RudderStack's Transformations API allows you to create, read, update and delete transformations and libraries programmatically by making HTTP calls.

This guide describes the various API operations, related request and response structures, and error codes associated with this API.

Basic Authentication

The Transformations API is authenticated via HTTP Basic Authentication.

You can authenticate your account when using the API by including your email address in the username field and the secret access token in the password field in Authorization, if you're using POSTMAN.

You need to generate a personal access token to make any API calls. For more information, refer to the Personal Access Token guide.
Any API requests without the authentication will fail.

You can also pass your access token in the authorization headers, as shown:

Authorisation: Basic {Base64Encoded(emailaddress:AccessToken)}

The basic auth contains three parts:

  • Basic
  • Base64Encoded (Token)
  • Token = emailaddress + colon + access token

Some examples are as shown:

  • Email Address: myemailaddressis@gmail.com
  • Access Token - 1pHxUIA3jmxS2ip01zY696F80j7
  • Headers - Basic {Base64Encoded(myemailaddressis@gmail.com:1pHxUIA3jmxS2ip01zY696F80j7)}
To make a successful request all of the upcoming endpoints should include this header.

Transformations

RudderStack transformations are responsible for converting the received event data into a suitable destination-specific format. All the transformation codes are written in JavaScript.

We also support user-specific transformations for real-time operations, such as aggregation and sampling.

Transformations help you to create a user-defined code that allow you to route your events in a manner that is suitable for your destinations.

Transformer payload

FieldTypePresenceDescription
nameStringRequiredSets the name of Transformer
descriptionStringOptionalGives a description for a transformer
codeStringOptionalUser-defined code that maps event data to destinations as defined by the user
codeVersionStringOptionalThis is an integer data always set to version 1 for API calls.
createdAtDateOptionalThe timestamp of the transformer when it is created
updatedAtDateOptionalThe timestamp of the transformer when it is updated
versionIdStringOptionalMaintains a version of transformer every time it is updated
workspaceIdObjectOptionalWorkspace ID on which this transformation is created
destinationsArrayOptionalList of all Destination IDs to which your transformation is connected
POST

Create a transformation

https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations
Creates a transformation and get its object as response.
Query Parameters
publishoptional
boolean
By default this flag is false. It publishes your transformer to the latest version if set to true and its code is made live for incoming traffic.
Body Parameters
eventsoptional
object
Pass a set of JSON events to be tested for your code. This should be an array of JSON data.
destinationIdsoptional
array
Pass an array of destinationIds that you wish to connect with this transformation. You can connect only if publish is set to true.
namerequired
string
Name of transformer that you wish to create.
descriptionoptional
string
Description of transformer goes here.
coderequired
string
Code of transformer goes here.
200: OK
When publish is false we create a transformation revisions and you cannot connect a destination.
publish = true ::
{
"id": "1puvbvMW2mxWvfFFnPIv5TTv4wL",
"versionId": "1puvbyk8adHTxWHYre4GwZbrMGL",
"name": "Create Transformation Tested-4",
"description": "Descriptrion 1",
"code": "function transform(events) {return events;}",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"destinations": [
{
"id": "xdcfvgbvfcdvfgbhgvf",
"name": "Destination 1",
"enabled": true,
}
]
}
publish = false ::
{
"id": "1puu7XFWgbwObDY4nbJdF0cgeTC",
"versionId": "1puu7e4DXYMPJrLglIICgFK75fD",
"name": "new Transformation 3",
"description": "Some Description",
"code": "function transformEvent(events) { return events.context; } ",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
}

Events Parameters : Passing events in our API accepts a JSON format.

[
{
"anonymousId": "8d872292709c6fbe",
"channel": "mobile",
"context": {
"traits": {
"address": {
"city": "Kolkata",
"country": "India",
"postalcode": "700096",
"state": "West bengal",
"street": "Park Street"
}
}
},
"properties": {
"revenue": "30",
"currency": "USD",
"quantity": "5",
"price": "58.0"
}
}
]

Creating a transformation can be done in one of the two ways:

publish: true - In this case, we maintain two copies of the transformer. Among these, one is published and other is used for revisions. With the published version, you can connect a destination and its code is made live for incoming traffic.

publish: false - In this case, we only create revisions for the transformation, which means you cannot connect any destinations to it. It cannot be used for any incoming event traffic. However, if you wish to publish some revisions of transformations you can do so using our Publish API.

We will be using these two terms Published and Revisions for transformations and libraries throughout our docs.

An example is as shown:

curl --location -X POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"name": "Create Transformation Tested-4",
"code": "function transformEvent(events) { return events; } ",
"description": "Descriptrion 1"
}'
http POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations' \
name='Create Transformation Tested-4' code='function transformEvent(events) { return events; }' description='Descriptrion 1' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'
GET

List all the transformations

https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations
Get all published transformations for a workspace.
200: OK
This will give an array of published transformations.
{
"transformations": [
{
"id": "sedrftg",
"versionId": "edrtv",
"name": "new Transformations-2",
"description": "",
"code": "function transformEvent(events) { return events; }",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"destinations": []
},
{
"id": "xcgvhcfdx",
"versionId": "dtvbyutbvc",
"name": "Update Transformations and Publish",
"description": "",
"code": "function transformEvent(events) { return events; } ",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T10:07:25.513Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T10:07:25.513Z",
"destinations": []
}
]
}
curl --location -X GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
GET

Retrieve a single transformation

https://api.rudderstack.comtransformations/{id}
Retrieve the published transformations from an ID.
200: OK
This will give a transformation object on basis of the ID.
{
"id": "swderftgy",
"versionId": "edftgyhu",
"name": "new Transformations-2",
"description": "",
"code": "function transform(events) { return events; } ",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"destinations": []
}
curl --location -X GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pSvMXr651E1gWeErQNQlSQU5Bg' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pSvMXr651E1gWeErQNQlSQU5Bg' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
POST

Update a transformation

https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/{id}
Updating a transformation creates a new revision and sets it as published if the publish flag is set is true, and its code becomes live for upcoming traffic. If the publish flag is false , it only creates a new revision for that transformation.
Query Parameters
publishoptional
boolean
By default this flag is false. It publishes your transformer to the latest version if set to true and its code is made live for incoming traffic.
Body Parameters
eventsoptional
object
Pass a set of JSON events to be tested for your code.
codeoptional
string
Update the code of an existing transformation..
descriptionoptional
string
Update the description of a transformation.
200: OK
This will update transformation object on basis of id.
{
"id": "1pHw1RmzAqKpRCNupzHjTGfTrPJ",
"versionId": "1pIfjTI5cOMnSgutkXjTRldt1n3",
"name": "new Transformations-2",
"description": "Hey I am updated",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return x * x ; }",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T04:48:27.288Z"
}

An example request is as shown:

curl --location -X POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pSvMXr651E1gWeErQNQlSQU5Bg' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"name": "name updated"
}'
http POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pSvMXr651E1gWeErQNQlSQU5Bg' \
name='name updated'
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'
DELETE

Delete a transformation

https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/{id}
Delete a published transformations by ID. Note that RudderStack never deletes a transformation revisions. An example request and response is as shown:
200: OK
{
"success": true
}
curl --location -X DELETE 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pSvMXr651E1gWeErQNQlSQU5Bg' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
http DELETE 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pSvMXr651E1gWeErQNQlSQU5Bg' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
GET

List all transformation versions

https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/{id}/versions
Get all your transformation revisions by passing an ID.
Query Parameters
countoptional
number
Gets the number of objects in your array. By default it always returns the first 5 objects.
orderByoptional
string
You can pass it either as ASC for ascending or DESC as descending. By default, it sets the order as ascending on createdAt.
200: OK
This gets an array of transformations revisions.
{
"TransformationVersions": [
{
"id": "1pIYoILGZTNYZP4YYkeyNIKlitl",
"versionId": "1pIYoLfEzcMK3D3M1ihjqI02wnx",
"name": "Update Transformations and Publish",
"description": "",
"code": "",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T10:07:24.562Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T10:07:24.562Z"
},
{
"id": "1pIYoILGZTNYZP4YYkeyNIKlitl",
"versionId": "1pIhxFXd7NR7XDA914rLAn5f7wq",
"name": "Update Transformations and Publish",
"description": "Hey I am updated again",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return x * x * x ; }",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T11:22:36.102Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-08T04:22:42.646Z"
}
]
}

An example request is as shown:

curl --location -X GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pIYoILGZTNYZP4YYkeyNIKlitl/versions' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pIYoILGZTNYZP4YYkeyNIKlitl/versions' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
GET

Retrieve a single transformation version

https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/{id}/versions/{versionId}
Get a single transformation revision.
200: OK
This gets a single transformation version.
{
"id": "1pIYoILGZTNYZP4YYkeyNIKlitl",
"versionId": "1pIYoLfEzcMK3D3M1ihjqI02wnx",
"name": "Update Transformations and Publish",
"description": "",
"code": "",
"codeVersion": "1",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T10:07:24.562Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T10:07:24.562Z"
}
curl --location --request GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pIYoILGZTNYZP4YYkeyNIKlitl/versions/1pIhxFXd7NR7XDA914rLAn5f7wq' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/1pIYoILGZTNYZP4YYkeyNIKlitl/versions/1pIhxFXd7NR7XDA914rLAn5f7wq' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \

Libraries

Libraries are JavaScript codes that you can write and export to be used in your transformations. They give you the flexibility for reusing and maintaining different versions of the transformation code.

Suppose you write an aggregation function. You can easily export them and use it within different transformations just by importing that module by the library name.

Libraries payload

FieldTypePresenceDescription
nameStringRequiredSets the name of Library. This name is used as modules when it is imported in the transformation code.
descriptionStringOptionalGives a description for a library.
codeStringOptionalUser-defined code.
importNameStringOptionalThis is library name that users can use in their transformation code while importing that library.
createdAtDateOptionalThe timestamp when the transformer is created.
updatedAtDateOptionalThe timestamp when the transformer is updated.
versionIdStringOptionalMaintains a version of library every time it is updated.
workspaceObjectOptionalDictionary of information that provides workspace data where any transformation is used.
GET

Create a library

https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries
Create a library and get its object as a response.
Query Parameters
publishoptional
boolean
By default this flag is false. It publishes your library to the latest version if set to true.
Body Parameters
namerequired
string
Name of library that you wish to create
coderequired
string
Code of library goes here.
descriptionoptional
string
Description of the library goes here
200: OK
{
"id": "1pT7qGNwZfGkSqne8OE1EAcRvgK",
"versionId": "1pT7qEnXP8Dn9tQGiKnKNY0Qwmw",
"name": "User Defined Library4",
"description": "Get User context",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return x * x * x; }",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-08T03:53:34.468Z",
"createdAt": "2021-03-08T03:53:34.468Z",
"importName": "userDefinedLibrary4"
}
The publish flag for a library works in the same way as for destinations.
curl --location -X POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"name": "User Defined Library",
"description": "Get User context",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return x * x * x; }"
}'
http POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries' \
name='User Defined Library' description='Get User context' code='export default function cube(x) { return x * x * x; }' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'
GET

List all libraries

https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries
Get all the published libraries.
200: OK
This gets a single transformation version.
{
"libraries": [
{
"id": "1pHx15j5rXvmmQUIMBaQdIyrpr2",
"versionId": "1pHxdlGL8IyoP7WfvRil4Qs88cp",
"name": "Get Cube",
"description": "First Library using apiCall",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return x * x ; }",
"createdAt": "2021-03-04T05:01:46.985Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-04T05:01:47.141Z",
"importName": "getCube"
},
{
"id": "1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1",
"versionId": "1pT793mcqQkcyHdqwXkxHmtgMMg",
"name": "User Defined Library",
"description": "Get User context",
"code": " export default function cube(x) { return x * x * x; }",
"createdAt": "2021-03-08T03:47:51.512Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-08T03:47:51.512Z",
"importName": "userDefinedLibrary"
}
]
}
curl --location -X GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'
GET

Retrieve a library

https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/{id}
Get a single published library by ID.
200: OK
This gets a single transformation version.
{
"id": "1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1",
"versionId": "1pT793mcqQkcyHdqwXkxHmtgMMg",
"name": "User Defined Library",
"description": "Get User context",
"code": " export default function cube(x) { return x * x * x; }",
"createdAt": "2021-03-08T03:47:51.512Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-08T03:47:51.512Z",
"importName": "userDefinedLibrary"
}
curl --location -X GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'

Updating a library with publish has same flow as for transformations.

A sample request is as shown:

curl --location -X POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"description": "Get Divisible by 2",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return 2 * x; }"
}'
description='Get Divisible by 2' code='export default function cube(x) { return 2 * x; }'
http POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'
GET

List all library versions

https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/{id}/versions

Get all the library revisions for an ID.

Query Parameters
countoptional
number
By passing count it gets number of object in your array. By default it always returns first 5
orderByoptional
string

You can pass it either as ASC to get an ascending order or DESC for descending. By default it returns the ascending order on createdAt.

200: OK
{
"libraryVersions": [
{
"id": "1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1",
"versionId": "1pT793mcqQkcyHdqwXkxHmtgMMg",
"name": "userDefinedLibrary",
"description": "Get User context",
"code": " export default function cube(x) { return x * x * x; }",
"createdAt": "2021-03-08T03:47:51.686Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-08T03:47:51.686Z",
"isPublished": false
},
{
"id": "1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1",
"versionId": "1pT8KDAD66mQxnaUQxJpNs9qLFn",
"name": "userDefinedLibrary",
"description": "Get Divisible by 2",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return 2 * x; }",
"createdAt": "2021-03-08T03:57:33.738Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-08T03:57:33.738Z",
"isPublished": true
}
]
}
curl --location --request GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1/versions' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1/versions' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'
GET

Retrieve a single library version

https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/{id}/versions/{versionId}
Get a single library revision.
200: OK
{
"id": "1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1",
"versionId": "1pT8KDAD66mQxnaUQxJpNs9qLFn",
"name": "userDefinedLibrary",
"description": "Get Divisible by 2",
"code": "export default function cube(x) { return 2 * x; }",
"createdAt": "2021-03-08T03:57:33.738Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-03-08T03:57:33.738Z",
"isPublished": false
}
curl --location -X GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1/versions/1pT8KDAD66mQxnaUQxJpNs9qLFn' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
http GET 'https://api.rudderstack.com/libraries/1pT7933tHRBPlEMIZt5Zi3VIht1/versions/1pT8KDAD66mQxnaUQxJpNs9qLFn' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'

Publish the API

As an end user you can create a transformer/library and perform several edits on it. Note that publishing is optional at create.

If you perform some edits on this version of transformer, RudderStack takes your latest update as the published version, creates a copy of the older version, and saves it as revisions. Let's assume that after creating some 7 to 8 such revisions of your transformer, you finally decide to use the second or third version of the transformer.

This is where the RudderStack Publish API comes into play.

Publish payload

FieldTypePresenceDescription
transformationsArrayOptionalPass an array of transformer versionIds that you wish to publish.
librariesArrayOptionalPass an array of library versionIds you wish to publish.

Any one of above payload must be present to make a successful publish call.

POST

Publish a transformation or library

https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/libraries/publish
Publish any transformation revisions or library revisions.
Body Parameters
versionIdrequired
string
Transformation versionId that needs to be published.
testInputoptional
string
This is an array of JSON object in a string format.
transformationsoptional
array
An array of object with the property as versionId and testInput.
librariesoptional
array
An array of object with property as versionId.
200: OK
Sends published as true if versions is successfully published.
{
"published": true
}

The sample request is as shown:

{
transformations: [
{
versionId: publishTransformerVersionId,
testInput:
'[
{
"anonymousId":"8d872292709c6fbe",
"channel":"mobile"
},
{
"anonymousId":"8d872292709c6fbe",
"channel":"mobile"
}
],
libraries: [
{
versionId: publishLibraryVersionId1,
},
{
versionId: publishLibraryVersionId1,
}
]
}
curl --location -X POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/libraries/publish' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN) \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
transformations: [
{
versionId: publishTransformerVersionId,
testInput:
'[
{
"anonymousId":"8d872292709c6fbe",
"channel":"mobile"
},
{
"anonymousId":"8d872292709c6fbe",
"channel":"mobile"
}
],
libraries: [
{
versionId: publishLibraryVersionId1,
},
{
versionId: publishLibraryVersionId1,
}
]
}'
http POST 'https://api.rudderstack.com/transformations/libraries/publish' \
transformations='[{versionId: publishTransformerVersionId, testInput:'[{"anonymousId":"8d872292709c6fbe","channel":"mobile"},{"anonymousId":"8d872292709c6fbe","channel":"mobile"}] libraries='[{versionId: publishLibraryVersionId1,},{versionId: publishLibraryVersionId1}]' \
Authorization: 'Basic Base64Enc(EMAIL_ADDRESS:ACCESS_TOKEN)' \
Content-Type:'application/json'
A few things to note:
  • You can choose to publish some revisions transformer without the libraries.
  • You can choose to publish some revisions libraries without the transformers.
  • You can publish both library and transformation revisions.
Whenever you call the publish API, we run tests in our server to make sure you won't save any transformation/libraries code that can lead to any exceptions. In case if your publish is failing, make sure to check your transformation code and the libraries that it is referring to.

Contact us

For queries on any of the sections covered in this guide, you can contact us or start a conversation in our Slack community.