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Alation

Alation is a data intelligence platform best known for pioneering the enterprise data catalog. Alation unifies data discovery, governance, and lineage by cataloging data sources, schemas, tables, columns, business glossary terms, and documentation articles so that data consumers can search for and trust the data they need.

Alation icon

Power end-to-end data operations for your Alation API with Nexla. Our bi-directional Alation connector is purpose-built for Alation, making it simple to ingest data, sync it across systems, and deliver it anywhere — all with no coding required. Nexla turns API-sourced data into ready-to-use, reusable data products and makes it easy to send data to Alation or any other destination. With comprehensive monitoring, lineage tracking, and access controls, Nexla keeps your Alation workflows fast, secure, and fully governed.

Features

Type: API

SourceDestination

  • Seamless API Integration: Connect to any endpoint as source or destination without coding, with automatic data product creation
  • Visual Composition & Chaining: Build complex integrations using visual templates, chain API calls, and compose workflows with data validation and filtering
  • API Proxy: Expose curated slices of your data securely with a secure and customizable API proxy that validates and transforms data on the fly
  • Request optimization with intelligent batching, retry, and caching to minimize API calls and costs

Prerequisites​

Before creating an Alation credential in Nexla, you need your Alation catalog instance URL and an API access token. Alation authenticates public API requests using a short-lived API access token that is generated from a longer-lived refresh token, rather than a traditional static API key.

Create a Refresh Token​

  1. Sign in to your Alation catalog instance.

  2. Click your user avatar in the upper right corner, and select Account Settings from the menu.

  3. On the Account Settings page, click the Authentication tab.

  4. Click the Create Refresh Token button.

  5. In the Create Refresh Token dialog, enter a name that describes the integration or purpose of the token (e.g., "Nexla Integration"), and click Create Refresh Token.

  6. Copy the Token Secret Key that is displayed, and store it securely.

    Important

    The Token Secret Key is only shown once. Once the dialog is closed, it cannot be viewed again in the Alation UI. If you lose it, you will need to create a new refresh token.

    By default, refresh tokens expire after 60 days. You will need to generate a new API access token (and, eventually, a new refresh token) before the current one expires to avoid interruptions to your Nexla data flows.

Generate an API Access Token​

  1. Using your refresh token, call the Alation createAPIAccessToken endpoint to generate a short-lived API access token:

    POST {instance_url}/integration/v1/createAPIAccessToken/

    Include your refresh token and Alation user ID in the JSON request body, for example:

    {"refresh_token": "your_refresh_token", "user_id": 102}

  2. Copy the api_access_token value returned in the response. This is the value entered in Nexla's API Access Token field.

    API access tokens generated with the default settings expire after 24 hours. Alation catalogs with the API Tokens Management feature enabled may allow for longer-lived tokens depending on your administrator's configuration. For complete information about generating and managing tokens, see the Alation authentication documentation.

For additional information about Alation API authentication, see the Alation API reference.

Authenticate​

Create a credential in Nexla​

  1. After selecting the data source/destination type, click the Add Credential tile to open the Add New Credential overlay.

  2. Enter a name for the credential in the Credential Name field and a short, meaningful description in the Credential Description field.

  3. Enter the base URL of your Alation catalog instance in the Alation Instance URL (ex: https://<company>.alationcloud.com) field. This is the URL you use to access your Alation catalog in a browser, for example https://<company>.alationcloud.com.

  4. Enter the API access token you generated in the Generate an API Access Token section above in the API Access Token field. Nexla sends this value in the TOKEN header for all requests made to your Alation catalog.

    Because API access tokens are short-lived (24 hours by default), you will need to periodically regenerate the token from a valid refresh token and update this credential. Keep both your refresh token and API access token secure, and never share them publicly or commit them to version control systems.

  5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the overlay. The newly added credential will now appear in a tile on the Authenticate screen during data source/destination creation.

Use as a data source​

To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Select the Alation connector tile, then select the credential that will be used to connect to the Alation instance, and click Next; or, create a new Alation credential for use in this flow.

Endpoint templates​

Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure data sources to ingest data from common Alation endpoints. Select the endpoint from which this source will fetch data from the Endpoint pulldown menu. Available endpoint templates are listed in the expandable boxes below.

Search Catalog

This endpoint searches the Alation catalog across object types such as tables, columns, business glossary terms, and articles. Use this endpoint when you need a single, unified view of catalog objects that match a search term rather than pulling each object type separately.

  • This endpoint queries the Alation Search API at the {instance_url}/integration/v2/search/ path. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template, though you can further refine results using manual configuration if needed.
  • The endpoint uses offset-based pagination, automatically fetching additional pages of up to 100 results as needed until all matching catalog objects have been retrieved.

For detailed information about the Alation Search API and the query parameters it supports, see the Alation Search API overview.

Data Sources

This endpoint retrieves the list of data sources registered in your Alation catalog, such as connected databases and data warehouses. Use this endpoint when you need an inventory of the systems your organization has cataloged in Alation.

  • This endpoint automatically retrieves all data sources accessible to your Alation user account. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template.
  • The endpoint uses offset-based pagination, automatically fetching additional pages of up to 100 results as needed.

For detailed information about the Alation Data Source API, see the Alation Datasource API overview.

Schemas

This endpoint retrieves the schemas cataloged in your Alation instance. Use this endpoint when you need to inventory the schema-level structure of the data sources registered in your catalog.

  • This endpoint automatically retrieves all schemas accessible to your Alation user account. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template.
  • The endpoint uses offset-based pagination, automatically fetching additional pages of up to 100 results as needed.

For detailed information about the fields returned for each schema, see the Alation API reference.

Tables

This endpoint retrieves the tables cataloged in your Alation instance, including their metadata and descriptions. Use this endpoint when you need to inventory table-level metadata for reporting, governance, or data discovery use cases.

  • This endpoint automatically retrieves all tables accessible to your Alation user account. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template.
  • The endpoint uses offset-based pagination, automatically fetching additional pages of up to 100 results as needed.

For detailed information about the fields returned for each table, see the Alation API reference.

Columns

This endpoint retrieves the columns cataloged in your Alation instance, including column-level descriptions and data types. Use this endpoint when you need granular, column-level metadata for data lineage, governance, or documentation purposes.

  • This endpoint automatically retrieves all columns accessible to your Alation user account. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template.
  • The endpoint uses offset-based pagination, automatically fetching additional pages of up to 100 results as needed.

For detailed information about the fields returned for each column, see the Alation API reference.

Glossary Terms

This endpoint retrieves the business glossary terms defined in your Alation catalog. Use this endpoint when you need to ingest your organization's shared business vocabulary for use elsewhere, such as syncing definitions to another system or building glossary-aware data quality checks.

  • This endpoint automatically retrieves all glossary terms accessible to your Alation user account. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template.
  • The endpoint uses offset-based pagination, automatically fetching additional pages of up to 100 results as needed.

For detailed information about the fields returned for each glossary term, see the Alation API reference.

Articles

This endpoint retrieves the documentation and knowledge base articles stored in your Alation catalog. Use this endpoint when you need to ingest curated documentation content, such as how-to guides, data dictionaries, or policy documents, that has been authored directly within Alation.

  • This endpoint automatically retrieves all articles accessible to your Alation user account. No additional configuration is required beyond selecting this endpoint template.
  • The endpoint uses offset-based pagination, automatically fetching additional pages of up to 100 results as needed.

Alation also supports writing articles back to the catalog. See the Use as a destination section for the Articles endpoint template if you need to create or update articles from a Nexla flow. For detailed information about the Articles API, see the Alation Articles API overview.

Once the selected endpoint template has been configured, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu to retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched. Sample data will be displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right, allowing you to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

Manual configuration​

Alation data sources can also be manually configured to ingest data from any valid Alation catalog API endpoint, including endpoints for other cataloged object types not covered by the pre-built templates (e.g., business policies, data flows/lineage, or custom fields) or custom request parameters. Select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen, and follow the instructions in Connect to Any API to configure the API method, endpoint URL, date/time and lookup macros, path to data, metadata, and request headers.

Date/time macros are particularly useful for filtering catalog objects by last-modified or last-synced timestamps between data ingestion runs, and lookup-based macros are useful for chaining Alation endpoints together—for example, using the ID of a data source retrieved from the Data Sources endpoint to filter the Schemas endpoint for that data source only.

Alation's catalog APIs are primarily read via the GET method, and the endpoint URL should be the complete URL including the protocol (https://), your catalog instance URL, and the relevant integration path, for example https://<company>.alationcloud.com/integration/v2/table/. Alation's catalog endpoints typically return a top-level JSON array of catalog objects—enter JSON path $ in the Set Path to Data in Response field to treat the entire response array as the set of records. For the Search Catalog endpoint or other endpoints with nested result objects, enter the JSON path that points to the relevant object or array using dot notation (e.g., $.results[*]). You do not need to include the TOKEN header—it is handled automatically by Nexla based on your credential configuration. For a complete list of available Alation API endpoints, see the Alation API reference.

Once all of the relevant settings have been configured, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new Alation data source. Nexla will now begin ingesting data from the configured endpoint and will organize any data that it finds into one or more Nexsets.

Use as a destination​

Click the + icon on the Nexset that will be sent to the Alation destination, and select the Send to Destination option from the menu. Select the Alation connector from the list of available destination connectors, then select the credential that will be used to connect to the Alation catalog instance, and click Next; or, create a new Alation credential for use in this flow.

Endpoint templates​

Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure destinations to send data to common Alation endpoints. Select the endpoint to which data will be sent from the Endpoint pulldown menu. Then, click on the template in the list below to expand it, and follow the instructions to configure additional endpoint settings.

Articles

This endpoint creates documentation and knowledge base articles in your Alation catalog. Use this endpoint when you need to publish content—such as data dictionaries, how-to guides, or policy documentation—from an external source directly into Alation as catalog articles.

  • This endpoint sends each record in the Nexset as a separate POST request to the Alation Articles API at the {instance_url}/integration/v2/article/ path.
  • The endpoint sends the Nexset data as JSON in the request body. Ensure your Nexset contains the fields required to create an article, such as its title and body content.

For detailed information about the required and optional fields for creating articles, see the Alation Articles API overview.

Manual configuration​

Alation destinations can also be manually configured to send data to any valid Alation catalog API endpoint that accepts write operations. Select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen, and follow the instructions in Connect to Any API to configure the API method, data format, endpoint URL, request headers, attribute exclusions, record batching, and response webhooks.

Alation catalog write operations, such as creating articles, typically use the POST method, and Alation API endpoints expect JSON for request bodies. Enter the complete endpoint URL, for example https://<company>.alationcloud.com/integration/v2/article/. For update operations, include the ID of the object to be updated at the end of the URL. You do not need to include the TOKEN header already present in the credentials.

Save & activate​

Once all endpoint settings have been configured, click the Done button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the destination. To send the data to the configured Alation catalog, open the destination resource menu, and select Activate.

The Nexset data will not be sent to Alation until the destination is activated. Destinations can be activated immediately or at a later time, providing full control over data movement.