Define and Post Action Links

Creating and posting action links require defining the action link, defining the action link group, and associating the action link group with a feed item. This example walks through each step.

Step 1: Define an Action Link

Think of an action link as a button on a feed item. Like a button, an action link includes a label (labelKey). An action link definition also includes other properties like a URL (actionUrl), an HTTP method (method), and an optional request body (requestBody) and HTTP headers (headers).

Action link definitions are always nested within an action link group definition. You can see the action link we define here nested in the action link group definition in step 2.

Request body

Action Link Definition Input

Request body example

1{
2   "actionType":"Api",
3   "actionUrl":"/services/data/v31.0/chatter/feed-elements",
4   "groupDefault":"true",
5   "labelKey":"Post",
6   "method":"Post",
7   "requiresConfirmation":"true",
8   "requestBody":"{\"subjectId\": \"me\",\"feedElementType\": \"FeedItem\",\"body\": {\"messageSegments\": [{\"type\": \"Text\",\"text\": \"Testing a post created via an API action link.\"}]}}",
9   "headers":[
10   {
11      "name":"Content-Type", "value":"application/json"
12   }]
13}

When a user clicks this action link, an HTTP POST request is made to a Chatter REST API resource, which posts a feed item to Chatter. The requestBody property holds the request body for the actionUrl resource, including the text of the new feed item. In this example, the new feed item includes only text, but it could include other capabilities such as a file attachment, a poll, or even action links.

Step 2: Define the Action Link Group

Just like radio buttons, action links must be nested in a group. Action links within a group share the properties of the group and are mutually exclusive (you can click on only one action link within a group). Even if you defined only one action link (as we did in step 1), you must nest it in an action link group.

Resource

/connect/action-link-group-definitions

HTTP method

POST

Request body

Action Link Group Definition Input

This request body includes an actionLinks property that holds the nested Action Link Definition Input request body from step 1. If we had defined multiple action links, we would include them all in this property.

Request body example

When you joined the action links pilot, salesforce.com gave you a pilot key. In requests to action link resources, append the request with a pilotKey parameter and the value of your pilot key.

Note

1POST /services/data/v31.0/connect/action-link-group-definitions?pilotKey=R002AUMQV3GN
2
3{
4   "executionsAllowed":"OncePerUser",
5   "expirationDate":"2014-09-20T19:32:10+0000",
6   "category":"Primary",
7   "actionLinks":[
8   {
9      "actionType":"Api",
10      "actionUrl":"/services/data/v31.0/chatter/feed-elements",
11      "groupDefault":"true",
12      "labelKey":"Post",
13      "method":"Post",
14      "requiresConfirmation":"true",
15      "requestBody":"{\"subjectId\": \"me\",\"feedElementType\": \"FeedItem\",\"body\": {\"messageSegments\": [{\"type\": \"Text\",\"text\": \"This is a test post created via an API action link.\"}]}}",
16      "headers":[
17      {
18         "name":"Content-Type", "value":"application/json"
19      }]
20   }]
21}

Request example using cURL

To use cURL to make the request, enter the following and substitute your Developer Edition instance name, pilot key, and OAuth information.

1curl -H "X-PrettyPrint: 1" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{ "executionsAllowed":"OncePerUser", "expirationDate":"2014-09-20T19:32:10+0000", "category":"Primary", "actionLinks":[ { "actionType":"Api", "actionUrl":"/services/data/v31.0/chatter/feed-elements", "groupDefault":"true", "labelKey":"Post", "method":"Post", "requiresConfirmation":"true", "requestBody":"{\"subjectId\": \"me\",\"feedElementType\": \"FeedItem\",\"body\": {\"messageSegments\": [{\"type\": \"Text\",\"text\": \"This is a test post created via an API action link.\"}]}}", "headers":[ { "name":"Content-Type", "value":"application/json" }] }] }' -X POST "https://instance_name/services/data/v31.0/connect/action-link-group-definitions?pilotKey=R002AUMQV3GN" -H 'Authorization: OAuth 00DRR0000000N0g!RWaPj94O6yOD.lfjB9LqMk' --insecure

Response body

Action Link Group Definition

Step 3: Associate the Action Link Group with a Feed Item and Post It