The Reflektive API Overview

API stands for Application Programming Interface. APIs act as a software intermediary between two systems and allows them to share information in a secure and efficient way. The most common example of this is your web browser (client) and a website (with assets/content hosted on a server.)

APIs are usually part of a server that receives requests and sends responses.

Example: You're at a restaurant. You (the client, on a mobile phone browser) orders food (your request) through the waiter (the API), who delivers it to the kitchen (the server you are accessing which contains the information you want), which in turn prepares your food (the data that you requested) and has the waiter (API) return it back to you (the client, on a mobile phone browser.)

When a company offers an API to their customers, it means that they’ve built a set of dedicated URLs that return pure data responses, as you would find in a electronic spreadsheet . Because the responses are raw data, it's likely that they aren't formatted to your preferences; you may have to manipulate the data in order to get it formatted in a way more useful for your organization, or translated into a graphical format that can be easily consumed on a website.

The Reflektive API is based off the universally known and adopted REST architecture, which was created to work with HTTP. The Reflektive API allows your organization to access existing data (GET), create new data (POST), modify existing data (PATCH), or erase data (DELETE) housed on our servers. This data encompasses:

• Employee Demographic Information
• Real-Time Feedback Events
• Check-Ins/Reviews
• Goals
• System Reports

We'll go into more depth on what functionality we support in the below sections. If you'd prefer to immediately dive into the technical specs of the Reflektive API, check out our API documentation. For access to data for testing purposes (you must have an API key and UUID), go here. Additionally, we are unable to provide support or development for the Reflektive API beyond our public documentation; your technical teams are responsible for configuring it and getting it up and running.

The Employee API allows you to access required demographic information about your employee - their name, email address, who they report to, and more.

Example Use Cases

• Instead of manually updating employee records through Reflektive, you wanted the updates to pull straight from your HRIS system. That would reduce the amount of potential human error that could occur when transposing information between the two databases.

The Reflektive API supports only the following functions:

• View a directory of all employees
• Add an employee
• View an employee's primary manager
• Set an employee's primary manager
• Remove an employee's primary manager
• Get an employee's secondary manager(s)
• Add an employee's secondary manager(s)
• Get an employee's specific secondary manager
• Remove an employee's secondary manager
• View an employee
• Update an existing employee
• Terminate an active employee
• Unterminate a previously terminated employee

Below is the functionality we just went over with more detail:

Real-Time Feedback events revolve around accessing and creating such events (public recognition and private or shared constructive feedback). The Reflektive API supports the following functions:

• Fetch a list of public recognition posts for a company (no private thanks will be pulled). You can filter by a date range, and also include the sender, recipient, and content of the message.
• Add a public recognition post for an employee(s) (no private thanks will be added)
• Fetch a list of private recognition posts, notes, or requested feedback created within their company. 
  
• Add private recognition for an employee in their company.

Example Use Cases

• You want to display public recognition gathered via Reflektive in your company's intranet or other internal resources, without asking employees to sign into the Reflektive webapp.
• You want to display public recognition events on a public screen for employees to view.
• Your managers use another system for giving constructive feedback, and you want that feedback captured in Reflektive. 

Below is the functionality we just went over with more detail:

Additional Notes

• You can choose if you want the Write public recognition to be posted to Slack.
• All email and Slack notifications will be off by default; however, you have the opportunity to change this any time.
• When writing constructive feedback, the manager that saved a note for a direct report will see that constructive note on the My Team tab, under the direct report's name.
• When writing constructive feedback, the manager that shared a note with a direct report will see that constructive note on the My Team tab, under the direct report's name. The direct report will also see this shared note on their My Feedback page.

Check-Ins/Reviews datasets are typically the largest data sets you have to sort through. The Reflektive API supports the following functions:

• Fetch list of (review or check-in) cycles for your company
• Fetch list of questions for a cycle
• Fetch list of answers for a question
• Calibrate an answer

Example Use Cases

• You want to be able to pull data from and analyze ALL your existing check-ins or reviews.
• You have another system for calibration and compensation discussions, and you want data from Reflektive to be pulled into that system so you can perform large-scale check-in/review survey calibrations.

Below is the functionality we just went over with more detail:

The Goals portion of the Reflektive API enables you to post goals, goal groups, get goal reports and more. 

Example Use Cases

• Pulling and reading goal reports (all active goals, all archived goals, and all goals)
• Getting your goal data out of Reflektive to manipulate in another tool.
• Adding goals for employees.

The current Goals API has the below functions. We plan on deprecating this on 3/15/20.

Beginning on 3/16/20, we will be on the new Goals API (v2, below).

Currently, the Reflektive API can only request goal reports, and task details, as seen below:

This use of the Reflektive API is by request only. The current process goes as follows:

1. Obtain Access Token and company ID number
   • A Reflektive access token allows your application to connect with the Reflektive API. To request an access token, please contact your Customer Success Manager on next steps.
   • We will review your request and send your token and company ID once all details have been verified. Please ensure your access token is kept secure.  Your company ID will look similar to 1111z559a-555x-469y-8047-035cdd2fd8b9.
   • Only approved access tokens can connect to the API for your production account.
   • In the event you need to reset your access token, please contact your Customer Success Manager.
     
     
2. Development
   • Resources needed: A custom developer/engineer on your end.
   • Please note: your technical teams are responsible for doing any development in successfully getting the Reflektive API to function in the way that your organization wants it. We do not provide technical assistance in this realm beyond our public documentation.