Getting Started with SAP Signavio Process Manager API

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Note: Everything described here for SAP Signavio Process Manager also applies to SAP Signavio Process Modeler.

I’ve worked with the SAP Signavio Process Manager API before, just enough to know how powerful it is and how confusing it can feel when you're getting started.

So when I was asked to put together a guide, I saw it as an opportunity to write the post I wish I’d had when I first started exploring the API. One that doesn’t just list the endpoints, but explains what to set up, how to authenticate and where to find examples that actually work.

If you're planning to build something with the API or just want to stop clicking through the UI 50 times a day, this guide is for you.

What you’ll find in this guide:

1. Understand When to Use SAP Signavio Process Manager API
2. How Do I Access the API?
3. Authentication: Logging In, the API Way
4. Understand What Endpoints Are Available
5. Dig Into Specific Requests and Responses
6. What Happens When Things Go Wrong?
7. Don’t Forget About Rate Limits
8. Join the Developer Community

Understand When to Use SAP Signavio Process Manager API

The API is designed for users who want to automate tasks, build integrations, or programmatically interact with SAP Signavio Process Manager artifacts like folders, models, and dictionary entries.

Typical use cases include:

• Creating and updating process diagrams at scale
• Syncing dictionary items across systems
• Building custom governance or quality-check pipelines
• Extracting and analyzing model metadata for reporting

If you're manually clicking through the UI to perform repetitive actions, the API is probably a better fit.

First Things First: How Do I Access the API?

Before you can start sending requests to the SAP Signavio Process Manager API, you’ll need the right kind of access. And no, not just “a user account.”

You’ll need:

• A technical user (Step 1)
• The API Edition license (Step 2)
• A proper license assignment in your workspace (Step 3)

Here’s what that actually means in practice.

Step 1: Create a technical user (with a reachable email)

If you’re integrating with the API, it’s best to use a dedicated technical user account, not your personal Signavio login and not someone else’s either. The technical user should only have one thing: an API Edition license.

That’s important for two reasons:

1. It enables headless authentication (no SSO required), which is essential for automation.
2. It doesn’t consume a paid seat. Regular user licenses are charged, even if you’re just using them for API access.

💡 Best practice: Set up one technical user per integration scenario. And use a reachable, role-based email like [email protected]. You’ll need to access this mailbox for password resets and authentication.

For more information, view Setting up Technical Users.

Step 2: Get the API Edition license

Already have the API Edition license? Great - skip ahead to Step 3.

Don’t have it yet? No problem. In that case, you’ll need to request one.

Go to SAP for Me and create a support case. Include your Tenant ID in the request. SAP Support will then add the license to your workspace, free of charge. For more information, view Reporting an Issue in the SAP Signavio Support Guide.

⚠️ Note: The license is provided at no additional cost. But don’t skip this step. Using a regular license for API access will eat up a paid seat and might result in unintended costs.

For more information, view Getting the License.

Step 3: Assign the API Edition license in your workspace

Assigning the API Edition license to technical users works like assigning any other license to a regular user. For more information, view User Accounts.

Once the user is set up, assign only the API Edition license. Don’t add any other license types. Then, make sure the user has the necessary permissions, like reading and writing. These permissions are granted via access rights. Find out more in Manage Access Rights.

You’re now ready to move past setup mode and into action. Let’s get you authenticated.

Authentication: Logging In, the API Way

Once your technical user is set up, you're ready to authenticate. At first, the flow might look a bit unusual if you haven’t worked with token-based authentication before, but it's easy to follow once you’ve seen it in action.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Fetch JWT token

Send a POST request to https://{{host}}/auth/v1/token with your credentials.
You can find the correct host in the SAP Help documentation.

In the request body, provide:

• The technical user’s email address
• Their password
• And your tenant ID (Find the Workspace ID)

You’ll receive two things:

1. JWT token (in the response body)
2. JSESSIONID cookie (in the response header)

Step 2: Copy JWT token and cookie

Copy JWT token from the response body and JSESSIONID cookie from the response header.

Step 3: Call Resource API endpoint and include both JWT token and cookie in your requests

Call a Resource API endpoint (e.g. GET https://{{host}}/spm/v1/search) and:

• Add x-signavio-id: <JWT token> to your headers
• Set the cookie JSESSIONID=<sessionId>

You’ll receive an API response:

The token stays valid for 8 hours. After that, you simply repeat the same request to get a fresh one. You can find more details in SAP Help.

Understand What Endpoints Are Available

… and What to Do if One Is Missing

The SAP Signavio Process Manager API is structured around resource types, like dictionary entries, folders and diagrams. Each type has its own group of endpoints, all under the /spm/v1 base path.

You can use these endpoints to interact with key objects in SAP Signavio Process Manager. Whether you want to fetch all directories, create a new diagram, or update a dictionary entry, that all happens through this API.

That said, what you're seeing here isn’t the full picture. To explore the complete set of available endpoints, I recommend checking out these official resources:

1. SAP Business Accelerator Hub - REST API
   A technical API reference in OpenAPI format - an industry standard you can interact with and download.
2. SAP Help Portal
   Under “Resource APIs”, you’ll find request and response formats, common error codes and practical examples like retrieving models or navigating folders.
3. GitHub - Postman Collection
   If you're hands-on and want to test things out, the Postman collection is a great place to start.

 

But What If Something’s Missing?

If you find yourself thinking, “Why can’t I do X?”, there’s a place to do something about it.

The SAP Customer Influence Portal is where customers and partners can submit API feature requests. You can also browse ideas from others, vote on them and follow their status. This helps the product team understand what’s most needed and why.

💡 Tip: If you hit a limitation, it’s always worth checking whether someone else already raised it. Adding your vote or use case can go a long way in getting it prioritized.

 

Dig Into Specific Requests and Responses

Example: Search API

Once you’ve set up authentication (view earlier chapter), you’re ready to make real API calls. One useful example is searching across models, folders, and dictionary items in your workspace.

Let’s walk through the Search API. You can find more details in both SAP Help and the SAP Business Accelerator Hub.

In this example, we want to search for the following SAP Signavio process model via the API:

The search endpoint is a simple GET request to:

👉 https://{{host}}/spm/v1/search

You can find the correct host in the SAP Help documentation.

You can add parameters like q=yourQuery, limit=10, or types=MODEL to filter the results.

Here’s what that looks like in Postman:

The response is a JSON array of matching resources, each including metadata such as name, type, author and revision.

What Happens When Things Go Wrong?

Sooner or later, your request might fail. But the good news is: SAP Signavio gives you the tools to troubleshoot.

SAP provides detailed guidance on how to interpret error responses, common issues, and how to fix them. You’ll find the most relevant information in two places:

1) SAP Business Accelerator Hub

The Business Hub lists expected responses for each endpoint, including all relevant HTTP error codes:

1. Go to the SAP Signavio Process Manager API in the Business Accelerator Hub.

2. Under “REST API”, select a section, such as Dictionary:

3. Navigate to “API Reference” and select an endpoint, such as POST /glossary:

4. Click to expand and scroll down to the Responses section:

2) SAP Help

You’ll find a concise overview of common error codes and what they mean in the Troubleshooting section of the SAP Help documentation.

Still stuck?
Open a support ticket under component BPI-SIG-CA-API in SAP for Me. Don’t forget to include your workspace ID / tenant ID, request body and response log to speed up the investigation.

Don’t Forget About Rate Limits

Usage of SAP Signavio Process Manager APIs is monitored to ensure that our services are available fairly and reliably.

To prevent overload and ensure consistent performance, the API enforces usage limits. These rate limits define how many requests your application can send within a given time window.

You can find the exact thresholds and guidance in the official SAP Help documentation.

Join the Developer Community

Have a question? Built something cool? Share it!

The SAP Signavio developer community is a growing space where users share what they’ve built, ask questions and exchange best practices. Whether you're stuck on a request, looking for inspiration, or want to showcase your latest integration, this is the place to be.

🧠 Make sure to check out our Q&A and blog posts for more ideas and insights.

Thanks for reading! 🎉

I hope this guide gave you a solid foundation to start building and maybe even sparked some ideas along the way.

👉Read Part 2: Exploring the SAP Signavio Process Manager API: Reading Directories and Process Diagrams