Use custom actions use-custom-actions
Custom actions integrate third-party systems into journeys and enable functionalities such as sending messages or API calls. These actions use REST APIs with JSON-formatted payloads, providing flexibility for connecting with external services.
Learn more about custom actions in the Custom Actions section.
Understand how to create and configure a custom action on the configuration page.
Consent and data governance privacy
When using custom actions in Journey Optimizer, ensure compliance with data governance and consent policies. These policies prevent exporting sensitive fields to third-party systems and exclude customers who have not opted into specific communications, including email, push notifications, or SMS. For example, if a customer has not consented to SMS communication, configure the custom action to exclude them automatically from SMS-related journeys.
Refer to the following pages for more information:
URL configuration
Each custom action activity includes a configuration pane for managing URL parameters and authentication settings. Define the static base URL globally during the creation of the custom action, and specify the dynamic portion of the URL within the journey. This approach ensures consistency across journeys using the same integration. Learn more.
Dynamic path
Dynamic paths adapt URLs based on journey-specific data. Specify the dynamic portion of the URL in the Path field. For example, if an API requires appending a user ID to the URL, concatenate fields and strings using String functions or the Plus sign (+) in the advanced expression editor. Enclose text strings in single or double quotation marks. Learn more.
Example configuration:
https://xxx.yyy.com:8080/somethingstatic/The _id + '/messages'The concatenated URL appears as:
https://xxx.yyy.com:8080/somethingstatic/<ID>/messages
Headers and query parameters headers
The URL Configuration section shows the dynamic header and query parameter fields, but not the constant fields. Dynamic header and query parameter fields are defined as variables in the custom action configuration screen. Learn more.
To specify the value of dynamic header and query parameter fields, click inside the field or on the pencil icon and select the desired variable. For example, use a customer鈥檚 email address as a query parameter to filter API results.
Action parameters
The Action Parameters section defines how message parameters are populated. Parameters marked as 鈥淰补谤颈补产濒别鈥 can extract data from journey events, data sources, or be set manually. Use the advanced expression editor to implement scenarios requiring data transformation or conditional logic. Refer to this page.
For example, dynamically add a discount code to a message based on customer purchase history by using functions in the editor. Explore advanced capabilities on the Advanced Expression Editor page.