C8 docs mentions "History API", what it is?

[kristoffer.jalen]

To get data into a BI system, the Camunda 8 documentation says you should leverage one of these mechanisms:

• Camunda Operate or Camunda Optimize
• Query API (currently under development)
• Pushing events using exporters (only for Self-Managed settings)

Then it says:

In SaaS, leverage the history API to regularly pull data, as custom exporters are not supported there.

Please clarify what “history API” is in Camunda 8. What’s the recommendation for Camunda 8 SaaS if it’s a typo?

Is there a release date for Query API?

[miamoore]

Hey @kristoffer.jalen, thanks for flagging this, you’re right that it’s a bit confusing. There is no “history API,” just the regular API where one needs to filter for completed instance. I have filed this feedback with our docs team to update this page.

We don’t have a release date for the Query API yet, but the team is targeting the 8.7 release.

[kristoffer.jalen]

Thanks for your reply. So if you need to get data into a BI system then running SaaS is not an option? Is that correct? Or which API endpoints should I use to get audit information as described in Reporting about processes | Camunda 8 Docs?

[miamoore]

Hey @kristoffer.jalen, I’m looking into this further to make sure I give you an accurate answer. Thanks for your patience!

[miamoore]

Hi @kristoffer.jalen, here’s what I learned:

• You can fetch data from the Operate API. I think this is was the documentation is referring to with “history API”. @jonathan.lukas created an example for the Operate API that might be helpful: GitHub - camunda-consulting/process-instance-archiver
• You can fetch data from Optimize API by creating a report and retrieving the raw data.
• You can add an “archive” task to the end of each process that archives the PI and provides the data to the BI tool.

Let me know if you have any other questions/concerns – this conversation has been really helpful for improving that documentation page There is clearly a gap here.