Tracecat has a tool that converts OpenAPI 3.0 specifications into action templates. This utility allows you to quickly generate HTTP actions for any API that has an OpenAPI (formerly Swagger) specification, making integration with external services easier and more consistent.

Support Notice

The generator currently only supports OpenAPI Specification (OAS) 3.0. If you need to generate templates from OpenAPI 2.0 (Swagger) or OAS 3.1 specifications, please reach out to the Tracecat support team via our Discord channel.

Overview

The generator creates a template action for each operation defined in an OpenAPI specification. Each generated action includes:

  • Appropriate input schemas based on API parameters
  • HTTP request steps with proper configuration
  • Documentation links from the OpenAPI spec
  • Authentication configuration

Getting Started

To use the OpenAPI to Action Generator, you’ll need:

  1. An OpenAPI 3.0 specification file (JSON or YAML format)
  2. Python 3.12 or later
  3. The Tracecat package installed

Basic Usage

Run the generator script with the following command:

uv run scripts/openapi_to_template.py --input <path-to-openapi-spec> --output-dir <output-directory>

For example:

uv run scripts/openapi_to_template.py --input api-specs/petstore.json --output-dir generated_templates/petstore

This will process the OpenAPI specification and generate action template YAML files in the specified output directory.

Configuration

For more advanced control over the generation process, you can provide a configuration file using the --config parameter:

uv run scripts/openapi_to_template.py --input api-specs/petstore.json --output-dir generated_templates/petstore --config my-config.yaml

Configuration Options

The configuration file follows this structure:

# Control which endpoints to process
endpoints:
  include:
    like:
      - "/pet/{petId}*" # Glob patterns for paths to include
    exact:
      - "/pet/123" # Exact path matches
  exclude:
    like:
      - "/store/*" # Glob patterns for paths to exclude
    exact:
      - "/store/order/1" # Exact path matches to exclude

# Override default action definition values
definition_overrides:
  # NOTE: Namespace will be used as a prefix, not an override
  namespace: "the.pet.store" # Namespace for the actions

  # Everything else acts as an override
  display_group: "PetStore" # Group name in the Tracecat UI
  author: "OpenAPI Generator" # Author name
  doc_url_prefix: "https://petstore.swagger.io/docs" # Prefix for documentation URLs
  name: "delete_pet" # Override action name (use with caution)
  title: "Deletes a pet" # Override action title
  description: "HTTP DELETE request to /pet/{petId}" # Override description
  doc_url: "https://petstore.swagger.io/v2" # Override documentation URL
  deprecated: "This action is deprecated." # Deprecation message

# Authentication configuration
auth:
  secrets:
    - name: "petstore" # Secret name
      keys: ["API_KEY"] # Required keys for the secret
  injection:
    args:
      headers:
        Authorization: "ApiKey ${{ SECRETS.petstore.API_KEY }}"
      params:
        api_key: "${{ SECRETS.petstore.API_KEY }}"
  expects:
    api_key:
      type: "str"
      description: "API key for authentication"
      default: null

# Output organization
use_namespace_directories: true # Create subdirectories based on action namespace

Configuration Details

Endpoints Filtering

Use the endpoints section to control which API endpoints are processed:

  • include.like: Glob patterns to include paths (e.g., /users/*)
  • include.exact: Exact paths to include (e.g., /users/profile)
  • exclude.like: Glob patterns to exclude paths (e.g., /internal/*)
  • exclude.exact: Exact paths to exclude (e.g., /users/admin)

Definition Overrides

The definition_overrides section allows you to customize the generated action definitions. The supported fields are:

  • display_group: Sets the display group for the action (e.g., “PetStore”)
  • namespace: Sets the namespace for the action (e.g., “the.pet.store”)
  • author: Sets the author of the action (e.g., “OpenAPI Generator”)
  • doc_url_prefix: Sets a prefix for documentation URLs (e.g., “https://petstore.swagger.io/docs”)
  • name: Overrides the action name (e.g., “delete_pet”)
  • title: Overrides the action title (e.g., “Deletes a pet”)
  • description: Overrides the action description (e.g., “HTTP DELETE request to /pet/”)
  • doc_url: Overrides the documentation URL (e.g., “https://petstore.swagger.io/v2”)
  • deprecated: Sets a deprecation message or flag (e.g., “This action is deprecated.”)

The generator also supports additional custom fields that will be passed through to the template definition.

Authentication

The auth section configures authentication for the generated actions:

  • secrets: Defines required secrets with name and keys
  • injection: Specifies how to inject authentication into requests via headers or query parameters
  • expects: Defines expected input fields for authentication

Output Organization

The use_namespace_directories option controls how the generated files are organized:

  • When true (default): Creates subdirectories based on the action namespace (e.g., api/pets/action.yml)
  • When false: Places all actions directly in the output directory

Example generated template

type: action
definition:
  name: add_comment
  namespace: api.issue_comments
  title: Add comment
  description: |
    Adds a comment to an issue.

    This operation can be accessed anonymously.

    **[Permissions](#permissions) required:**

    *  *Browse projects* and *Add comments* [project permission](https://confluence.atlassian.com/x/yodKLg) for
    the project that the issue containing the comment is in.
    *  If [issue-level security](https://confluence.atlassian.com/x/J4lKLg) is configured, issue-level
    security permission to view the issue.
  author: OpenAPI Generator
  display_group: Issue comments
  doc_url: null
  deprecated: null
  secrets: null
  expects:
    base_url:
      type: str
      description: Base URL for the The Jira Cloud platform REST API
      default: null
    auth_header:
      type: str
      description: Authorization header value (e.g., 'Bearer token123')
      default: null
    issueIdOrKey:
      type: str
      description: The ID or key of the issue.
      default: null
    expand:
      type: str
      description:
        Use [expand](#expansion) to include additional information about
        comments in the response. This parameter accepts `renderedBody`, which returns
        the comment body rendered in HTML.
      default: null
    body:
      type: dict[str, any]
      description: Request body
      default: null
  steps:
    - ref: http_call
      action: core.http_request
      args:
        method: POST
        url: ${{ inputs.base_url }}/rest/api/3/issue/${{ inputs.issueIdOrKey }}/comment
        params:
          expand: ${{ inputs.expand }}
        headers:
          Authorization: ${{ inputs.auth_header }}
        json: ${{ inputs.body }}
  returns: ${{ steps.http_call.result }}