How to Use Copilot for REST API Setup

This guide explains how to use the AI-powered Copilot feature to automatically generate integration configurations for REST API integrations. Copilot analyzes a sample file (such as a JSON response from your API) and suggests a complete integration setup including fields, mappings, and value translations.

What Copilot Can Do for REST API Setup

When setting up a REST API integration, you typically need to:

Define integration fields that match the JSON response structure
Create mappings from those fields to Business Central tables and fields
Configure value translations where external values differ from BC values
Set up JSON root paths for nested response structures

Copilot automates all of these steps. You provide a sample JSON response from your API, describe what it contains, and Copilot generates the entire field and mapping configuration for you to review and confirm.

This is especially useful for REST API integrations because:

API responses can have deeply nested JSON structures that are time-consuming to map manually
Field names in external APIs often differ from Business Central field names
Copilot can detect JSON root paths and dot-notation field paths automatically

Prerequisites

Before using Copilot for REST API setup, ensure:

The Integration Framework Auto Setup capability is enabled in Copilot & AI Capabilities in Business Central
You have the NAVX IF ALL permission set assigned
You have a sample JSON response file from your API saved locally

To verify Copilot is enabled:

Choose Tell me and search for Copilot & AI Capabilities
Find Integration Framework Auto Setup in the list
Ensure it is set to Active

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Save a Sample API Response

Before starting, capture a sample response from your REST API. You can do this by:

Calling the API from a tool like Postman and saving the response as a .json file
Downloading a sample response from your API provider's documentation
Using the browser developer tools to capture a live response

The sample should contain representative data, including at least a few records, so Copilot can accurately detect the structure.

Step 2: Open Copilot Auto Setup

Navigate to the Integrations page
Choose the Suggest Integration Setup action in the prompting area (indicated by a sparkle icon)

Step 3: Upload the JSON Response File

In the Copilot dialog, choose the Attach File action
Select your saved JSON response file (.json)
The file name appears in the dialog after upload

Step 4: Describe the Data

In the Describe the file field, provide a description that helps Copilot understand the data and make better mapping suggestions. Be specific about the Business Central tables you want to target.

Examples for REST API integrations:

"Shopify orders mapping to Sales Header and Sales Line with customer lookup"
"Customer records from CRM system mapping to Customer table"
"Product catalog with prices mapping to Item table"
"Vendor invoices with line items mapping to Purchase Header and Purchase Line"

The more specific your description, the better the AI can match JSON fields to the correct Business Central tables and fields.

Step 5: Generate Suggestions

Choose the Generate action. Copilot will:

Analyze the JSON structure - Detect the root array, nested objects, field names, data types, and sample values
Detect JSON root path - Identify the dot-notation path to the data array (e.g., data.orders)
Build BC metadata context - Gather relevant Business Central table and field information based on your description
Send to AI - Submit the analysis and metadata to the AI engine
Parse the response - Convert AI suggestions into integration field and mapping records
Post-process - Add any missing required fields for document imports

Step 6: Review the Suggestion Summary

After generation, review the summary:

Field	Description
Integration Name	The suggested name. Editable.
Description	The suggested description. Editable.
Integration Type	Detected as JSON for REST API responses. Read-only.
JSON Root Path	The detected path to the root data array. Editable.
Root Array Count	The number of elements in the root array. Read-only.

For REST API integrations, pay special attention to the JSON Root Path. This value determines which part of the API response contains the data records. If Copilot detects the wrong path, edit it before confirming.

Step 7: Review Suggested Fields

The Suggested Fields section shows one row per detected JSON field. For REST API integrations, fields use JSON dot-notation paths (e.g., customer.address.city). Review and edit:

Field number and name
Column type (Standard, Constant, Dynamic)
JSON Path for each field
Constant values for fields that should always have the same value

Step 8: Review Suggested Mappings

The Suggested Mappings section shows how each JSON field maps to a Business Central table and field. Review:

Source field name and number
Destination table and field
Whether validation is enabled
Whether the field creates a new document (for header/line structures)

Step 9: Confirm or Discard

Choose Confirm to create the integration with all suggested fields, mappings, value maps, and character replacements
Choose Discard to close without creating anything

After confirmation, the new integration appears on the Integrations page. You then need to:

Set the Integration Type to REST API (if not already set)
Configure the REST API Connection and Endpoint separately
The fields and mappings created by Copilot are ready to use with the API response data

Step 10: Regenerate If Needed

If the suggestions miss the mark, choose Regenerate to re-analyze the file. You can modify your description before regenerating to guide the AI toward better results.

Multi-Endpoint Batch Sync Selection

When your REST API integration involves multiple endpoints (e.g., orders and line items from separate endpoints, or data from multiple API sources), you can use Copilot to set up the field and mapping configuration for each endpoint separately:

Save a sample response for each endpoint as a separate JSON file
Run Copilot Auto Setup for the primary endpoint first (e.g., order headers)
Run Copilot Auto Setup for secondary endpoints (e.g., line items), adjusting the description to target the correct BC tables
Configure endpoint chaining or aggregation to link the endpoints together (see How to Set Up REST API Sync Protocol)

This workflow lets you use AI to generate the field configuration for each piece of a complex multi-step integration.

Reviewing and Confirming AI Suggestions

When reviewing Copilot suggestions for REST API integrations, pay special attention to:

JSON Path Accuracy

Verify that the JSON paths match the actual API response structure. Nested paths like order.customer.email must exactly match the response.

Document Structure Detection

For header/line imports, ensure Copilot correctly identified:

Which fields map to the header table (e.g., Sales Header)
Which fields map to the line table (e.g., Sales Line)
Which field triggers new document creation

Value Translations

Check if Copilot suggested appropriate value maps for fields where the API uses different values than Business Central (e.g., order status codes, payment method identifiers).

Required Fields

For document imports, Copilot automatically adds required fields such as:

Document Type as a Constant
Type as a Constant (set to "Item" for line items)
Line No. as Line Numbers
System-Created Entry as a Constant

Verify these are present and correct for your import scenario.

Tips for Better Results with REST API Data

Use a complete sample response - Include nested objects, arrays, and representative values
Mention specific BC tables - "Map to Sales Header and Sales Line" produces better results than "sales orders"
Include the API source - "Shopify order data" or "HubSpot contact records" helps the AI understand common field naming patterns
Iterate with different descriptions - If the first result does not match, try a more detailed or different description

Troubleshooting

Copilot Does Not Detect JSON Root Path

If the root array is deeply nested, Copilot may not detect the path. Manually edit the JSON Root Path field in the suggestion summary.

Fields Missing from Suggestions

If some JSON fields are not included in the suggestions, they may have been filtered out because the AI could not match them to any BC field. After confirming, you can manually add additional fields to the integration.

"Enable the Integration Framework Auto Setup capability" Error

The Copilot capability is not active. Go to Copilot & AI Capabilities and enable Integration Framework Auto Setup.