Authenticate with Zendesk

You can authenticate with Zendesk to create your own instance of the Zendesk element through the UI or through APIs. Once authenticated, you can use the element instance to access the different functionality offered by the Zendesk platform.

Authenticate Through the UI

Use the UI to authenticate with Zendesk and create an element instance. Zendesk authentication follows the typical OAuth 2 framework and you will need to sign in to Zendesk as part of the process.

If you are configuring events, see the Events section.

To authenticate an element instance:

1. Sign in to Cloud Elements, and then search for Zendesk in our Elements Catalog.
2. Hover over the element card, and then click Authenticate.
3. Enter a name for the element instance.
4. In Subdomain enter your unique Zendesk subdomain, such as https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com.
5. Click Create Instance.
6. Optionally add tags in the earlier UI
7. Provide your Zendesk credentials, and then allow the connection.

After successfully authenticating, we give you several options for next steps. Make requests using the API docs associated with the instance, map the instance to a virtual data resource, or use it in a formula template.

Authenticate Through API

Authenticating through API is a multi-step process that involves:

• Getting a redirect URL. This URL sends users to the vendor to log in to their account.
• Authenticating users and receiving the authorization grant code. After the user logs in, the vendor makes a callback to the specified url with an authorization grant code.
• Authenticating the element instance. Using the authorization code from the vendor, authenticate with the vendor to create an element instance at Cloud Elements.

Getting a Redirect URL

Use the following API call to request a redirect URL where the user can authenticate with the API provider. Replace {keyOrId} with the element key, zendesk.

curl -X GET /elements/{keyOrId}/oauth/url?apiKey=<api_key>&apiSecret=<api_secret>&callbackUrl=<url>&siteAddress=<zendesk_subdomain>

Query Parameters

Example cURL

curl -X GET "https://api.cloud-elements.com/elements/api-v2/elements/zendesk/oauth/url?apiKey=fake_zendesk_unique_identifier&apiSecret=fake_api_secret&callbackUrl=https://www.mycoolapp.com/auth&siteAddress=zendesk_subdomain" -H  "accept: application/json" -H  "content-type: application/json"

Example Response

Use the oauthUrl in the response to allow users to authenticate with the vendor.

{
"element": "zendesk",
"oauthUrl": "https://zendesk_subdomain.zendesk.com/oauth/authorizations/new?scope=read+write&response_type=code&redirect_uri=https://www.mycool.app.com/auth&state=zendesk&client_id=zendesk_unique_identifier"
}

Authenticating Users and Receiving the Authorization Grant Code

Provide the response from the previous step to the users. After they authenticate, Zendesk provides the following information in the response:

• code
• state

Authenticating the Element Instance

Use the /instances endpoint to authenticate with Zendesk and create an element instance. If you are configuring events, see the Events section.

To create an element instance:

1. Construct a JSON body as shown below (see Parameters):

   {
     "name": "<INSTANCE_NAME>",
     "element": {
       "key": "zendesk"
     },
     "providerData": {
       "code": "<AUTHORIZATION_GRANT_CODE>"
     },
     "configuration": {
       "oauth.callback.url": "<CALLBACK_URL>",
       "oauth.api.key": "<CONSUMER_KEY>",
       "oauth.api.secret": "<CONSUMER_SECRET>",
       "zendesk.subdomain": "zendesk_subdomain"
     },
     "tags": [
       "<Add_Your_Tag>"
     ]
   }
   

2. Call the following, including the JSON body you constructed in the previous step:

   POST /instances
   

   Note: Make sure that you include the User and Organization keys in the header. See the Overview for details.

3. Locate the token and id in the response and save them for all future requests using the element instance.

Example cURL

curl -X POST \
  https://api.cloud-elements.com/elements/api-v2/instances \
  -H 'authorization: User <USER_SECRET>, Organization <ORGANIZATION_SECRET>' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "name": "Zendesk_Instance"
  "element": {
    "key": "zendesk"
  },
  "providerData": {
    "code": "xoz8AFqScK2ngM04kSSM"
  },
  "configuration": {
    "oauth.callback.url": "https://www.mycoolapp.com/auth",
    "oauth.api.key": "zendesk_unique_identifier",
    "oauth.api.secret": "fake_api_secret",
    "zendesk.subdomain": "mycoolapp"
  },
  "tags": [
    "For Docs"
  ]
}'

Parameters

API parameters not shown in Cloud Elements are in code formatting.

Example Response

{
    "id": 123,
    "name": "test",
    "token": "3sU/S/kZD36BaABPS7EAuSGHF+1wsthT+mvoukiE",
    "element": {
        "id": 41,
        "name": "Zendesk",
        "key": "zendesk",
        "description": "",
        "active": true,
        "deleted": false
    },
    "valid": true,
    "disabled": false
}