JSON:API EXT ID 

JSON:API EXT ID is a variant of the standard REST API for back-office that conforms to the JSON:API specification, in which selected API resources are identified by an identifier provided by an external system instead of the internal database identifier. It is intended for integrations where the external system stores its own identifier of a record and needs to reference Oro entities by that identifier without first resolving it to the database identifier.

How It Works 

  • A dedicated JSON:API EXT ID API is registered for the API sandbox.

  • A request is treated as a JSON:API EXT ID request when it contains the X-Integration-Type HTTP header with the value ext_id. Such requests are marked with the ext_id request type.

  • The JSON:API EXT ID specific configuration is loaded from Resources/config/oro/api_ext_id.yml.

  • For every entity listed in oro_api.ext_id_entities, the identifier field of the API resource is replaced with the configured external identifier field. In addition, a read-only dbId field is added to expose the original database identifier.

Limitations 

  • Only ORM entities with a single-column primary key can be configured. Entities with a composite identifier are silently skipped.

  • Records that do not have a value in the configured external identifier field cannot be fetched via JSON:API EXT ID because the identifier is null. Such records are still accessible through the standard JSON:API by their database identifier.

Configuration Reference 

The oro_api.ext_id_entities option is a map where the key is the FQCN of an ORM entity and the value is the name of the field that stores the external identifier. Example:

oro_api:
    ext_id_entities:
        Oro\Bundle\UserBundle\Entity\User: external_id
        Oro\Bundle\OrderBundle\Entity\Order: external_id
        Oro\Bundle\ProductBundle\Entity\Product: sku

This option can be defined in Resources/config/oro/app.yml in any bundle or config/config.yml of your application. Values from different bundles are merged together.

Adding an External ID to an Entity 

The recommended approach is to add an extend (custom) external_id column with a unique key and expose it as the externalId API field. The steps below describe how to add an external identifier for an arbitrary entity. The following examples use Acme\Bundle\DemoBundle\Entity\Item as the target entity, acme_demo_item as its database table, and the AcmeDemoBundle bundle as the place where the changes are made.

1. Create a migration that adds a nullable external_id string column and registers a unique key on it. The column must be defined as a custom extend field in read-only mode so that it is treated as an extend field by the platform but cannot be removed via the back-office UI.

namespace Acme\Bundle\DemoBundle\Migrations\Schema\v1_1;

use Doctrine\DBAL\Schema\Schema;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityBundle\EntityConfig\DatagridScope;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityConfigBundle\Entity\ConfigModel;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityExtendBundle\EntityConfig\ExtendScope;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityExtendBundle\Migration\ExtendOptionsManager;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityExtendBundle\Migration\OroOptions;
use Oro\Bundle\MigrationBundle\Migration\Migration;
use Oro\Bundle\MigrationBundle\Migration\QueryBag;

class AddExternalIdToItemEntity implements Migration
{
    #[\Override]
    public function up(Schema $schema, QueryBag $queries): void
    {
        $table = $schema->getTable('acme_demo_item');
        if (!$table->hasColumn('external_id')) {
            $table->addColumn('external_id', 'string', ['length' => 36, 'notnull' => false, OroOptions::KEY => [
                ExtendOptionsManager::MODE_OPTION => ConfigModel::MODE_READONLY,
                'extend' => ['is_extend' => true, 'owner' => ExtendScope::OWNER_CUSTOM],
                'datagrid' => ['is_visible' => DatagridScope::IS_VISIBLE_HIDDEN],
                'importexport' => ['excluded' => true],
                'dataaudit' => ['auditable' => true]
            ]]);
            $options = new OroOptions();
            $options->append('extend', 'unique_key.keys', [['name' => 'external_id', 'key' => ['external_id']]]);
            $table->addOption(OroOptions::KEY, $options);
        }
    }
}

Apply the same column definition to the bundle installer so that fresh installations get the column from scratch:

namespace Acme\Bundle\DemoBundle\Migrations\Schema;

use Doctrine\DBAL\Schema\Schema;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityBundle\EntityConfig\DatagridScope;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityConfigBundle\Entity\ConfigModel;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityExtendBundle\EntityConfig\ExtendScope;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityExtendBundle\Migration\ExtendOptionsManager;
use Oro\Bundle\EntityExtendBundle\Migration\OroOptions;
use Oro\Bundle\MigrationBundle\Migration\Installation;
use Oro\Bundle\MigrationBundle\Migration\QueryBag;

class OroCallBundleInstaller implements Installation
{
    #[\Override]
    public function getMigrationVersion(): string
    {
        return 'v1_1';
    }

    #[\Override]
    public function up(Schema $schema, QueryBag $queries): void
    {
        /** Tables generation **/
        $this->createAcmeDemoItemTable($schema);
    }

    /**
     * Create acme_demo_item table
     */
    private function createAcmeDemoItemTable(Schema $schema): void
    {
        $table = $schema->createTable('acme_demo_item');
        $table->addOption(OroOptions::KEY, [
            'extend' => ['unique_key' => ['keys' => [['name' => 'external_id', 'key' => ['external_id']]]]]
        ]);
        $table->addColumn('id', 'integer', ['autoincrement' => true]);
        $table->addColumn('external_id', 'string', ['length' => 36, 'notnull' => false, OroOptions::KEY => [
            ExtendOptionsManager::MODE_OPTION => ConfigModel::MODE_READONLY,
            'extend' => ['is_extend' => true, 'owner' => ExtendScope::OWNER_CUSTOM],
            'datagrid' => ['is_visible' => DatagridScope::IS_VISIBLE_HIDDEN],
            'importexport' => ['excluded' => true],
            'dataaudit' => ['auditable' => true]
        ]]);
        $table->setPrimaryKey(['id']);
    }
}

Note

The unique_key is required because the external identifier is used to load entities by it and must uniquely identify a record. The column is nullable to allow records that do not originate from an external system.

  1. Add translations for the new field in Resources/translations/messages.en.yml:

acme:
    demo:
        item:
            external_id:
                label: External ID
                description: A unique identifier from an external system.

3. Declare the API field externalId and if needed enable filtering by several values for it in Resources/config/oro/api.yml:

api:
    entities:
        Acme\Bundle\DemoBundle\Entity\Item:
            fields:
                externalId:
                    property_path: external_id
            filters:
                fields:
                    externalId:
                        allow_array: true

  1. Register the entity in the oro_api.ext_id_entities option in Resources/config/oro/app.yml:

oro_api:
    ext_id_entities:
        Acme\Bundle\DemoBundle\Entity\Item: external_id

Testing 

Use ExtIdRestJsonApiTestCase as the base class for functional tests of resources that use an external identifier. The class extends RestJsonApiTestCase and automatically adds the X-Integration-Type: ext_id header to every request.