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Beamer Data Source

Beamer is a no-code product communication and feedback platform. Follow the instructions below to create a new data flow that ingests data from a Beamer source in Nexla.
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Beamer

Create a New Data Flow​

  1. To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Then, select the desired flow type from the list, and click the Create button.

  2. Select the Beamer connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the Beamer instance, and click Next; or, create a new Beamer credential for use in this flow.

  3. In Nexla, Beamer data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common Beamer endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Beamer endpoint, making source configuration easy and efficient.
    • To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.

    Beamer sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from Beamer endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs.
    • To configure this source manually, follow the instructions in Configure Manually.

Configure Using a Template​

Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure data sources to ingest data from common Beamer endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Beamer endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.

Endpoint Settings​

  • 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. Click on an endpoint to see more information about it and how to configure your data source for this endpoint.

    List all posts

    This endpoint returns a paginated list of every post (changelog entry or announcement) in your Beamer feed. Use it to sync your full release-note history into a warehouse or analytics tool, or to feed downstream notifications.

    • All filter parameters on this endpoint are optional. Leave them blank to return all posts using Beamer's default behavior.
    • To narrow the result set, enter values in the Filter, Force Filter, and Filter URL fields. These map to Beamer's segment-style filters that limit posts to a specific user audience or page URL.
    • To limit results by language, enter a Beamer language code (for example, en, es, fr) in the Language field.
    • To control publication state, set the Published field to true to return only published posts (or false for drafts), and set the Archived field to true to include archived posts.
    • To restrict results to a date range, enter the earliest date in the Date From field and the latest date in the Date To field, both in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    This endpoint is paginated using Beamer's page and maxResults query parameters. Nexla advances the page index automatically and stops when an empty page is returned.

    Get a single post

    This endpoint retrieves the full record for a single post by its ID. Use it to enrich an existing dataset of post IDs with the latest content, translations, and segmentation rules.

    • Enter the post ID in the Id field. This is required. Post IDs can be obtained from the List all posts endpoint or from upstream Nexla data flows.

    This endpoint returns a single post object (not an array). The path to data is set to the response root, so the post is treated as the record.

    Count posts

    This endpoint returns the total count of posts in your Beamer account that match the supplied filters. Use it for high-level reporting (for example, the number of changelog entries published in a quarter) without fetching the full post payloads.

    • All filter parameters are optional and mirror those on List all posts.
    • To narrow the count, enter values in the Filter, Force Filter, Filter URL, Published, or Archived fields.
    • To restrict the count to a date range, enter the earliest date in the Date From field and the latest date in the Date To field, both in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    The response is a single object with a count property; the template sets the path to data to $.count so each run produces one numeric record.

    Count unread posts

    This endpoint returns the number of unread posts that would appear in the Beamer feed for a specific user. Use it to power "what's new" badges in a custom UI or to monitor engagement per user.

    • To identify the user, populate one or more of the User ID, User First Name, User Last Name, and User Email fields. Beamer matches the user using the same logic as the embedded widget.
    • To narrow which posts are considered, enter values in the Filter, Force Filter, Filter By URL, and Language fields.
    • To restrict the count to posts created on or after a given date, enter the date in the Date From field in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    Like Count posts, the response is a single object with a count property. The template path to data is $.count.

    Get feed URL

    This endpoint returns the personalized Beamer feed URL for a given user and filter set. Use it to deep-link a user into their feed from an external app, email, or chat message.

    • To personalize the URL, populate one or more of the User ID, User First Name, User Last Name, and User Email fields. Beamer uses these values to compute which posts the user has already seen.
    • To restrict the feed to a subset of posts, enter values in the Filter, Force Filter, Filter By URL, and Language fields.

    Pair this endpoint with a downstream messaging destination (email, Slack, SMS) to send each user a direct link to their personalized changelog.

    List all feedbacks

    This endpoint returns a paginated list of feedback comments left by users on a specific post. Use it to sync qualitative feedback into a warehouse, run sentiment analysis on comment text, or feed product-management tools.

    • Enter the post ID whose comments should be returned in the Post ID field. Post IDs can be obtained from the List all posts endpoint.
    • To restrict results to a date range, enter the earliest comment date in the Date From field and the latest in the Date To field, both in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    This endpoint is paginated. Pair it with the List all posts endpoint as an upstream source (using a lookup-based macro on Post ID) to harvest comments for every post in your Beamer account.

    Count feedbacks

    This endpoint returns the total count of feedback comments on a specific post. Use it for engagement reporting (for example, comments per release) without fetching the full comment payloads.

    • Enter the post ID in the Post ID field.
    • To restrict the count to a date range, enter values in the Date From and Date To fields in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    Response is a single object with a count property; the template path to data is $.count.

    List Reactions

    This endpoint returns a paginated list of reactions (likes, emoji responses) left on a specific post. Use it to track positive sentiment per release or to identify high-engagement announcements.

    • Enter the post ID in the Post ID field. Post IDs can be obtained from the List all posts endpoint.
    • To restrict results to a date range, enter the earliest reaction date in the Date From field and the latest in the Date To field, both in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    Count Reactions

    This endpoint returns the count of reactions received on a specific post. Use it for high-level engagement reporting.

    • Enter the post ID in the Post ID field.
    • To restrict the count to a date range, enter values in the Date From and Date To fields in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    Response is a single object with a count property; the template path to data is $.count.

    List Feature Requests

    This endpoint returns a paginated list of feature requests submitted to your Beamer account. Use it to sync your roadmap input into a product-management tool, prioritize requests by vote count, or build dashboards on feedback themes.

    • To filter by status, enter the desired status in the Filter field — typical values include open, closed, and under_review.
    • To restrict results to a date range, enter the earliest request date in the Date From field and the latest in the Date To field, both in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    This endpoint is paginated. The template advances Beamer's page parameter automatically and stops when an empty page is returned.

    Get Feature Request

    This endpoint retrieves a single feature request by its ID, including its title, description, status, and vote count. Use it to enrich an existing dataset of feature request IDs with the full payload.

    • Enter the feature request ID in the Id field. This is required. Request IDs can be obtained from the List Feature Requests endpoint.

    The response is a single object. The template path to data is $, so the feature request is treated as the record.

    Count Feature Requests

    This endpoint returns the count of feature requests in your Beamer account, optionally narrowed by status and date range. Use it for high-level roadmap reporting without fetching every request payload.

    • To filter by status, enter the desired status in the Filter field (for example, open, closed, or under_review).
    • To restrict the count to a date range, enter values in the Date From and Date To fields in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    Response is a single object with a count property; the template path to data is $.count.

    List Votes

    This endpoint returns a paginated list of votes cast on a specific feature request. Use it to attribute upvotes/downvotes to specific users and feed prioritization frameworks downstream.

    • Enter the feature request ID in the Request ID field. Request IDs can be obtained from the List Feature Requests endpoint.
    • To restrict results to a date range, enter the earliest vote date in the Date From field and the latest in the Date To field, both in yyyy-MM-dd format.

    Get NPS Data

    This endpoint returns NPS (Net Promoter Score) survey responses collected by Beamer. Use it to sync NPS data into a warehouse or BI tool, compute trends over time, and segment promoters/detractors by user attributes.

    • No configuration is required for this endpoint beyond selecting it — all NPS responses on the account are returned automatically.

    This endpoint is paginated. The template uses Beamer's page and maxResults query parameters; Nexla advances the page index automatically and stops when an empty page is returned.

    Ping API

    This endpoint verifies that your API key is valid and that the Beamer API is reachable. Use it as a lightweight health check in monitoring flows.

    • No configuration is required. The endpoint takes no parameters and returns a small response payload.

    The Ping endpoint uses the POST HTTP method even though it carries no body. This is a Beamer-specific convention.

Endpoint Testing​

Once the selected endpoint template has been configured, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current settings. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Configure Manually​

Beamer data sources can be manually configured to ingest data from any valid Beamer API endpoint. Manual configuration provides maximum flexibility for accessing endpoints not covered by pre-built templates or when you need custom API configurations.

With manual configuration, you can also create more complex Beamer sources — for example, chaining a List all posts call with downstream List all feedbacks or List Reactions calls per post.

API Method​

  1. To manually configure this source, select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen.

  2. Select the API method that will be used for calls to the Beamer API from the Method pulldown menu. Most Beamer read endpoints use GET:

    • GET: For retrieving data from the API (list, get, and count endpoints)
    • POST: Used by a small number of Beamer endpoints, including /ping
    • PUT: For updating existing resources
    • DELETE: For removing resources

API Endpoint URL​

  1. Enter the URL of the Beamer API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. All Beamer API URLs use the base https://api.getbeamer.com/v0/ followed by the resource path (for example, https://api.getbeamer.com/v0/posts or https://api.getbeamer.com/v0/requests).

Ensure the API endpoint URL is correct and accessible with your current credentials. You can test the endpoint using the Test button after configuring the URL.

Date/Time Macros (API URL)​

Optional

Optionally, the API URL can be customized using macros—all macros added to the API URL will be converted into values when Nexla executes the API call. Macros are dynamic placeholders that allow you to create flexible API endpoints that can adapt to different time periods. They are particularly useful for Beamer endpoints that filter on dateFrom and dateTo parameters.

Macros are particularly useful for APIs that require date ranges or other dynamic values that change between data ingestion runs. For example, you can use {now-7} with a Day time unit to always fetch the last 7 days of posts, feedbacks, or feature requests.

  1. To add a macro, type { at the appropriate position in the API URL (within the Set API URL field), and select the desired macro from the dropdown list.

    • {now} – The current datetime

    • {now-1} – The datetime one time unit before the current datetime

    • {now+1} – The datetime one time unit after the current datetime

    • custom – Datetime macros can reference any number of time units before or after the current datetime—for example, enter (now-4) to indicate the datetime four time units before the current datetime

  2. Select the format that will be applied to datetime macros from the Date Format for Date/Time Macro pulldown menu. Beamer expects yyyy-MM-dd for the dateFrom and dateTo query parameters, so this format should be selected for most date-filtered Beamer endpoints.

  3. Select the datetime unit that will be used to perform mathematical operations in the included macro(s) from the Time Unit for Operations pulldown menu—for example, for the macro {now-1}, when Day is selected, {now-1} will be converted to the datetime one day before the current datetime.

Lookup-Based Macros (API URL)​

Optional

Column values from existing lookups can also be included as macros in the API URL. Lookup-based macros allow you to reference data from previously configured data sources or lookups, enabling dynamic API endpoints that adapt based on existing data. For Beamer, this is useful when you have a Nexla dataset of post IDs or request IDs and want to fetch the related feedbacks, reactions, or votes for each.

Lookup-based macros are useful when you need to create Beamer URLs that reference specific IDs from another data source — for example, fetching feedbacks and reactions for each post ID returned by a List all posts source.

  1. To include a lookup column value macro, select the relevant lookup from the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.

  2. Type { at the appropriate position in the API URL, and select the lookup column-based macro from the dropdown list. Lookup-based macros are automatically populated into the macro list when a lookup is selected in the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.

Path to Data​

Optional

If only a subset of the data returned by a Beamer endpoint is needed, you can designate the part(s) of the response that should be included in the Nexset(s) by specifying the path to the relevant data within the response.

Most Beamer list endpoints (such as /posts, /requests, /posts/{'{id}'}/comments) return a top-level JSON array, so the path to data is $[*]. Endpoints that return a single object (such as /posts/{'{id}'} or /requests/{'{id}'}) use $ to treat the entire response body as a single record. Count endpoints return a single object with a count property, so the path is $.count.

Path to Data is essential when API responses have nested structures. Without specifying the correct path, Nexla might not be able to properly parse and organize your data into usable records.

  • To specify which data should be treated as relevant in responses from this source, enter the path to the relevant data in the Set Path to Data in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format enter the JSON path that points to the object or array that should be treated as relevant data. JSON paths use dot notation (for example, $[*] to access every element of a top-level array).
    Path to Data Example:

    For a Beamer endpoint that returns a top-level array (for example, GET /posts or GET /requests), enter $[*]. For a single-object endpoint (for example, GET /posts/123), enter $. For a count endpoint (for example, GET /posts/count), enter $.count.

Autogenerate Path Suggestions​

Nexla can also autogenerate data path suggestions based on the response from the API endpoint. These suggested paths can be used as-is or modified to exactly suit your needs.

  • To use this feature, click the Test button next to the Set API URL field to fetch a sample response from the API endpoint. Suggested data paths generated based on the content & format of the response will be displayed in the Suggestions box below the Set Path to Data in Response field.

  • Click on a suggestion to automatically populate the Set Path to Data in Response field with the corresponding path. The populated path can be modified directly within the field if further customization is needed.

    PathSuggestions.png

Metadata​

If metadata is included in the response but is located outside of the defined path to relevant data, you can configure Nexla to include this data as common metadata in each record. This is useful when you want to preserve important contextual information that applies to all records but isn't part of the main data array.

Most Beamer list endpoints return data as a top-level array without sibling metadata, so this setting is rarely required. It is most useful when integrating with custom Beamer endpoints or downstream wrappers that include response envelopes.

  • To specify the location of metadata that should be included with each record, enter the path to the relevant metadata in the Path to Metadata in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format, enter the JSON path to the object or array that contains the metadata.

Request Headers​

Optional

  • If Nexla should include any additional request headers in API calls to this source, enter the headers & corresponding values as comma-separated pairs in the Request Headers field (for example, header1:value1,header2:value2).

    You do not need to include any headers already present in the credentials. The Beamer-Api-Key authentication header is added automatically based on your Beamer credential.

Endpoint Testing​

After configuring all settings for the selected endpoint, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current configuration. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Save & Activate the Source​

  1. Once all of the relevant steps in the above sections have been completed, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new Beamer 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.