21.1 Integration Service: Connectors, Connections & Connector Activities
Key Takeaways
A connector packages an application API as activities and triggers; a connection is an authenticated, folder-scoped link to one account.
Since March 2026 connections can be created in the Orchestrator folder Connections tab, which requires Connections - Create; the Integration Service tab is scheduled for migration around July 2026.
Keep personal-account connections in Personal Workspaces and service-account connections in shared folders.
Per-environment connections are selected for a process on Orchestrator's Package Requirements tab.
A connector's HTTP Request activity calls endpoints without a dedicated activity using the connection's authentication; Private (Relay) connections reach private HTTP-based systems.
21.1 Integration Service: Connectors, Connections & Connector Activities
Core Concept: Integration Service lets automations work with other applications through their APIs. A connector packages an application's API (for example Salesforce, Microsoft 365, or ServiceNow) as activities and triggers. A connection is an authenticated link to one account of that application. The exam's API automation topics build on these two ideas.
Connectors, Connections, Activities, and Triggers
| Building block | What it is |
|---|---|
| Connector | A prebuilt integration for one application, with its authentication options, activities, and events |
| Connection | An authenticated link created when a user signs in to the application's API; it stores the tokens so workflows don't |
| Connector activities | Studio and Studio Web activities that use a connection, such as sending an email or creating a record |
| Triggers | Events from the application, such as a new record, that start automations (covered in the event triggers section) |
Creating Connections
- Where: In Orchestrator, open a folder and select the Connections tab, then Add connection, pick the connector, choose the authentication type, and select Connect. You can also create connections directly from Studio, Studio Web, or Assistant.
- Change in 2026: Starting March 2026, new connections can be created in Orchestrator. Existing connections stay visible on Integration Service's Connections tab until July 2026 (subject to extension), when they are migrated to Orchestrator and that tab is removed.
- Permission: creating a connection requires Connections - Create in the target folder.
- Firewall: an IP allow list for Integration Service must be configured.
Authentication types
Some connectors support several; the options can include OAuth 2.0 Authorization code, OAuth 2.0 Password, Bring your own OAuth 2.0 app (your organization's own OAuth app instead of UiPath's public app), and Personal Access Token. Options vary by connector.
Shared connections and personal workspaces
- A connection in a shared folder can be used, and edited, by everyone with access to that folder.
- UiPath recommends creating connections authenticated with personal accounts in Personal Workspaces, and using shared folders only for connections authenticated with service accounts.
- Administrators can prevent regular users from creating shared connections in team folders.
Private systems: Relay
For systems in a private network, a connection can use Private (Relay) instead of Standard, routing traffic through your own infrastructure without a VPN or inbound firewall changes. An administrator must configure Relay first, and you provide the Base URL. Only HTTP-based connectors support it; Snowflake and Database Hub (JDBC), SAP BAPI (SAP Java Connector), and Oracle NetSuite (SOAP) do not.
Managing connections
The Connections tab shows each connection's health and lets you reconnect, manage triggers, edit the name and polling interval, and delete connections.
One Workflow, Several Environments
All connectors support choosing the connection at run time:
- Create a named connection per environment with the same connector, for example Salesforce Dev, Salesforce Test, and Salesforce Production.
- Place each one in the Orchestrator folder of its environment.
- In Orchestrator, use the process's Package Requirements tab to choose which connection the process uses.
- The published automation then uses the connection assigned for that folder, with no workflow change.
Using Connectors in Automations
- Connector activities: add an activity such as a Microsoft 365 or Salesforce activity, select the connection, and fill in the fields the connector exposes. The connector handles authentication and token refresh.
- HTTP Request inside a connector: connectors also offer an HTTP Request activity for API endpoints that have no dedicated activity. It calls the vendor's API with the connection's authentication, so you only supply the method, path, and body.
- Coded automations: services that use connections, such as Gmail, Google Sheets, Excel, OneDrive, and Office 365 mail, reach them through the
connectionsobject, for exampleconnections.Gmail.My_Workspace_john_doe_gmail_com. The connection can be overridden in Orchestrator after publishing. - Orchestrator connector: the UiPath Orchestrator connector offers activities such as Get Asset, Get Credential, Get Queue Items, Run Job, and a UiPath Orchestrator HTTP Request activity.
Choosing an API Approach
| Need | Best tool |
|---|---|
| The application has a connector and the operation has an activity | Connector activity |
| The application has a connector but not this operation | The connector's HTTP Request activity, reusing its connection |
| The application has no connector, but a REST API | Connector Builder to build one, or a plain HTTP Request activity with your own authentication |
| A fast, headless sequence of API calls | An API workflow in Studio Web |
| React to events in the application | Integration Service triggers |
Common Traps
- A connection belongs to a folder; it is not global to the tenant.
- Do not put personal-account connections in shared folders.
- Environment differences belong in connections chosen through Package Requirements, not in duplicated workflows.
- Private (Relay) works only for HTTP-based connectors.
A team needs its Salesforce automation to use a test org in the Test folder and the production org in the Prod folder, without changing the workflow. What is the recommended setup?
Duplicate the workflow and hard-code a different connection in each copy.
Store the Salesforce password in a Text asset and log in through the browser.
Create a named connection per environment in each folder and choose the connection for the process on the Package Requirements tab in Orchestrator.
Use one connection in the tenant root and switch its credentials before each run.
A connector has no activity for a specific API endpoint the automation needs. What is the simplest option that reuses the existing connection?
The connector's HTTP Request activity, which calls the vendor API with the connection's authentication.
A new Connector Builder connector for the same application.
A browser automation that clicks through the vendor's web UI.
An Invoke Code activity that implements OAuth manually.
Where does UiPath recommend creating a connection that is authenticated with an employee's personal account?
In a shared folder, so the whole team can reuse it.
In the tenant's Integration Service settings, so it is global.
In the Default folder, because it has no permissions.
In that person's Personal Workspace; shared folders should hold connections authenticated with service accounts.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.