VBCS Service Connections: Connecting to REST APIs

How service connections work

graph LR
    VBCS[VBCS Application] -->|Service Connection| SC{Connection Type}
    SC -->|Oracle Cloud Applications| FUSION[Oracle Fusion
REST APIs]
    SC -->|REST| OIC[OIC Integration
Endpoints]
    SC -->|REST| EXT[External REST APIs]
    SC -->|ADF Business Components| ADF[ADF BC Services]

    VBCS -->|Variables| DATA[Page Variables
Bound to Components]
    DATA <-->|Data binding| UI[UI Components
Tables, Forms, Charts]

    style VBCS fill:#1e3a5f,stroke:#3B82F6,color:#e2e8f0
    style DATA fill:#0f2d1f,stroke:#22C55E,color:#e2e8f0

Creating a service connection to OIC

1. In VBCS Designer: Services → + Service Connection
2. Select Define by Specification (for OIC, use the OpenAPI spec from OIC)
3. Enter the OIC endpoint base URL
4. Configure authentication: Oracle Cloud Account (uses current user’s IDCS token)

For a VBCS → OIC REST trigger:

// OIC integration endpoint (configure in VBCS service connection)
{
  "baseUrl": "https://your-oic.integration.ocp.oraclecloud.com",
  "paths": {
    "/ic/api/integration/v1/flows/rest/CREATE_PO/1.0/createPO": {
      "post": {
        "summary": "Create Purchase Order",
        "requestBody": {
          "required": true,
          "content": {
            "application/json": {
              "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/CreatePORequest" }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Using a service connection in an action chain

// Action: Call REST (configured in action chain designer)
// Service: OIC_CREATE_PO
// Endpoint: POST /createPO
// Request body mapping:

{
  "poType": "{{ $page.variables.poForm.poType }}",
  "supplierId": "{{ $page.variables.selectedSupplier.id }}",
  "lines": "{{ $page.variables.orderLines }}",
  "requestedDate": "{{ $page.variables.poForm.requestedDate }}",
  "orgId": "{{ $application.user.orgId }}"
}

// Response mapping (success path):
// response.body.poNumber → $page.variables.createdPONumber
// response.body.status   → $page.variables.poStatus

Handling pagination in service connections

For Fusion REST APIs that return paginated data:

// Page function: loadAllEmployees
async function loadAllEmployees() {
  var allEmployees = [];
  var offset = 0;
  var limit = 500;
  var hasMore = true;

  while (hasMore) {
    var result = await $page.functions.callGetEmployees({
      limit: limit,
      offset: offset,
      q: "ActiveStatus='ACTIVE'"
    });
    
    allEmployees = allEmployees.concat(result.items);
    hasMore = result.hasMore;
    offset += limit;
  }
  
  $page.variables.employees = allEmployees;
  return allEmployees.length;
}

Common service connection errors

Error	Cause	Fix
401 Unauthorized	Token expired or wrong scope	Re-test connection, check IDCS client scopes
403 Forbidden	User lacks Fusion role	Check Fusion data roles assigned to user
404 Not Found	Wrong endpoint URL	Check OIC endpoint path with Postman first
429 Too Many Requests	Rate limit hit	Add delay between bulk calls
CORS error in browser	Missing CORS headers	OIC requires specific CORS config for VBCS