After configuring your tool input and output, you can incorporate lookups and imports into your tool. Lookups allow your tool to dynamically reference and retrieve critical data from connected systems or internal repositories, ensuring that each transaction is enriched with accurate and current information. Imports facilitate the integration of external data and enable you to update records or execute specific actions based on that data. Combined with branching, transformation, and other configurations, these features empower your tool to execute sophisticated business logic, enforce data integrity, and drive real-time decision-making across your operations.
You can't create a Tool without adding a lookup or import. These steps allow you to execute your Tool. For example, if you want to create a Tool to post messages to slack, you need to:
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Create a tool input: This determines how the user will send the data.
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Add an import: This will post data to the slack channel.
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Create a tool output: This determines the response you send to your Tool consumer (e.g., success, failed, etc.).
In the context of a Tool, a lookup searches for data. If you want to build a Tool that retrieves a list of inventory locations from the store database, you can add lookups to retrieve this information from your database or application.
An import receives data into an application. Where a lookup retrieves information from an application, an import writes data into an application or database (or deletes data from it). If you want to build a Tool that sends slack notifications, you can add imports in your Tool.
You can directly reuse existing lookups and imports in the Tool builder, or clone and modify them before using them. After adding lookups and imports, you can map the lookup results and responses from the applications to the source record, which you can then return as the Tool output.
To create or add a lookup or import, navigate to your Tool builder and add a step using the plus sign (+) to the right of the Tool input.
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Click Add destination/lookup.
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Search for your application or use a pre-built step created by Celigo. You can also describe your flow step, and Celigo will recommend a lookup or import that matches your requirements.
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Select whether you'd like to create a lookup or import.
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Add a Name and Description.
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Create or use an existing connection to your application. The requirements for creating a connection vary greatly depending on the application. Always check the requirements for your specific application by searching for the application in our help centre. If you're using a universal connector, you'll need to use a search engine like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo to find the API requirements for your application.
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Build your lookup or import. Here's an example HTTP import.
Note
You can use the Override request/response media type field in imports to use a different media type (e.g., XML or CSV). However, the final Tool output must be in JSON.
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Add additional configurations to your lookup or import. This can include:
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Use Error handling to choose whether the process should stop and return an error if a record fails or continue to the next step. When one of the lookups or imports encounters an error, you can:
Tip
You can configure additional error handling aside from failed records.
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Stop and return error: This is the default. The Tool execution will stop for the record, the errors array (including the error code, message, and source) will be sent back to the caller.
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Proceed to the next application regardless: The Tool execution will continue to the next step; however, the "errors" array needs to be manually mapped in results/response mapping to use that information in downstream steps.
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Below are some resources you can use to create effective lookups and imports: