Coupa (platform)

Coupa is a Business Spend Management platform with a single clean REST surface. Contingent and services spend (SOW, Coupa Contingent Workforce) sits on top of requisitions, contracts and purchase_orders. VMS Agent publishes canonical intent into those resources.

Reference
API at a glance

The public API facts VMS Agent's adapter relies on. Tenant-specific details (custom fields, picklists, approval chains) are confirmed during connection and folded into the MappingProfile.

AuthenticationOAuth 2.0 / OIDC client-credentials with scopes. Token POST https://{instance}.coupahost.com/oauth2/token. Legacy X-COUPA-API-KEY header is retired.
API styleREST, JSON or XML via Accept header
Base URLhttps://{instance}.coupahost.com/api/{resource} (events at https://{instance}.cso.coupahost.com/api/events)
Objectsrequisitions, purchase_orders, invoices, contracts, suppliers, quote_requests, expenses, budget_lines
Events / webhooksPoll-first via updated-at filters. Events API (CSO) + configurable webhooks supplement; not comprehensive native webhooks.
Rate limits25 requests/second, burst queue ~20; exponential backoff on 429/503.
Readiness
Docs confidence: Public

“Docs confidence” describes how deterministic our mapping templates can be before we connect to a tenant. Even with public docs, implementations vary — especially around custom fields, approval flows and object extensions.

Deterministic mapping

Common Workforce Model fields map to known API fields. Best for standard objects (requisitions, assignments, timesheets, POs).

Tenant discovery

VMS Agent can scan tenant configuration (custom fields, picklists, required fields) where the platform permits it, then generate a tenant‑specific MappingProfile.

Enrichment loop

If the target platform requires a field the Intent record doesn't yet have, VMS Agent emits an enrichment_request back to the intake layer.

Mapping
Minimum viable mapping for Coupa

An opinionated baseline. The platform adapter enforces additional requirements via preflight. “Tenant required” fields are discovered during connection and added to the MappingProfile.

Object Canonical fields Platform target Required status Notes
Requisition (Contingent)
Create external worker request
role_title, start_date, end_date, cost_center, worker_type POST /api/requisitions Required CCW / Services modelled on requisitions
Statement of Work
Services / SOW engagement
service_category, sow.summary, deliverables[], budget, dates /api/contracts + /api/requisitions Tenant required Verify CCW module resource name per tenant
Purchase Order
Read for back-sync
po_number, supplier, amount, status GET /api/purchase_orders Required Used for reconciliation
Idempotency & drift — publish + reconcileExpand

Publish operations are idempotent using a deterministic key {intent_id}-{intent_version}-{target_system}. Because humans can change records inside the platform, VMS Agent supports reconciliation: it compares the platform record snapshot to the canonical intent and flags drift.

Tenant specifics
Custom fields & unique mapping

Real deployments rely on program-specific custom fields (for compliance, approvals, GL coding, rate rules or supplier constraints). VMS Agent is designed to generate tenant‑specific mappings rather than forcing you to redesign your intake.

How scanning works

High-level flow

connect_destination() → read required fields + picklists (where permitted) → detect custom fields / extensions → build MappingProfile + validation rules → preflight intent against tenant requirements

What gets produced

Portable artefacts

MappingProfile (tenant-scoped) Capabilities matrix Required-field rules Picklist dictionaries Enrichment prompts Audit spine links (defence_file_ref)
Important — where this platform is tenant-definedExpand

SOW / Contingent Workforce is not a distinct top-level REST resource; confirm the CCW module resource name in your tenant. Each customer has a separate sandbox instance with its own OAuth clients and scopes.

Next
Implement the adapter

Use this page alongside the API + Schemas docs to implement: destination connection, preflight validation, publish, webhook back-sync and reconciliation.