Evaluate events in near real-time with streaming segmentation

NOTE

The following document states how to use streaming segmentation using the API. For information on using streaming segmentation using the UI, please read the streaming segmentation UI guide.

Streaming segmentation on Adobe Experience Platform allows customers to do segmentation in near real-time while focusing on data richness. With streaming segmentation, segment qualification now happens as streaming data lands into Platform, alleviating the need to schedule and run segmentation jobs. With this capability, most segment rules can now be evaluated as the data is passed into Platform, meaning segment membership will be kept up-to-date without running scheduled segmentation jobs.

NOTE

Streaming segmentation works on all data that was ingested using a streaming source. Segments ingested using a batch-based source will be evaluated nightly, even if it qualifies for streaming segmentation.

Additionally, segments evaluated with streaming segmentation may drift between ideal and actual membership if the segment is based off of another segment that is evaluated using batch segmentation. For example, if Segment A is based off of Segment B, and Segment B is evaluated using batch segmentation, since Segment B only updates every 24 hours, Segment A will move further away from the actual data until it re-syncs with the Segment B update.

Getting started

This developer guide requires a working understanding of the various Adobe Experience Platform services involved with streaming segmentation. Before beginning this tutorial, please review the documentation for the following services:

  • Real-Time Customer Profile: Provides a unified consumer profile in real time, based on aggregated data from multiple sources.
  • Segmentation: Provides the ability to create segments and audiences from your Real-Time Customer Profile data.
  • Experience Data Model (XDM): The standardized framework by which Platform organizes customer experience data.

The following sections provide additional information that you will need to know in order to successfully make calls to Platform APIs.

Reading sample API calls

This developer guide provides example API calls to demonstrate how to format your requests. These include paths, required headers, and properly formatted request payloads. Sample JSON returned in API responses is also provided. For information on the conventions used in documentation for sample API calls, see the section on how to read example API calls in the Experience Platform troubleshooting guide.

Gather values for required headers

In order to make calls to Platform APIs, you must first complete the authentication tutorial. Completing the authentication tutorial provides the values for each of the required headers in all Experience Platform API calls, as shown below:

  • Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}
  • x-api-key: {API_KEY}
  • x-gw-ims-org-id: {ORG_ID}

All resources in Experience Platform are isolated to specific virtual sandboxes. All requests to Platform APIs require a header that specifies the name of the sandbox the operation will take place in:

  • x-sandbox-name: {SANDBOX_NAME}
NOTE

For more information on sandboxes in Platform, see the sandbox overview documentation.

All requests that contain a payload (POST, PUT, PATCH) require an additional header:

  • Content-Type: application/json

Additional headers may be required to complete specific requests. The correct headers are shown in each of the examples within this document. Please pay special attention to the sample requests in order to ensure that all required headers are included.

Streaming segmentation enabled query types

NOTE

You will need to enable scheduled segmentation for the organization in order for streaming segmentation to work. Information about enabling scheduled segmentation can be found in the enable scheduled segmentation section

In order for a segment to be evaluated using streaming segmentation, the query must conform to the following guidelines.

Query type Details
Single event Any segment definition that refers to a single incoming event with no time restriction.
Single event within a relative time window Any segment definition that refers to a single incoming event.
Single event with a time window Any segment definition that refers to a single incoming event with a time window.
Profile only Any segment definition that refers to only a profile attribute.
Single event with a profile attribute Any segment definition that refers to a single incoming event, with no time restriction, and one or more profile attributes. Note: The query is immediately evaluated when the event comes. In the case of a profile event, however, it must wait 24 hours to be incorporated.
Single event with a profile attribute within a relative time window Any segment definition that refers to a single incoming event and one or more profile attributes.
Segment of segments Any segment definition that contains one or more batch or streaming segments. Note: If a segment of segments is used, profile disqualification will happen every 24 hours.
Multiple events with a profile attribute Any segment definition that refers to multiple events within the last 24 hours and (optionally) has one or more profile attributes.

A segment definition will not be enabled for streaming segmentation in the following scenarios:

  • The segment definition includes Adobe Audience Manager (AAM) segments or traits.
  • The segment definition includes multiple entities (multi-entity queries).
  • The segment definition includes a combination of a single event and an inSegment event.
    • However, if the segment contained in the inSegment event is profile only, the segment definition will be enabled for streaming segmentation.

Please note the following guidelines apply when doing streaming segmentation:

Query type Guideline
Single event query There are no limits to the lookback window.
Query with event history
  • The lookback window is limited to one day.
  • A strict time-ordering condition must exist between the events.
  • Queries with at least one negated event are supported. However, the entire event cannot be a negation.

If a segment definition is modified so it no longer meets the criteria for streaming segmentation, the segment definition will automatically switch from “Streaming” to “Batch”.

Additionally, segment unqualification, similarly to segment qualification, happens in real-time. As a result, if an audience no longer qualifies for a segment, it will be immediately unqualified. For example, if the segment definition asks for “All users who bought red shoes in the last three hours”, after three hours, all the profiles that initially qualified for the segment definition will be unqualified.

Retrieve all segments enabled for streaming segmentation

You can retrieve a list of all your segments that are enabled for streaming segmentation within your IMS Organization by making a GET request to the /segment/definitions endpoint.

API format

To retrieve streaming-enabled segments, you must include the query parameter evaluationInfo.continuous.enabled=true in the request path.

GET /segment/definitions?evaluationInfo.continuous.enabled=true

Request

curl -X GET \
  'https://platform.adobe.io/data/core/ups/segment/definitions?evaluationInfo.continuous.enabled=true' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'x-api-key: {API_KEY}' \
  -H 'x-gw-ims-org-id: {ORG_ID}' \
  -H 'x-sandbox-name: {SANDBOX_NAME}'

Response

A successful response returns an array of segments in your IMS Organization that are enabled for streaming segmentation.

{
    "segments": [
        {
            "id": "15063cb-2da8-4851-a2e2-bf59ddd2f004",
            "schema": {
                "name": "_xdm.context.profile"
            },
            "ttlInDays": 30,
            "imsOrgId": "{ORG_ID}",
            "sandbox": {
                "sandboxId": "",
                "sandboxName": "",
                "type": "production",
                "default": true
            },
            "name": " People who are NOT on their homepage ",
            "expression": {
                "type": "PQL",
                "format": "pql/text",
                "value": "select var1 from xEvent where var1._experience.analytics.endUser.firstWeb.webPageDetails.isHomePage = false"
            },
            "evaluationInfo": {
                "batch": {
                    "enabled": false
                },
                "continuous": {
                    "enabled": true
                },
                "synchronous": {
                    "enabled": false
                }
            },
            "creationTime": 1572029711000,
            "updateEpoch": 1572029712000,
            "updateTime": 1572029712000
        },
        {
            "id": "f15063cb-2da8-4851-a2e2-bf59ddd2f004",
            "schema": {
                "name": "_xdm.context.profile"
            },
            "ttlInDays": 30,
            "imsOrgId": "{ORG_ID}",
            "sandbox": {
                "sandboxId": "",
                "sandboxName": "",
                "type": "production",
                "default": true
            },
            "name": "Homepage_continuous",
            "description": "People who are on their homepage - continuous",
            "expression": {
                "type": "PQL",
                "format": "pql/text",
                "value": "select var1 from xEvent where var1._experience.analytics.endUser.firstWeb.webPageDetails.isHomePage = true"
            },
            "evaluationInfo": {
                "batch": {
                    "enabled": true
                },
                "continuous": {
                    "enabled": true
                },
                "synchronous": {
                    "enabled": false
                }
            },
            "creationTime": 1572021085000,
            "updateEpoch": 1572021086000,
            "updateTime": 1572021086000
        }
    ],
    "page": {
        "totalCount": 2,
        "totalPages": 1,
        "sortField": "creationTime",
        "sort": "desc",
        "pageSize": 2,
        "limit": 100
    },
    "link": {}
}

Create a streaming-enabled segment

A segment will automatically be streaming-enabled if it matches one of the streaming segmentation types listed above.

API format

POST /segment/definitions

Request

curl -X POST \
  https://platform.adobe.io/data/core/ups/segment/definitions \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}'  \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'x-api-key: {API_KEY}' \
  -H 'x-gw-ims-org-id: {ORG_ID}' \
  -H 'x-sandbox-name: {SANDBOX_NAME}' \
  -d '{
    "schema": {
        "name": "_xdm.context.profile"
    },
    "ttlInDays": 30,
    "name": "Homepage_continuous",
    "description": "People who are on their homepage - continuous",
    "expression": {
        "type": "PQL",
        "format": "pql/text",
        "value": "select var1 from xEvent where var1._experience.analytics.endUser.firstWeb.webPageDetails.isHomePage = true"
    },
    "evaluationInfo": {
        "batch": {
            "enabled": false
        },
        "continuous": {
            "enabled": true
        },
        "synchronous": {
            "enabled": false
        }
    }
}'
NOTE

This is a standard “create a segment” request. For more information about creating a segment definition, please read the tutorial on creating a segment.

Response

A successful response returns the details of the newly created streaming-enabled segment definition.

{
    "id": "f15063cb-2da8-4851-a2e2-bf59ddd2f004",
    "schema": {
        "name": "_xdm.context.profile"
    },
    "ttlInDays": 30,
    "imsOrgId": "{ORG_ID}",
    "sandbox": {
        "sandboxId": "{SANDBOX_ID}",
        "sandboxName": "{SANDBOX_NAME}",
        "type": "production",
        "default": true
    },
    "name": "Homepage_continuous",
    "description": "People who are on their homepage - continuous",
    "expression": {
        "type": "PQL",
        "format": "pql/text",
        "value": "select var1 from xEvent where var1._experience.analytics.endUser.firstWeb.webPageDetails.isHomePage = true"
    },
    "evaluationInfo": {
        "batch": {
            "enabled": false
        },
        "continuous": {
            "enabled": true,
                   },
        "synchronous": {
            "enabled": false
        }
    },
    "creationTime": 1572021085000,
    "updateEpoch": 1572021086000,
    "updateTime": 1572021086000
}

Enable scheduled evaluation

Once streaming evaluation has been enabled, a baseline must be created (after which the segment will always be up-to-date). Scheduled evaluation (also known as scheduled segmentation) must first be enabled in order for the system to automatically perform baselining. With scheduled segmentation, your IMS Org can adhere to a recurring schedule to automatically run export jobs to evaluate segments.

NOTE

Scheduled evaluation can be enabled for sandboxes with a maximum of five (5) merge policies for XDM Individual Profile. If your organization has more than five merge policies for XDM Individual Profile within a single sandbox environment, you will not be able to use scheduled evaluation.

Create a schedule

By making a POST request to the /config/schedules endpoint, you can create a schedule and include the specific time when the schedule should be triggered.

API format

POST /config/schedules

Request

The following request creates a new schedule based on the specifications provided in the payload.

curl -X POST \
  https://platform.adobe.io/data/core/ups/config/schedules \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
  -H 'x-api-key: {API_KEY}' \
  -H 'x-gw-ims-org-id: {ORG_ID}' \
  -H 'x-sandbox-name: {SANDBOX_NAME}' \
  -d '{
        "name": "{SCHEDULE_NAME}",
        "type": "batch_segmentation",
        "properties": {
            "segments": ["*"]
        },
        "schedule": "0 0 1 * * ?",
        "state": "inactive"
        }'
Property Description
name (Required) The name of schedule. Must be a string.
type (Required) The job type in string format. The supported types are batch_segmentation and export.
properties (Required) An object containing additional properties related to the schedule.
properties.segments (Required when type equals batch_segmentation) Using ["*"] ensures all segments are included.
schedule (Required) A string containing the job schedule. Jobs can only be scheduled to run once a day, meaning you cannot schedule a job to run more than once during a 24 hour period. The example shown (0 0 1 * * ?) means the job is triggered every day at 1:00:00 UTC. For more information, please review the appendix on the cron expression format within the documentation on schedules within segmentation.
state (Optional) String containing the schedule state. Available values: active and inactive. Default value is inactive. An IMS Organization can only create one schedule. Steps for updating the schedule are available later in this tutorial.

Response

A successful response returns the details of the newly created schedule.

{
    "id": "cd585edf-962d-420d-94ad-3be03e619ac2",
    "imsOrgId": "{ORG_ID}",
    "sandbox": {
        "sandboxId": "e7e17720-c5bb-11e9-aafb-87c71c35cac8",
        "sandboxName": "prod",
        "type": "production",
        "default": true
    },
    "name": "{SCHEDULE_NAME}",
    "state": "inactive",
    "type": "batch_segmentation",
    "schedule": "0 0 1 * * ?",
    "properties": {
        "segments": [
            "*"
        ]
    },
    "createEpoch": 1568267948,
    "updateEpoch": 1568267948
}

Enable a schedule

By default, a schedule is inactive when created unless the state property is set to active in the create (POST) request body. You can enable a schedule (set the state to active) by making a PATCH request to the /config/schedules endpoint and including the ID of the schedule in the path.

API format

POST /config/schedules/{SCHEDULE_ID}

Request

The following request uses JSON Patch formatting in order to update the state of the schedule to active.

curl -X POST \
  https://platform.adobe.io/data/core/ups/config/schedules/cd585edf-962d-420d-94ad-3be03e619ac2 \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}' \
  -H 'x-api-key: {API_KEY}' \
  -H 'x-gw-ims-org-id: {ORG_ID}' \
  -H 'x-sandbox-name: {SANDBOX_NAME}' \
  -d '[
        {
          "op": "add",
          "path": "/state",
          "value": "active"
        }
      ]'

Response

A successful update returns an empty response body and HTTP Status 204 (No Content).

The same operation can be used to disable a schedule by replacing the “value” in the previous request with “inactive”.

Next steps

Now that you have enabled both new and existing segments for streaming segmentation, and enabled scheduled segmentation to develop a baseline and perform recurring evaluations, you can begin to create streaming-enabled segments for your organization.

To learn how to perform similar actions and work with segments using the Adobe Experience Platform user interface, please visit the Segment Builder user guide.

Appendix

The following section lists frequently asked questions regarding streaming segmentation:

Does streaming segmentation “unqualification” also happen in real time?

For most instances, streaming segmentation unqualification happens in real-time. However, streaming segments that use segments of segments do not unqualify in real-time, instead unqualifying after 24 hours.

What data does streaming segmentation work on?

Streaming segmentation works on all data that was ingested using a streaming source. Segments ingested using a batch-based source will be evaluated nightly, even if it qualifies for streaming segmentation. Events streamed into the system with a timestamp older than 24 hours will be processed in the subsequent batch job.

How are segments defined as batch or streaming segmentation?

A segment is defined as either batch or streaming segmentation based on a combination of query type and event history duration. A list of which segments will be evaluated as a streaming segment can be found in the streaming segmentation query types section.

Please note that if a segment contains both an inSegment expression and a direct single-event chain, it cannot qualify for streaming segmentation. If you want to have this segment qualify for streaming segmentation, you should make the direct single-event chain its own segment.

Why does the number of “total qualified” segments keep increasing while the number under “Last X days” remains at zero within the segment details section?

The number of total qualified segments is drawn from the daily segmentation job, which includes audiences that qualify for both batch and streaming segments. This value is shown for both batch and streaming segments.

The number under the “Last X days” only includes audiences that are qualified in streaming segmentation, and only increases if you have streamed data into the system and it counts toward that streaming definition. This value is only shown for streaming segments. As a result, this value may display as 0 for batch segments.

As a result, if you see that the number under “Last X days” is zero, and the line graph is also reporting zero, you have not streamed any profiles into the system that would qualify for that segment.

How long does it take for a segment to be available?

It takes up to one hour for a segment to be available.

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