Create an external fetch template

API at a glance

Description: Create a new external fetch template to retrieve data from external APIs or services. Templates can use dynamic Liquid variables and support both GET and POST methods with authentication.

Authentication & testing

Testing the API on this page

How to try it here

Use your User API Key as the Username (leave Password blank).

Select the appropriate API endpoint based on your Blueshift region.

Enter the necessary parameters and click Try It to run the request.

Authentication using Base64 encoding

Note for developers

API requests require authentication using HTTP Basic Authentication with an API key. The API key serves as the username, while the password field should be left empty. The format to encode is: your_api_key: (note the trailing colon).

This string must be Base64-encoded and included in the request's Authorization header as follows:

Authorization: Basic encoded_value

You can generate the encoded value using a trusted Base64 encoder.

Postman collection

Try it with Postman: Explore the API using Blueshift's Postman collection.

Things to know before you start

Alias name format: Must contain only lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores (e.g., fetch_weekly_promotions).
HTTP methods: Supports GET and POST. Use POST when you need to send a request body.
Dynamic variables: URLs can include Liquid variables for user data (e.g., {{user_id}}, {{email}}).
Authentication: Use auth_header and auth_token together for secure API endpoints.
Request body: Only applicable when http_method is POST. Must be valid JSON.

Request parameters

Check out the request parameters

Body parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`alias_name`	`string`	✅ Yes	Template name (lowercase alphanumeric and underscores only). Example: `fetch_weekly_promotions`
`http_method`	`string`	✅ Yes	HTTP method: `GET` or `POST`
`url`	`string`	✅ Yes	External API URL. Can include Liquid variables. Example: `https://api.example.com/data`
`author`	`string`	No	Email address of the template author. Example: `[email protected]`
`auth_header`	`string`	No	Authentication header name (use with `auth_token` for secure URLs)
`auth_token`	`string`	No	Authentication token value (use with `auth_header` for secure URLs)
`body`	`string`	No	JSON payload for POST requests. Example: `{"user_id": 4981}`
`test_context`	`string`	No	Test context description. Example: `"This is a test fetch to update user profile (user: 4981)"`

Example requests & responses

Create GET template with authentication

POST /api/v1/external_fetches.json

{
  "alias_name": "fetch_user_recommendations",
  "author": "[email protected]",
  "http_method": "GET",
  "url": "https://api.example.com/recommendations?user_id={{user.customer_id}}",
  "auth_header": "Authorization",
  "auth_token": "Bearer your_api_token_here",
  "test_context": "Fetch personalized product recommendations for user"
}

{
  "success": true
}

Create POST template with body

POST /api/v1/external_fetches.json

{
  "alias_name": "update_user_profile",
  "author": "[email protected]",
  "http_method": "POST",
  "url": "https://api.example.com/users/update",
  "body": "{\"user_id\": {{user.customer_id}}, \"email\": \"{{user.email}}\", \"preferences\": {\"language\": \"en_US\", \"newsletter_subscription\": true}}",
  "auth_header": "X-API-Key",
  "auth_token": "your_api_key_here",
  "test_context": "Update user profile with latest preferences"
}

{
  "success": true
}

Create simple GET template (no auth)

POST /api/v1/external_fetches.json

{
  "alias_name": "fetch_weekly_promotions",
  "http_method": "GET",
  "url": "https://api.example.com/promotions/weekly"
}

{
  "success": true
}

API error responses

Note
The following error codes are commonly returned by Blueshift APIs. Depending on the specific endpoint, not all may apply.

Status code	Description	Example responses
400 Bad Request	The request is invalid due to missing or incorrect parameters. This includes missing fields, invalid values, formatting issues, or conflicts such as duplicate data.	`{ "errors": { "name": ["can't be blank"] } }` `{ "errors": { "startdate": ["can't be blank"] } }`
401 Unauthorized	API authentication failed due to an invalid or missing API key.	`{ "message": "Not authorized" }`
403 Forbidden	The API key does not have sufficient permissions to perform this action.	`{ "message": "Permission denied" }`
404 Not Found	The specified campaign was not found. Verify the campaign UUID.	`{ "message": "Campaign not found" }`
422 Unprocessable Entity	The campaign cannot be paused due to its current status (e.g., already completed or archived). One or more scheduling parameters may be invalid (if applicable).	`{ "message": "Campaign cannot be paused in its current status." }` `{ "message": "Invalid schedule values" }`
429 Too Many Requests	The request limit has been exceeded. Reduce request frequency.	`{ "message": "Rate limit exceeded" }`
500 Internal Server Error	An unexpected server error occurred. Contact support if the issue persists.	`{ "message": "Internal Server Error - Please contact support for more information." }`
502 Bad Gateway	The server received an invalid response. Retry the request.	`{ "message": "Bad Gateway - Please retry the request." }`
503 Service Unavailable	The service is temporarily unavailable. Try again later.	`{ "message": "Service Unavailable - The service is temporarily unavailable. Try again later." }`
504 Gateway Timeout	The server took too long to respond. Retry the request with exponential backoff.	`{ "message": "Gateway Timeout - The server took too long to respond. Retry with exponential backoff." }`