What is Insight?

Insight is the tool that enables your institutions students support services offices to manage student academic success and early intervention tracking and monitoring. Additionally, it allows for managing the scheduling of student appointments, communicating directly with faculty around Progress Reports, tracking of students of concern and creating success plans, scheduling, advertising, and managing events such as workshops and events, and much, much more.

What is the Insight API?

The Insight API is a way in which you can obtain or input information to an Insight system without using the interface, usually using code. It allows for easy automation of tasks.

What kind of data can I get through the API?

Student, Faculty, Student Schedules and Courses.

How do I get an API key?

Your contact at the student support services office on campus can request the API key for you. Please ask your student support services contact to see the documentation in Neighborhood for further information.

What do I do if my API key is not working?

Your contact in student support services will need to contact Symplicity support to report an issue.

What do I do if my API key has expired?

Your contact in student support services will need to contact Symplicity support to report an issue.

How does Authorization work?

All routes require authentication with an encrypted token. You must add a token authentication header to your requests. Here is the format:

Key Value

Authorization: Basic [your token here]

Make sure you put the word “Basic” with a space before your actual token!

Are there limitations on the number of requests?

100 calls with a leak rate of 10 calls per second. If your app averages up to 10 calls per second it will never receive a “429 Rate Limit Exceeded Error”.

10,000 calls for a period of 24 hours, which will reset at midnight.

See the API documentation for further information.

Can I request a higher rate limit?

Not at this time.

What happens if I hit the rate limit?

You will be unable to read/write data until you are back under the limit. You will see an Error: “Rate Limit Exceeded Error”

From which languages can I use the Insight API?

The REST APIs will return whatever language the system uses as events, student information, employer information has been saved. The parameters for any API calls will still be in English.

What’s JSON?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate. JSON is a text format that is completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to programmers of the C-family of languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and many others. These properties make JSON an ideal data-interchange language, and a natural choice as a response for our REST APIs.

How are the POST, PUT, and GET calls different?

On a basic level, POST calls create records in the Insight system, GET calls get information out of the system, and PUT calls update current records in the system. For GET calls on the Insight API, you need to put the parameters in the URL, as well as have the authorization token in the header. For POST and PUT calls on the Insight API, you need the URL, the authorization token in the header, an added header (Content-Type:application/json;charset=UTF-8), and a body with the data that you want to input or update.

Does Symplicity have any code libraries or SDKs?

Not at this time.

Where can I find example of code interacting with the API?

In our documentation you can try calls, which will then show you the response

How can I test my API calls?

Symplicity will provides a testing site, or sandbox. Please speak with your contact in student support services to have them submit a support request to have the testing environment set up.

How do I get support?

At this time, your contact in student support services will need to submit a support request for any issues you are having with the API.

Can I use the API commercially?

No, Symplicity does not allow for commercial use of the APIs other than with our partner program. If you would like to exchange data between another software system and Symplicity, please click on the link to see how e can connect.

How stable is the API? Does the API ever change? How can I learn about new features?

As far as API stability goes, the Insight API is backwards compatible. Right now, the Insight API is version one, but we’ll move to version two if there are any backwards-incompatible changes that need to be made. We will announce any new versions or new features as the come out.

Where can I find the Documentation?

The Insight API Documentation can be found here.