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In addition to data warehouses, Elementum can create a CloudLink to an external REST API. The primary use case for an API CloudLink is populating API-powered dropdowns—it stores the base URL and credentials in one place so dropdown fields and API Elements can call the API without re-entering connection details. If you’re new to CloudLink, start with the CloudLink Overview for the underlying concepts and security model.
Before creating an API CloudLink, review Populate Dropdown Fields from External APIs to confirm this is the right setup for your use case and to see how the CloudLink is consumed downstream.
AI services are not supported on API CloudLinks. AI Services (LLMs, embeddings, Snowflake Cortex, etc.) require a CloudLink configured against a supported data warehouse such as Snowflake. If you need AI services, set up a Snowflake CloudLink instead.

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Prerequisites

Before creating an API CloudLink, gather:
  • Admin access to your Elementum organization (required to manage CloudLinks)
  • Base URL of the external API (for example, https://api.example.com/v1)
  • Authentication details for the API, depending on the method:
    • Basic — username and password
    • Bearer Token — a static API token
    • OAuth 2.0 — token URL, client ID, and client secret
  • Network reachability — confirm the API is reachable from the public internet. Elementum sends API requests server-side from its platform infrastructure.
1

Open the CloudLinks page

In Elementum, open Settings icon Organization Settings and select CloudLinks.
2

Start a new CloudLink

Click + CloudLink in the upper right. In the Create New CloudLink dialog, select API.
3

Enter connection details

Fill out the API connection form:
4

Configure authentication

Select an authentication method from the dropdown and provide the required credentials. The fields displayed change based on the method you choose.
5

Save the connection

Click Save. The new API CloudLink appears on the CloudLinks page and can be selected when configuring API Elements or API-powered dropdown fields.

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API authentication methods

Choose the method supported by the external API:
Avoid Basic authentication over non-HTTPS endpoints. Credentials are stored encrypted at rest in Elementum and are not displayed again in the UI after they’re saved.

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Edit or rotate API credentials

To update the URL or credentials on an existing API CloudLink:
  1. On the CloudLinks page, click Edit next to the API connection.
  2. Change the fields you need to update and click Save.
For credential rotation, update the credentials in the external system first, then update them on the CloudLink to keep requests flowing without an outage. After the API CloudLink is saved, use it to power dropdown fields. Continue with Populate Dropdown Fields from External APIs, which walks through creating an API Element on top of this CloudLink, configuring the API Actions that fetch data from the external system, and adding a Dynamic Dropdown field that calls one of those API Actions to populate its options.

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Troubleshooting

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Next steps

API-powered dropdowns

Use this CloudLink to populate dropdown fields from external APIs.

CloudLink Overview

Review the CloudLink concept and security model.