Creating Power Automate Flows with HTTP Requests and JSON Parsing

Power Automate is an excellent tool to connect various apps and automate tasks within Microsoft 365. It handles simple tasks, such as sending an email when a new file is uploaded to SharePoint. But what happens when you need your flow to talk to a system outside of Microsoft, such as a specialized weather service or a custom finance application?

This requires using the HTTP Request action and JSON Parsing. This combination allows your power automate flows to reach out to virtually any web service (API) in the world, pull back information, and understand it. In this article we will discuss  how to use http requests in power automate to call external APIs and enable complex API integrations with power automate, greatly expanding your automation abilities.

Useful Power Automate Flows and Business Flow Power Automate: The HTTP Action

To talk to an external system, your power automate flows must speak the language of the web, which is the HTTP Request. This request acts like a digital courier, carrying instructions from your automation to a remote server and bringing back the data you need.

1. What an HTTP Request Is

An HTTP request is just a digital message that your Flow sends to a web service (API). It’s similar to the type of request your web browser makes when you go to open a website, but instead of returning a page to display, the Flow is requesting data or initiating a process.

The HTTP action in Power Automate lets you define four key things:

• Method: What do you want to do?
• GET: Ask for information (e.g., get the current stock price).
• POST: Send information to the service (e.g., create a new customer record).
• PUT/PATCH: Update existing information, for instance, changing an address in the database.
• DELETE: Remove information from the remote system.
• URI (Uniform Resource Identifier): This is the exact web address of the service you want to talk with. In other words, it’s the digital mailing address for the API.
• Headers: Additional information the service requires. For instance, you can tell that the data is being sent in JSON format.

Authentication: The secure credentials the service needs to prove that you are allowed to access the data. This keeps your business flow Power Automate connections safe.

2. Why This Creates Useful Power Automate Flows

Most modern applications provide an API. By mastering the HTTP action, your flows can do far more than simple file management. They can:

• Check a specific inventory system for stock levels across multiple warehouses.
• Get real-time currency conversion rates for a global finance calculation.
• Send a customer survey score to a third-party CRM system like Salesforce or HubSpot.
• Trigger a text message alert through a service like Twilio when a high-priority ticket arrives.

This is what makes truly useful power automate flows possible for advanced API integrations with power automate.

Business Process Flows in Power Automate and JSON Parsing Automation

When an external service responds to your HTTP request, it typically sends back the data in a standardized format called JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). JSON is text that is structured with clear labels, making it easy for machines to read. However, Power Automate needs to know what those labels mean before it can use the data in later steps. This requires JSON parsing automation.

1. The Role of JSON and the Parse JSON Action

You cannot use raw JSON as plain text if you want to pick out specific details. Therefore, you must use the Parse JSON action. This action breaks down the long string of text into individual fields that you can select from the “Dynamic Content” menu.

• Schema: The Parse JSON action needs a Schema. This Schema, in essence, is a dictionary or a map. It explains to Power Automate that “The value labeled as ‘price’ will be a number, and the value labeled as ‘status’ will be text.”

2. Building the Schema for JSON Parsing Automation

The simplest way to obtain the required Schema would be to execute your HTTP request and capture the output.

• Run the Flow once and copy the body of the HTTP response.
• Go back to your Flow editor and add the Parse JSON action.
• Click on Generate from sample.
• Paste your captured JSON.

Power Automate will automatically create a schema map for you. Now, when this data has been parsed, it becomes possible for the “Flow” to identify these different components of information as separate, usable variables. This enables true JSON parsing automation.

Advanced Flow Configurations for Robust APIs

Creating reliable business process flows in power automate, which depend on external APIs, needs attention to detail and a plan for handling possible failures. An automated system is only as good as its ability to recover from errors.

1. Authentication Best Practices

Most APIs implement some form of security. You should set this up correctly in the HTTP action to prevent unauthorized access. Common methods include:

• API Key: A simple code to be sent in the Header or URI.
• OAuth 2.0: A more advanced method where Power Automate requests a token to access the system.

Sensitive authentication credentials should always be stored in a secure way, such as in an Azure Key Vault, rather than being manually entered in flow steps. This protects your company from data leaks if someone views the Flow configuration.

2. Handling Failures and Timeouts

What will happen if your external API goes down? Your Flow will fail. To make your business process flows in Microsoft Power Automate more reliable and not let your entire process fail, you can make use of these options:

• Retry Policy: You can set up an HTTP Action with a flow that retries a failed operation. The flow will retry an operation three times with a 20-second delay before making a subsequent attempt. It’s excellent for resolving issues with a short-term network issue.
• Scope and Error Handling: You can wrap the HTTP action and the Parse JSON action inside a Scope block. You then configure the next action to run only if the Scope fails (using the “Configure run after” setting). This allows you to execute specific actions in case of failure, like sending a “failure alert” email or logging the error in a SharePoint list.

Can I use the HTTP request action in Power Automate to upload a document to a different company’s secure file storage system?

Yes, you can, if there is an API for a file storage system which has a public interface that will enable you to upload your file using HTTP POST. It implies that your HTTP request should include your authentication credentials. Your request would contain the actual file data you are sending, which would be encoded in a format (like Base64) that the API can read. This is one of the key API integrations with power automate that you can perform to bridge different organizations.

Conclusion: Power Automate Flows Unlock New Potential

The use of HTTP Request and Parse JSON actions represents a critical step in harnessing Power Automate flow capabilities. Knowledge on how to use HTTP request functionality in Power Automate to integrate with other APIs, as well as expertise in how to automate JSON parsing, empowers your company with advanced capabilities of configuring your flows in a way that your company will be able to automate all other systems.

FAQs

Q: What is the main reason to use an HTTP Request in a Power Automate flow?

The main reason is to connect your flow to systems outside of Microsoft, like a custom website or a specialized service (API). This allows you to get or send data to almost anything.

Q: What is the difference between a GET and a POST request?

A GET request is when your Flow asks for data (like “Give me the stock price”). A POST request is when your Flow sends data to the external service (like “Create a new record in your system”).

Q: How do I make sure my Power Automate flow doesn’t fail if the external system is down?

You can configure HTTP action to automatically try the request again (a “Retry Policy”). You can also set up error handling to send an alert email if the connection permanently fails.

Q: Where should I store the security details for the HTTP request?

You should store sensitive security details, like API keys, in a secure place, such as Azure Key Vault. You should not type them directly into the Flow steps.