3rd-party application that will interact with your Ortto account.

Create your custom API key

Assuming you initially followed the Configuring a new data source procedure, use this procedure to complete configuring the custom API key that your 3rd-party application will use to interact with your Ortto account.

  1. After having clicked through Popular  Custom API (advanced)  Get started (from the New data source page), on the Setup page, complete the following fields:
    • API name - the name of this particular custom API key configuration, as it will appear on the Data sources page. It is typically a good idea to use a name that indicates the 3rd-party application this API key will be used with.
    • Merge strategy - specify the default merge_by field associations used by this API key when the merge_by value is not sent along in requests to the Ortto API:
      • Default association - this field specifies the main merge_by person field utilized by Ortto in the request. The most common/typical person field used for this purpose is Email.
      • Fallback association - this field specifies the fallback merge_by person field utilized by Ortto in the request. This field behaves as a backup should the Default association field - e.g. a custom field - not be available within the person’s record of your Ortto account’s customer data platform (CDP).
  2. To prevent any new people from being added to your Ortto account’s CDP, clear the Create a new person if they do not already exist checkbox, which is selected by default.
  3. Click Create.
  4. On the Configuration page, click Copy to copy the Private API key value and store it somewhere secure (for subsequent implementation by your 3rd-party application).
  5. Click Done and your new custom API key appears as a new data source on the Data sources page.