DocumentationExperience PlatformDestinations Guide

Edit destination connections using the Flow Service API

Last update: April 2, 2025
  • Topics:
  • Destinations

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This tutorial covers the steps for editing various components of a destination connection. Learn how to update authentication credentials, export location, and more by using the Flow Service API.

NOTE
The edit operations described in this tutorial are currently only supported through the Flow Service API.

Getting started

This tutorial requires you to have a valid dataflow ID. If you do not have a valid dataflow ID, select your destination of choice from the destinations catalog and follow the steps outlined to connect to the destination and activate data before attempting this tutorial.

NOTE
The terms flow and dataflow are used interchangeably in this tutorial. In the context of this tutorial, they have the same meaning.

This tutorial also requires you to have a working understanding of the following components of Adobe Experience Platform:

  • Destinations: Destinations are pre-built integrations with destination platforms that allow for the seamless activation of data from Adobe Experience Platform. You can use destinations to activate your known and unknown data for cross-channel marketing campaigns, email campaigns, targeted advertising, and many other use cases.
  • Sandboxes: Experience Platform provides virtual sandboxes which partition a single Experience Platform instance into separate virtual environments to help develop and evolve digital experience applications.

The following sections provide additional information that you will need to know in order to successfully update your dataflow using the Flow Service API.

Reading sample API calls

This tutorial 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 Experience 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, including those belonging to Flow Service, are isolated to specific virtual sandboxes. All requests to Experience Platform APIs require a header that specifies the name of the sandbox the operation will take place in:

  • x-sandbox-name: {SANDBOX_NAME}
NOTE
If the x-sandbox-name header is not specified, requests are resolved under the prod sandbox.

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

  • Content-Type: application/json

Look up dataflow details

The first step in editing your destination connection is to retrieve dataflow details using your flow ID. You can view the current details of an existing dataflow by making a GET request to the /flows endpoint.

TIP
You can use the Experience Platform UI to get the desired dataflow ID of a destination. Go to Destinations > Browse, select the desired destination dataflow and find the destination ID in the right rail. The destination ID is the value that you will use as flow ID in the next step.
Get destination ID using the Experience Platform UI
recommendation-more-help

API format

GET /flows/{FLOW_ID}
Parameter
Description
{FLOW_ID}
The unique id value for the destination dataflow you want to retrieve.

Request

The following request retrieves information regarding your flow ID.

curl -X GET \
    'https://platform.adobe.io/data/foundation/flowservice/flows/226fb2e1-db69-4760-b67e-9e671e05abfc' \
    -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}'

Response

A successful response returns the current details of your dataflow including its version, unique identifier (id), and other relevant information. Most relevant for this tutorial are the target connection and base connection IDs highlighted in the response below. You will use these IDs in the next sections to update various components of the destination connection.

{
   "items":[
      {
         "id":"226fb2e1-db69-4760-b67e-9e671e05abfc",
         "createdAt":"{CREATED_AT}",
         "updatedAt":"{UPDATED_BY}",
         "createdBy":"{CREATED_BY}",
         "updatedBy":"{UPDATED_BY}",
         "createdClient":"{CREATED_CLIENT}",
         "updatedClient":"{UPDATED_CLIENT}",
         "sandboxId":"{SANDBOX_ID}",
         "sandboxName":"prod",
         "imsOrgId":"{ORG_ID}",
         "name":"2021 winter campaign",
         "description":"ACME company holiday campaign for high fidelity customers",
         "flowSpec":{
            "id":"71471eba-b620-49e4-90fd-23f1fa0174d8",
            "version":"1.0"
         },
         "state":"enabled",
         "version":"\"8b0351ca-0000-0200-0000-61c4d6700000\"",
         "etag":"\"8b0351ca-0000-0200-0000-61c4d6700000\"",
         "sourceConnectionIds":[
            "5e45582a-5336-4ea1-9ec9-d0004a9f344a"
         ],
         "targetConnectionIds":[
            "8ce3dc63-3766-4220-9f61-51d2f8f14618"
         ],
         "inheritedAttributes":{
            "sourceConnections":[
               {
                  "id":"5e45582a-5336-4ea1-9ec9-d0004a9f344a",
                  "connectionSpec":{
                     "id":"8a9c3494-9708-43d7-ae3f-cda01e5030e1",
                     "version":"1.0"
                  },
                  "baseConnection":{
                     "id":"0a82f29f-b457-47f7-bb30-33856e2ae5aa",
                     "connectionSpec":{
                        "id":"8a9c3494-9708-43d7-ae3f-cda01e5030e1",
                        "version":"1.0"
                     }
                  },
                  "typeInfo":{
                     "type":"ProfileFragments",
                     "id":"ups"
                  }
               }
            ],
            "targetConnections":[
               {
                  "id":"8ce3dc63-3766-4220-9f61-51d2f8f14618",
                  "connectionSpec":{
                     "id":"0b23e41a-cb4a-4321-a78f-3b654f5d7d97",
                     "version":"1.0"
                  },
                  "baseConnection":{
                     "id":"7fbf542b-83ed-498f-8838-8fde0c4d4d69",
                     "connectionSpec":{
                        "id":"0b23e41a-cb4a-4321-a78f-3b654f5d7d97",
                        "version":"1.0"
                     }
                  }
               }
            ]
         },
         "transformations":[
            "shortened for brevity"
         ]
      }
   ]

Edit target connection components (storage location and other components)

The components of a target connection differ by destination. For example, for Amazon S3 destinations, you can update the bucket and path where files are exported. For Pinterest destinations, you can update your Pinterest Advertiser ID and for Google Customer Match you can update your Pinterest Account ID.

To update components of a target connection, perform a PATCH request to the /targetConnections/{TARGET_CONNECTION_ID} endpoint while providing your target connection ID, version, and the new values you want to use. Remember, you got your target connection ID in the previous step, when you inspected an existing dataflow to your desired destination.

IMPORTANT
The If-Match header is required when making a PATCH request. The value for this header is the unique version of the target connection you want to update. The etag value updates with every successful update of a flow entity such as dataflow, target connection, and others.
To get the latest version of the etag value, perform a GET request to the /targetConnections/{TARGET_CONNECTION_ID} endpoint, where {TARGET_CONNECTION_ID} is the target connection ID that you are looking to update.
Make sure to wrap the value of the If-Match header in double quotes like in the examples below when making PATCH requests.

Below are a few examples of updating parameters in the target connection spec for different types of destinations. But the general rule to update parameters for any destination is as follows:

Get the dataflow ID of the connection > obtain the target connection ID > PATCH the target connection with updated values for the desired parameters.

API format

PATCH /targetConnections/{TARGET_CONNECTION_ID}
Amazon S3

Request

The following request updates the bucketName and path parameters of an Amazon S3 destination connection.

curl -X PATCH \
    'https://platform.adobe.io/data/foundation/flowservice/targetConnections/b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0' \
    -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}'
    -H 'If-Match: "1a0037e4-0000-0200-0000-602e06f60000"' \
    -d '[
  {
    "op": "replace",
    "path": "/params",
    "value": {
      "bucketName": "newBucketName",
      "path": "updatedPath"
    }
  }
]'
Property
Description
op
The operation call used to define the action needed to update the dataflow. Operations include: add, replace, and remove.
path
Defines the part of the flow that is to be updated.
value
The new value you want to update your parameter with.

Response

A successful response returns your target connection ID and an updated Etag. You can verify the update by making a GET request to the Flow Service API, while providing your target connection ID.

{
    "id": "b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0",
    "etag": "\"50014cc8-0000-0200-0000-6036eb720000\""
}
Google Ad Manager and Google Ad Manager 360

Request

The following request updates the parameters of a Google Ad Manager or Google Ad Manager 360 destination connection to add the new Append audience ID to audience name field.

curl -X PATCH \
    'https://platform.adobe.io/data/foundation/flowservice/targetConnections/b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0' \
    -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}'
    -H 'If-Match: "1a0037e4-0000-0200-0000-602e06f60000"' \
    -d '[
  {
    "op": "add",
    "path": "/params/appendSegmentId",
    "value": true
  }
]'
Property
Description
op
The operation call used to define the action needed to update the dataflow. Operations include: add, replace, and remove.
path
Defines the part of the flow that is to be updated.
value
The new value you want to update your parameter with.

Response

A successful response returns your target connection ID and an updated etag. You can verify the update by making a GET request to the Flow Service API, while providing your target connection ID.

{
    "id": "b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0",
    "etag": "\"50014cc8-0000-0200-0000-6036eb720000\""
}
Pinterest

Request

The following request updates the advertiserId parameter of a Pinterest destination connection.

curl -X PATCH \
    'https://platform.adobe.io/data/foundation/flowservice/targetConnections/b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0' \
    -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}'
    -H 'If-Match: "1a0037e4-0000-0200-0000-602e06f60000"' \
    -d '[
  {
    "op": "replace",
    "path": "/params",
    "value": {
      "advertiser_id": "1234567890"
    }
  }
]'
Property
Description
op
The operation call used to define the action needed to update the dataflow. Operations include: add, replace, and remove.
path
Defines the part of the flow that is to be updated.
value
The new value you want to update your parameter with.

Response

A successful response returns your target connection ID and an updated etag. You can verify the update by making a GET request to the Flow Service API, while providing your target connection ID.

{
    "id": "b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0",
    "etag": "\"50014cc8-0000-0200-0000-6036eb720000\""
}

Edit base connection components (authentication parameters and other components)

Edit the base connection when you want to update a destination’s credentials. The components of a base connection differ by destination. For example, for Amazon S3 destinations, you can update the access key and secret key to your Amazon S3 location.

To update components of a base connection, perform a PATCH request to the /connections endpoint while providing your base connection ID, version, and the new values you want to use.

Remember, you got your base connection ID in a previous step, when you inspected an existing dataflow to your desired destination for the parameter baseConnection.

IMPORTANT
The If-Match header is required when making a PATCH request. The value for this header is the unique version of the base connection you want to update. The etag value updates with every successful update of a flow entity such as dataflow, base connection, and others.
To get the latest version of the Etag value, perform a GET request to the /connections/{BASE_CONNECTION_ID} endpoint, where {BASE_CONNECTION_ID} is the base connection ID that you are looking to update.
Make sure to wrap the value of the If-Match header in double quotes like in the examples below when making PATCH requests.

Below are a few examples of updating parameters in the base connection spec for different types of destinations. But the general rule to update parameters for any destination is as follows:

Get the dataflow ID of the connection > obtain the base connection ID > PATCH the base connection with updated values for the desired parameters.

API format

PATCH /connections/{BASE_CONNECTION_ID}
Amazon S3

Request

The following request updates the accessId and secretKey parameters of an Amazon S3 destination connection.

curl -X PATCH \
    'https://platform.adobe.io/data/foundation/flowservice/targetConnections/b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0' \
    -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}'
    -H 'If-Match: "1a0037e4-0000-0200-0000-602e06f60000"' \
    -d '[
  {
    "op": "add",
    "path": "/auth/params",
    "value": {
      "accessId": "exampleAccessId",
      "secretKey": "exampleSecretKey"
    }
  }
]'
Property
Description
op
The operation call used to define the action needed to update the dataflow. Operations include: add, replace, and remove.
path
Defines the part of the flow that is to be updated.
value
The new value you want to update your parameter with.

Response

A successful response returns your base connection ID and an updated etag. You can verify the update by making a GET request to the Flow Service API, while providing your base connection ID.

{
    "id": "b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0",
    "etag": "\"50014cc8-0000-0200-0000-6036eb720000\""
}
Azure Blob

Request

The following request updates the parameters of an Azure Blob destination connection to update the connection string required to connect to an Azure Blob instance.

curl -X PATCH \
    'https://platform.adobe.io/data/foundation/flowservice/targetConnections/b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0' \
    -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}'
    -H 'If-Match: "1a0037e4-0000-0200-0000-602e06f60000"' \
    -d '[
  {
    "op": "add",
    "path": "/auth/params",
    "value": {
      "connectionString": "updatedString"
    }
  }
]'
Property
Description
op
The operation call used to define the action needed to update the dataflow. Operations include: add, replace, and remove.
path
Defines the part of the flow that is to be updated.
value
The new value you want to update your parameter with.

Response

A successful response returns your base connection ID and an updated etag. You can verify the update by making a GET request to the Flow Service API, while providing your base connection ID.

{
    "id": "b2cb1407-3114-441c-87ea-2c1a3c84d0b0",
    "etag": "\"50014cc8-0000-0200-0000-6036eb720000\""
}

API error handling

The API endpoints in this tutorial follow the general Experience Platform API error message principles. Refer to API status codes and request header errors in the Experience Platform troubleshooting guide for more information on interpreting error responses.

Next steps

By following this tutorial, you have learned how to update various components of a destination connection using the Flow Service API. For more information on destinations, see the destinations overview.

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