Optix platform overview

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Public API

The purpose of the public API is to enable dynamic interactions by third-party apps that can retrieve or change information related to an organization or user.

To start using it, go to Using the API. If you’d like to jump straight into experimenting with the API, try out the API playground.

You can use the API to read data like users, bookings, invoices, etc. We are increasing the number of objects available, including new mutations (write) operations. For a visualization of the available objects and their fields, check out the API explorer.

Webhooks

Webhooks notify apps about changes or activities that take place in Optix, for the specific actions that the app subscribes to.

It is preferable to subscribe to webhooks to listen for changes, rather than polling the API to look for changes.

To learn more, go to the Using webhooks page.

Canvases

Canvases are iframes that display within the user interface of the Optix admin dashboard, and web views that display in the mobile app. They can be used to display information to users, present forms and buttons for interaction, or any other element that can be built using HTML. Canvases include information like the user’s token and other relevant data. The page you design can react to these properties, offering relevant and contextual experiences.

More information is available in the Canvas overview and Using canvases sections.

Canvas example

You have several options when choosing where the canvas will be displayed. The below is an abstract illustration that shows an example of the Optix admin dashboard displaying a ‘main menu canvas’ and the Optix mobile app displaying a ‘home screen section’ canvas.

1. Optix admin dashboard
2. Optix mobile app
3. Title/icon for your web canvas
4. Canvas in admin dashboard for your UI
5. Title & additional link for your mobile canvas
6. Canvas in mobile app for your UI

Installing apps

For an app to interact with an Optix organization, it must be installed in the ‘Find apps’ page of the Optix admin dashboard. The installation process adds the app into the ‘Manage apps’ page and triggers a webhook (called “app_install”) which contains the authentication token for the organization.

When thinking about creating an app for Optix, you should consider your audience. There are two distinct scenarios you should consider for your app:

1. You are developing an app only for your Optix organization: Your app doesn’t care about the venue configuration, you know all the rooms, IDs, doors, devices, etc. The app is not available in the ‘find apps’ page for any organization other than your own.
2. You are developing an app for any Optix organization: Your app will be available in the ‘find apps’ page for all Optix organizations (after approval from the Optix team) and will be able to be used by any Optix organization that installs it. You will enable Organization-specific configuration and data storage.

App infrastructure

Your app could be developed using any programming language or technology and will be hosted by you, on any infrastructure. If you like, you could choose to use the boilerplate app that we provide.