Workday (platform)

Workday is the worker and staffing system of record. VMS Agent contracts contingent workers through the Staffing business-process operations; writes are largely SOAP-only, while reads are available via REST and RaaS.

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 (auth-code + ISU client-credentials) for REST; WS-Security or OAuth via an Integration System User (ISU) for SOAP. Access tokens ~1h; non-expiring refresh tokens configurable.
API styleSOAP (Workday Web Services — primary), REST/JSON (partial subset), RaaS (reports-as-a-service)
Base URLREST https://{host}/ccx/api/{service}/v{n}/{tenant} | SOAP https://{host}/ccx/service/{tenant}/{WebService}/v{n}
ObjectsStaffing (Create_Position, Contract_Contingent_Worker, End_Contingent_Worker_Contract), Job Requisition, Position, Worker, Supplier, Purchase Order
Events / webhooksNo native webhooks. Event-driven via the Business Process Framework, EIB outbound, Studio and Extend. RaaS is poll-based.
Rate limitsNot officially published; practitioner ~10 req/s per tenant, HTTP 429 + Retry-After. Queue + exponential backoff.
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 Workday

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
Contingent worker (contract)
Onboard external worker
worker, position, start_date, supplier, job_profile Contract_Contingent_Worker (Staffing SOAP BP) Required + tenant BP Approvals run via the tenant business process
Position (create)
Create the headcount
role_title, org, location, headcount Create_Position (Staffing SOAP) Required Precedes contracting
End contract
Offboard / liveness
worker_id, end_date, reason End_Contingent_Worker_Contract Required Drives liveness + offboarding
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

Pin a WWS version (e.g. v46.1) in every endpoint. Requires an ISU + integration security group + registered API client. Implementation and production tenants use different hosts.

Next
Implement the adapter

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