Record Outreach Helper

This document defines the Record Outreach Helper resource.

The Record Outreach Helper is a helper endpoint to aid in the creation of Outreach and People resources via POST. It provides a quick and easy way to create outreaches and people at the same time, eliminating the need for multiple POST operations to store that information.

Some systems may attempt to match people sent via the Record Outreach Helper to existing people in the database and update their record instead of creating a new person. The method used for matching will be detailed in that system’s documentation.

When using the Record Outreach Helper, tagging and list membership info may be added at the same time as well, eliminating the need for multiple POST operations to store that information.

In addition, you can indicate to the server whether to trigger additional actions, such as an autoresponse email sent back to the person who took action.

Typically, the response to a successful Record Outreach Helper POST is the full representation of the outreach. However, the Record Outreach Helper can be used without authentication, allowing for use in frontend javascript-based applications without giving away API key secrets, for example. If no authentication is passed, the response on success will simply be the server response code (ex: 200) and an empty JSON object. On error, the server response code (ex: 404, 500) plus an error message may be returned.

Some initial implementations may only support helpers – direct RESTful access may not be supported. In those cases, the _links section may be omitted in responses.

Sections:

Endpoints and URL structures

OSDI does not specify specific endpoints and link structures for compliant systems to use. Rather, because OSDI is a HAL+JSON API, endpoints and structures are defined in the links section of each returned resource, starting with the API Entry Point link.

HAL’s link structure lets an API consumer move through API levels, resources, and collections by parsing and following links. While most systems will not change the value of their links often and obey RESTful design principles, the value of each link when that resource is retrieved is the only canonical value, and it can change at any time.

The link relation label for the Record Outreach Helper is osdi:record_outreach_helper.

Back to top…

Fields

The field names for this resource, with standard names, punctuation and capitalization, and values where appropriate.

Note: As with the entire OSDI specification, the specific fields a compliant system implements will vary between each system, as will the fields each system requires when creating or updating resources, which fields are writeable, and the operations you are allowed to perform on each resource.

Common Fields

A set of common fields that appear on all resources is included first, for reference.

Name Type Description
identifiers strings[] A unique string array of identifiers in the format [system name]:[id]. See the general concepts document for more information about identifiers.

Control Headers

An “osdi:control” JSON object may contain common OSDI control headers which can be used on an OSDI POST, PUT, PATCH, Helper or other function calls to modify server behavior. Read More

Name Type Description
return_response boolean Defaults to true, if specified as false, the operation does not need to return the resource representation in the response

Back to top…

Record Outreach Helper Fields

A list of fields specific for POSTing via the Record Outreach Helper.

Name Type Description
origin_system string A human readable identifier of the system where this outreach was created. (ex: “OSDI System”)
action_date string The date and time the outreach was made by the person.
type flexunum The type of outreach, specifying how the user performed the outreach to targets. One of “email”, “in-person”, “phone”, “postal mail”, or another type as needed.
duration integer The duration in seconds of the outreach, if applicable. (ex: duration will only be present on phone outreach types)
subject string The subject of the outreach, if applicable. (ex: subject will only be present on email outreach types)
message string The message of the outreach, if applicable. (ex: message will only be present on email or postal mail outreach types)
referrer_data Referrer Data* An object hash representing referrer and sourcing information about this outreach.
targets Target[] A array of target object hashes representing the targets of the outreach.
person Person* An object hash representing the person who made the outreach.

Back to top…

Helper Action Functions

Helper Action Functions are additional actions that the OSDI server will perform along with inserting or updating the associated person.

Name Type Description
add_tags strings[] An array of tag names corresponding to previously created tags to add to this person when it is created.
add_tags_uri strings[] An array of tag URIs corresponding to previously created tags to add to this person when it is created.
add_lists strings[] An array of list names corresponding to previously created lists to add to this person when it is created.
add_lists_uri strings[] An array of list URIs corresponding to previously created lists to add to this person when it is created.
add_questions_responses_uri QuestionResponseObject An array of Question Response Objects, indicating answers which should be applied to the person.
triggers Triggers An object hash representing responses a user would like to trigger from the server as part of the POST, such as sending an autoresponse email back to the person who took action with this helper.

Question Response Object Fields

Name Type Description
question string The identifier for the Question which is being answered
responses string[] One or more responses to the Question, if the corresponding question_type is SingleChoice or MultiChoice; should be a subset of the responses available for the question
value string A free-text response to the question, if the corresponding question_type is Paragraph.

Triggers

Here autoresponse identifiers are handled independent of the OSDI specification’s identifier schema. The autoresponse sent is determined by the server that is being interacted with, the system, and the id. Three types of autoresponse triggers are defined below and those types should follow this specification and format.

Name Type Description
autoresponse object An object hash representing the autoresponse email trigger type.
autoresponse.enabled boolean A boolean indicating whether the autoresponse email should be sent or not.
autoresponse.identifiers strings[] A unique string array of identifiers in the format [system name]:[id].
Name Type Description
sms_response object An object hash representing the autoresponse sms trigger type.
sms_response.enabled boolean A boolean indicating whether the autoresponse sms should be sent or not.
sms_response.identifiers strings[] A unique string array of identifiers in the format [system name]:[id].
Name Type Description
call_response object An object hash representing the autoresponse call trigger type.
call_response.enabled boolean A boolean indicating whether the autoresponse call should be sent or not.
call_response.identifiers strings[] A unique string array of identifiers in the format [system name]:[id].

Back to top…

These JSON hashes included in the table above are broken out into their own tables for readability, rather than independent resources with their own endpoints.

Referrer Data

Name Type Description
referrer_data.source string The source code that was used when this outreach was created. Typically used to track individual links, such as a post on social media or a link in a specific email. (ex: “facebook-101016-mainpage”)
referrer_data.referrer string The code or ID representing a person or group that referred this outreach. Typically used to track which person referred the person who made this outreach. (ex: “jane-doe”)
referrer_data.website string The top level domain of the website where the person clicked from to then subsequently make this outreach. (ex: “facebook.com”)
referrer_data.url string The specific URL where the person clicked from to then subsequently make this outreach. (ex: “https://facebook.com/posts/12345”)

Target

Name Type Description
target.title string The title or position of the target. (ex: “Senator” or “CEO”)
target.organization string The organization the target belongs to. (ex: “U.S. Senate” or “Acme Corporation”)
target.given_name string The first or given name of the target. (ex: “John”)
target.family_name string The last or family name of the target. (ex: “Smith”)
target.ocdid string The Open Civic Data Division ID for this target’s political geography, if applicable. See here for more documentation. (ex: “ocd-division/country:us/state:ny/cd:18”, which corresponds to New York’s 18th Congressional District)

Person

Name Type Description
person Person* An inlined hash representation of a person, containing any valid fields for the Person resource.

Back to top…

Back to top…

Scenarios

The scenarios below show common create (POST) operations that can be performed on this helper. While the canonical definitions of fields are above, these examples should be complete as well.

Scenario: Creating a new outreach and person (POST)

Posting to the record outreach helper endpoint will allow you to create a new outreach and person (or update a person if the system attempts to match people posted with helpers) in one operation. The response is the outreach that was created. While each implementing system will require different fields, any optional fields not included in a post operation should not be set at all by the receiving system, or should be set to default values.

Request

POST https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/advocacy_campaigns/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/record_outreach_helper

Header:
OSDI-API-Token:[your api key here]

{
    "person": {
        "identifiers": [
            "foreign_system:1"
        ],
        "family_name": "Edwin",
        "given_name": "Labadie",
        "additional_name": "Marques",
        "origin_system": "OpenSupporter",
        "email_addresses": [
            {
                "address":"test-3@example.com",
                "primary": true,
                "address_type": "Personal"
            }
        ],
        "postal_addresses": [
            {
                "primary": true,
                "address_lines": [
                    "935 Ed Lock"
                ],
                "locality": "New Dudley",
                "region": "MN",
                "postal_code": "17678",
                "country": "RU",
                "address_type": "Home",
                "status": "Verified"
            }
        ],
        "phone_numbers": [
            {
                "primary": true,
                "number": 19876543210,
                "number_type": "Mobile",
                "sms_capable": true
            }
        ],
        "gender": "Male"
    },
    "identifiers": [
        "foreign_system:1"
    ],
    "origin_system": "OpenSupporter",
    "action_date": "2014-03-18T11:02:15Z",
    "type": "phone",
    "duration": 120,
    "referrer_data": {
        "source": "facebook-101016-mainpage",
        "referrer": "jane-doe",
        "website": "facebook.com",
        "url": "https://facebook.com/posts/12345"
    },
    "targets": [
	    {
	        "title": "Senator",
	        "given_name": "John",
	        "family_name": "Smith",
	        "organization": "U.S. Senate",
	        "ocdid": "ocd-division/country:us/state:ny"
	    },
	    {
	        "title": "Senator",
	        "given_name": "Jennifer",
	        "family_name": "Larson",
	        "organization": "U.S. Senate",
	        "ocdid": "ocd-division/country:us/state:ny"
	    }
	],
    "triggers": {
        "autoresponse": {
            "identifiers": [
                "system_1:eb84f0d01dec3b1ffb9e4dca406fa45e", 
                "system_2:15117b282328146ac6afebaa8acd80e7"
            ],
            "enabled": true
        },
        "sms_response": {
            "identifiers": [
                "system_1:efe398db3439be6bbf00d90e693ec3a3"
            ],
            "enabled": true
        },
        "call_response": {
            "identifiers": [
                "system_1:83069490-8a17-4131-b13e-f9a44d2b7646"
            ],
            "enabled": true
        }
    },
    "add_tags": [
        "volunteer",
        "donor"
    ],
    "add_tags_uri": [
        "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/tags/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
    ],
    "add_lists": [
        "supporters"
    ],
    "add_lists_uri": [
        "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
    ],
    "add_questions_responses_uri": [
      {
        "question": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29",
        "responses": [ "r1", "r2", "r2"]
      },
      {
        "question": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c2a",
        "value": "Heard about the candidate at the Labor Day Picnic"
      }
    ]    
}

Response

200 OK

Content-Type: application/hal+json
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate

{
    "identifiers": [
        "osdi_sample_system:d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse",
        "foreign_system:1"
    ],
    "created_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
    "modified_date": "2014-03-20T21:04:31Z",
    "action_date": "2014-03-18T11:02:15Z",
    "origin_system": "OpenSupporter",
    "type": "phone",
    "duration": 120,
    "referrer_data": {
        "source": "facebook-101016-mainpage",
        "referrer": "jane-doe",
        "website": "facebook.com",
        "url": "https://facebook.com/posts/12345"
    },
    "targets": [
	    {
	        "title": "Senator",
	        "given_name": "John",
	        "family_name": "Smith",
	        "organization": "U.S. Senate",
	        "ocdid": "ocd-division/country:us/state:ny"
	    },
	    {
	        "title": "Senator",
	        "given_name": "Jennifer",
	        "family_name": "Larson",
	        "organization": "U.S. Senate",
	        "ocdid": "ocd-division/country:us/state:ny"
	    }
	],
    "_links": {
        "self": {
            "href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/advocacy_campaigns/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/outreaches/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-de9uemdse"
        },
        "osdi:advocacy_campaign": {
            "href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/advocacy_campaigns/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29"
        },
        "osdi:person": {
            "href": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/people/adb951cb-51f9-420e-b7e6-de953195ec86"
        }
    }
}

Back to top…

Scenario: Creating a new outreach and person without authentication (POST)

Posting to the record outreach helper endpoint without authentication will allow you to create a new outreach and person (or update a person if the system attempts to match people posted with helpers) in one operation, but without giving away API key secrets or leaking data, so this method is appropriate for frontend javascript applications. The response on success will simply be the server response code (ex: 200) and an empty JSON object. On error, the server response code (ex: 404, 500) plus an error message may be returned. While each implementing system will require different fields, any optional fields not included in a POST operation should not be set at all by the receiving system, or should be set to default values.

Request

POST https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/advocacy_campaigns/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29/record_outreach_helper

{
    "person": {
        "identifiers": [
            "foreign_system:1"
        ],
        "family_name": "Edwin",
        "given_name": "Labadie",
        "additional_name": "Marques",
        "origin_system": "OpenSupporter",
        "email_addresses": [
            {
                "address":"test-3@example.com",
                "primary": true,
                "address_type": "Personal"
            }
        ],
        "postal_addresses": [
            {
                "primary": true,
                "address_lines": [
                    "935 Ed Lock"
                ],
                "locality": "New Dudley",
                "region": "MN",
                "postal_code": "17678",
                "country": "RU",
                "address_type": "Home",
                "status": "Verified"
            }
        ],
        "phone_numbers": [
            {
                "primary": true,
                "number": 19876543210,
                "number_type": "Mobile",
                "sms_capable": true
            }
        ],
        "gender": "Male"
    },
    "identifiers": [
        "foreign_system:1"
    ],
    "origin_system": "OpenSupporter",
    "action_date": "2014-03-18T11:02:15Z",
    "type": "phone",
    "duration": 120,
    "referrer_data": {
        "source": "facebook-101016-mainpage",
        "referrer": "jane-doe",
        "website": "facebook.com",
        "url": "https://facebook.com/posts/12345"
    },
    "targets": [
	    {
	        "title": "Senator",
	        "given_name": "John",
	        "family_name": "Smith",
	        "organization": "U.S. Senate",
	        "ocdid": "ocd-division/country:us/state:ny"
	    },
	    {
	        "title": "Senator",
	        "given_name": "Jennifer",
	        "family_name": "Larson",
	        "organization": "U.S. Senate",
	        "ocdid": "ocd-division/country:us/state:ny"
	    }
	],
    "triggers": {
        "autoresponse": {
            "identifiers": [
                "system_1:eb84f0d01dec3b1ffb9e4dca406fa45e", 
                "system_2:15117b282328146ac6afebaa8acd80e7"
            ],
            "enabled": true
        },
        "sms_response": {
            "identifiers": [
                "system_1:efe398db3439be6bbf00d90e693ec3a3"
            ],
            "enabled": true
        },
        "call_response": {
            "identifiers": [
                "system_1:83069490-8a17-4131-b13e-f9a44d2b7646"
            ],
            "enabled": true
        }
    },
    "add_tags": [
        "volunteer",
        "donor"
    ],
    "add_tags_uri": [
        "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/tags/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
    ],
    "add_lists": [
        "supporters"
    ],
    "add_lists_uri": [
        "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/lists/d91b4b2e-ae0e-4cd3-9ed7-d0ec501b0bc3"
    ],
    "add_questions_responses_uri": [
      {
        "question": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c29",
        "responses": [ "r1", "r2", "r2"]
      },
      {
        "question": "https://osdi-sample-system.org/api/v1/questions/c945d6fe-929e-11e3-a2e9-12313d316c2a",
        "value": "Heard about the candidate at the Labor Day Picnic"
      }
    ]  
}

Response

200 OK

Content-Type: application/hal+json
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate

{}

Back to top…