Product Spotlight: Dayforce Developer Network: How to Find, Test and Connect to Dayforce APIs

Thank you to everyone who joined our recent session covering the Dayforce Developer Network (DDN) and the new developer experience.

During the session, we walked through the updated Developer Network, including how to find API documentation, understand API requirements, test APIs using the sample environment, connect to a Dayforce environment using Postman, and authenticate using Basic or token-based authentication.

Product Spotlight: the Dayforce Developer Network

Below is a recap of the key topics and common questions covered during the session.

What changed with the Dayforce Developer Network?

The Dayforce Developer Network has moved to a new platform using the Microsoft Azure Developer Portal as the front end and Microsoft API Management (APIM) as the API management platform.

The initial migration focused on maintaining access to existing developer documentation while establishing a foundation for continued improvements to the developer experience.

If you had an account on the previous Developer Network, you will need to register again, as accounts from the previous platform were not migrated.

The Developer Network is organized around the typical developer journey:

Understand the fundamentals → Find the appropriate API → Review the documentation → Test the API → Build against a Dayforce environment

Where should I start if I am new to Dayforce APIs?

If you are new to the Dayforce API ecosystem, avoid starting immediately with an individual endpoint.

Start with the foundational documentation in the Developer Network to understand concepts that apply across APIs, including authentication, configuration, Web Services access, and general URL structure.

A useful learning path is:

1. Review the foundational concepts

Understand authentication, Web Services configuration, roles, access, and URL structure.

2. Find the API in API Explorer

Search by the business data or functional area you need.

3. Review Before You Begin

Confirm the required Dayforce configuration and role access.

4. Review the operation

Understand its parameters, response schema, response codes, and implementation notes.

5. Test against the sample environment

Use Try It Out to understand how the API behaves.

6. Test against your own non-production Dayforce environment

Use Postman or another API testing tool with your environment URL, client namespace, and appropriately configured Web Services user.

7. Build your integration

Once the API behavior, authentication, permissions, and response structures are understood, incorporate the API into your integration.

How do I find the right Dayforce API?

Start with API Explorer.

Rather than organizing APIs around Dayforce screens, APIs are grouped around functional areas or topics, such as People or Organization and HR Setup.

You can:

• Browse APIs by functional area.

• Search for an API.

• Apply multiple tags to narrow the results.

• Switch between card and list views.

• Review the available GET, POST, PATCH, and other supported operations.

Before making an API call, review the Before You Begin information for the API.

This identifies requirements such as the appropriate role assignments and access required to use the API.

Also review the highlighted implementation notes. These can contain important information that may not be apparent from the request parameters alone.

Where applicable, the documentation also provides the Dayforce navigation path so you can understand where the corresponding information is located in Dayforce.

How do I understand what an API request and response should look like?

Select the operation you want to use within API Explorer.

The operation documentation provides information including:

• HTTP method

• Resource path

• Request parameters

• Response structure/schema

• Expected response codes

• Error responses and payloads

• Sample environment parameters

Reviewing the response and error structures before building your integration can help you understand what your integration should expect and how it should handle different responses.

How do I test a Dayforce API before connecting to my own environment?

API Explorer includes a Try It Out capability that can be used with the Dayforce sample environment.

Select the operation and choose Try It Out, then enter the required parameters and authorization information provided for the sample environment.

One important tip from the demonstration:

When copying the sample Basic Authorization value, make sure you copy the entire authorization value, including Basic. Omitting this can result in authorization errors.

If the required parameters or authorization fields do not appear after selecting Try It Out, refresh the page and reopen the operation. This was identified during the demonstration as a current workaround.

After entering the required information, select Send.

A successful request should return an HTTP 200 response along with the expected response body.

What is the difference between testing the sample API and calling my own Dayforce environment?

This distinction is important.

The Try It Out capability in API Explorer is intended for testing against the Dayforce sample environment.

To interact with your own Dayforce instance, use an API testing tool such as Postman and construct the request using your Dayforce environment and client namespace.

At the time of the session, the API documentation had been migrated to the Microsoft Azure API platform, but the APIs themselves had not all been migrated to that platform.

As a result, sample requests may be redirected to the gateway where the API is currently hosted.

How do I test a Dayforce API against my own environment using Postman?

The session demonstrated the following approach.

1. Find the API operation

Locate the API in API Explorer and select the operation you want to test.

Use the resource information provided for that operation.

2. Determine your Dayforce environment URL

Use the RESTful General URL Structure documentation to determine the appropriate URL for your environment.

Make sure the URL corresponds to the environment you are accessing, such as Stage, Test, Configuration, or Production.

Replace the client namespace in the resource with the namespace for the Dayforce instance you want to query.

Your request is essentially constructed using:

Dayforce environment URL + API resource path + client namespace

Be careful to avoid additional spaces or slashes when constructing the URL.

3. Configure authentication

In Postman, open the Authorization tab and select Basic Auth.

Enter the username and password associated with the Web Services user configured in the Dayforce environment you are accessing.

4. Configure redirect settings

Under Postman settings, ensure the following are enabled:

• Automatically follow redirects

• Follow Authorization header

These settings are particularly important with the current API architecture because requests may be redirected to the version-specific Dayforce environment hosting the API.

5. Send the request

Select Send.

A successful request should return an HTTP 200 response and the expected API response.

Why does my Dayforce API URL redirect to another URL?

This is expected with the current architecture.

For example, a request made against a Stage URL may redirect to a version-specific environment such as a USStage environment.

At the time of this session, the API documentation was available through the Microsoft Azure API platform, while APIs were still being progressively migrated from the existing gateway.

The redirect ensures the request reaches the appropriate environment/version where the API is hosted.

This is also why enabling Automatically follow redirects and Follow Authorization header in Postman is important.

Does Dayforce plan to remove the need for API redirects?

This question was raised during the session, particularly because redirects can create challenges for integrations or tools that do not support them.

The move to Microsoft Azure API Management is part of the broader API modernization strategy, and reducing the dependency on the existing redirect model is expected to be part of that evolution.

However, no specific timeline was confirmed during the session. API migration will occur progressively as teams move APIs onto the new platform.

What is Postman, and do I have to use it?

Postman is an API development and testing tool that allows you to make API requests and inspect the responses.

It can be used for simple API testing as well as more advanced scenarios, such as scripting multiple API calls into a workflow.

Postman was used during the webinar because it is a commonly used tool for testing Dayforce APIs. Other API testing tools may also be used.

How do I authenticate using a token instead of Basic Authentication?

The Developer Network includes authentication documentation that identifies the appropriate Dayforce Identity Server for the environment you are accessing.

For the token request demonstrated during the session, the request included:

• grant_type = password

• companyId = your Dayforce client namespace

• Username = Web Services username

• Password = Web Services user password

• Client ID = Dayforce.HCMAnywhere.Client

The request content type is:

application/x-www-form-urlencoded

When the token request succeeds, an access token is returned. That token can then be supplied as the authorization for subsequent API requests.

The Developer Network also provides a sample that can be imported into Postman to demonstrate retrieving a token and then using that token to call a sample Employee API operation.

I received an API error. What should I check first?

Based on the scenarios demonstrated during the session, start with the following:

• Confirm you are using the correct Dayforce environment URL.

• Confirm the client namespace is correct.

• Review Before You Begin for the required role and access configuration.

• Confirm the Web Services username and password are correct.

• If using Basic Authorization in API Explorer, make sure the complete value—including Basic—was copied.

• In Postman, make sure Automatically follow redirects is enabled.

• Make sure Follow Authorization header is enabled.

• Check the documented response/error schema for the API operation.

• Confirm there are no additional spaces or slashes in the constructed URL.

Where can I ask questions about a specific API or use case?

Questions such as “Which API should I use for this use case?”, “What does this field mean?”, or “How should I retrieve this particular data?” are well suited for the Developer Community.

Posting these questions in the Community allows the answers to remain searchable and helps other developers and partners who may encounter the same scenario.

The Developer Network and Developer Community are intended to complement each other:

Developer Network: API documentation, configuration guidance, API Explorer and developer resources.

Developer Community: Use-case questions, implementation discussions, troubleshooting and shared knowledge.

Looking ahead

The Developer Network will continue to evolve as Dayforce APIs progressively move to the Microsoft Azure API Management platform.

Future improvements discussed during the session include enriching API documentation, improving descriptions of fields and response structures, and providing additional guidance to help developers determine which endpoints are most appropriate for specific use cases.

We encourage partners and developers to continue providing feedback as the developer experience evolves.