Getting started

Review the following information before you get started with the REST API.

On this page:

Prerequisites

You need the following before using the API:

A basic understanding of HTTP protocol
A basic understanding of Perforce ALM

Installing and configuring the API

Perform the following tasks before using the REST API.

1. Install the API. If the Perforce ALM Server is not yet installed, you also need to install it.

2. Optionally configure the API to use certificate files for HTTPS, HTTP instead of HTTPS, or keys required if the ALM Server uses RSA key exchange. See Editing the configuration file.

3. Create a security group and user to use specifically with the API.

Connecting to the API

To get started, make sure you can connect to the API. See Connecting to the REST API.

After you successfully connect, you are ready to start making calls.

Legacy Helix ALM URLs

Helix ALM was renamed to Perforce ALM. Existing URLs that contain helix-alm are still supported. perforce-alm is also supported in URLs when using ALM 2026.1 and later. For example, both of these URLs are supported:

https://localhost:8443/helix-alm/api/v0/projects
https://localhost:8443/perforce-alm/api/v0/projects

Additional resources

API reference

For detailed information about REST API resources and response objects with examples, see the interactive help locally at https://<YourAPIServer>:8443 or from the Perforce web site.

Examples

Examples to help you get started are available to download from the Perforce web site.