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Consume Retail Server APIs in external applications

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This article describes how to consume the Retail Server APIs in external applications. Retail Server exposes the Open Data Protocol (OData) web endpoint so that external applications can consume the APIs. Retail Server also hosts the Commerce runtime (CRT) business logic and exposes it as OData endpoints. These endpoints are known as the Retail Server APIs.

External applications can consume the OData service through HTTPS. Retail Server provides multiple options for consuming the APIs:

  • Retail server proxy – A strongly typed way to consume the APIs. There are multiple types of proxies that are exposed for different application types:

    • C# proxy – Server-side and native applications can consume the C# binary (class library) to access the APIs and other entities.
    • TypeScript proxy – Client applications can consume the .ts proxy file to access the APIs and other entities.

  • OData client – The APIs can also be consumed from OData clients, or by generating an HTTPS request to the Retail Server URL.

To browse the metadata, open the Retail Server URL in the following format in a web browser. The result is a list of all the Retail Server APIs, and input and output parameters.

https://RS-URL/Commerce/$metadata

Security and authentication that are required to consume APIs

Access to each API is natively restricted according to the following roles:

  • Employee – Access to APIs that are associated with this role requires point of sale (POS) device activation (a device token) and an authenticated employee.
  • Customer – Access to APIs that are associated with this role requires an authenticated customer. E-Commerce sites generally use these APIs for operations such as retrieving order history and changing customer details.
  • Application – Access to APIs that are associated with this role requires application-level authentication, such as Microsoft Entra service-to-service authentication.
  • Anonymous – APIs that are associated with this role are primarily used by e-Commerce sites without user authentication.
  • Customized APIs – Access to APIs that are associated with this role can be restricted by using methods such as POS device activation, customer authentication, and anonymous authentication.

External application integration requires only the Application authentication flow to access the APIs. E-commerce application integration requires Customer authentication.

This article is focused on setting up Application authentication flows and accessing the APIs by using the Application authentication context.

Before the APIs are accessed from an external application, the external application must be registered in Azure App registration, and details of the registered application must be added in the Commerce Headquarters.

For more information about authentication flows, see Dynamics 365 Commerce authentication flows.

Register the application in Azure App registration

App registration for the Retail Server

Application registration establishes a trust relationship between your app and the Microsoft identity platform. The trust is unidirectional: your app trusts the Microsoft identity platform, not the other way around. Follow these steps to create the app registration.

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. If you have access to multiple tenants, use the Directory + subscription filter on the top menu to select the tenant that you want to register an application in.
  3. Search for and select Microsoft Entra ID.
  4. Under Manage, select App registrations, and then select New registration.
  5. Enter a name for your application. Users of your app might see this name, and you can change it later.
  6. Specify who can use this application as Accounts in this organizational directory only (Microsoft only - Single tenant).
  7. In the Redirect URI field, leave the default value. Don't change anything.
  8. Select Register to complete the initial app registration.
  9. Select Expose an API and then select Add a scope. Provide the Scope name, under Consent select Admins and users and provide the Admin consent display name and description.
  10. Set the State to Enabled.
  11. Select Add scope to complete the scope registration.
  12. After the scope is created, copy the Application ID URI, which begins with “api://…” to the clipboard. This is the Server Resource ID that will be used later.

Create the app registration for the client

  1. Follow steps 2-8 from the above procedure, making sure to provide a different name for the app registration.
  2. Select API permission.
  3. On the Request API permissions page, select APIs my organization uses and then search for the app that you created in steps 2-8.
  4. Select the API and then check the permission. In the new window that opens, select Add permissions

When registration is completed, the Azure portal shows the Overview pane for the app registration. This pane includes the Application (client) ID field. The value of this field is known as the application ID or the client ID. It uniquely identifies your application in the Microsoft identity platform.

Add a client secret

The client secret is also known as an application password. It's a string value that your app can use instead of a certificate to identity itself.

  1. In the Azure portal, in App registrations, select your application (App registered for the client).
  2. Select Certificates & secrets > New client secret.
  3. Add a description for your client secret.
  4. Select a duration.
  5. Select Add.
  6. Be sure to record the secret's value so that you can use it in your client application code.

Register the app in the finance and operations app so that Retail Server trusts it

  1. In Commerce Headquarters, go to Retail and Commerce > Headquarters setup > Parameters > Commerce shared parameters.
  2. On the Identity providers FastTab, select the provider with type Microsoft Entra ID. The values on the Relying parties FastTab are set based on your selection.
  3. On the Relying parties FastTab, select Add. Enter the client ID that was generated during the client app registration (not the headless Commerce app). Set the Type field to Confidential and the UserType field to Application.
  4. On the Action Pane, select Save.
  5. Select the new relying party, and then on the Server resource IDs FastTab, select Add. In the Server Resource ID column, enter the Application ID URI (this is the API URI generated during the Retail Server app registration).
  6. On the Action Pane, select Save.
  7. Go to Retail and commerce > Retail and commerce IT > Distribution Schedule, and run Commerce Data Exchange (CDX) job 1110.

Access the Retail Server APIs by using a console application

  1. Use Visual Studio 2017 to create a console application.

  2. In the app.config file, include the following configuration.

    <appSettings>
    <add key="aadClientId" value="client id generated during the client app registration in Azure" />
    <add key="aadClientSecret" value="client secret generated during the client app registration in Azure" />
    <add key="aadAuthority" value="https://sts.windows.net/tenant id/" />
    <add key="retailServerUrl" value="https://RetailserverURL/Commerce" /> 
    <add key="resource" value="api://2fxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" /> <!-- //Application ID URI generated during the Retail Server app registration -->
    <add key="operatingUnitNumber" value="OUN value" />
</appSettings>

Update the configuration settings with actual values

  1. Use the NuGet package manager for the project to add the following NuGet packages.

    • Microsoft.Identity.Client
    • Microsoft.Dynamics.Commerce.RetailProxy

    The Microsoft.Dynamics.Commerce.RetailProxy NuGet package can be added from the RetailSDK\pkgs folder. In the NuGet manager, add a local repository for the RetailSDK\pkgs folder.

  2. In the Program.cs file, add the following variables.

    private static string clientId;
private static string clientSecret;
private static Uri retailServerUrl;
private static string resource;
private static string operatingUnitNumber;
private static Uri authority;

  3. In the Program.cs file, add the GetConfiguration method to read the app settings.

    private static void GetConfiguration()
{
    clientId = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["aadClientId"];
    clientSecret = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["aadClientSecret"];
    authority = new Uri(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["aadAuthority"]);
    retailServerUrl = new Uri(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["retailServerUrl"]);
    operatingUnitNumber = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["operatingUnitNumber"];
    resource = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["resource"];
}

  4. In the Program.cs file, add the CreateManagerFactory method to get the access token.

    private static async Task<ManagerFactory> CreateManagerFactory()
{
    Microsoft.Identity.Client.AuthenticationContext authenticationContext = new   Microsoft.Identity.Client.AuthenticationContext(authority.ToString(), false);
    AuthenticationResult authResult = null;
    authResult = await authenticationContext.AcquireTokenAsync(resource, new ClientCredential(clientId, clientSecret));

    ClientCredentialsToken clientCredentialsToken = new ClientCredentialsToken(authResult.AccessToken);
    RetailServerContext retailServerContext = RetailServerContext.Create(retailServerUrl, operatingUnitNumber, clientCredentialsToken);
    ManagerFactory factory = ManagerFactory.Create(retailServerContext);
    return  factory;
}

  5. Add the GetOrderHistory method to read the orders.

    private static async Task<Microsoft.Dynamics.Commerce.RetailProxy.PagedResult<SalesOrder>> GetOrderHistory(string customerId)
{
    QueryResultSettings querySettings = new QueryResultSettings
    {
        Paging = new PagingInfo() { Top = 10, Skip = 10 }
    };

    ManagerFactory managerFactory = await CreateManagerFactory();
    ICustomerManager customerManage = managerFactory.GetManager<ICustomerManager>();
    return await customerManage.GetOrderHistory(customerId, querySettings);
}

  6. In the main method, call the GetOrderHistory method to read the records.

    static void Main(string[] args)
{
    GetConfiguration();
    Microsoft.Dynamics.Commerce.RetailProxy.PagedResult<SalesOrder> orderHistory = Task.Run(async () => await GetOrderHistory("2001")).Result;
    Console.WriteLine(orderHistory.Results.GetEnumerator().Current.Id);
}