Limitations and Known Issues

There are known issues and limitations with the import and use of Nintex Xtensions.

OpenAPI Specification support

Nintex Xtensions supports a subset of the OpenAPI Specification:

• Nintex Xtensions currently supports OpenAPI Specification 2.0 only.

• Creating start events with Xtension is not yet available.
• Xtensions cannot deliver arrays or collections of JSON objects as parameters.
• If an API returns an array or collection of JSON objects, the array must be assigned to a collection variable within the workflow. Configuration fields are not generated for the individual objects in the array.
• Xtensions can only accept or deliver data as:
  • application/json
  • multipart/form-data (upload only)
  • application/octet-stream

  Note: Serverless functions can be created to pre-process parameters and payloads between Nintex Automation Cloud and the API.

• OpenAPI Specifications must contain only one authentication type per specification file. If you need to use different authentication types for different operations with an API, create a separate Xtension for each authentication type you need.
• Connections to local services such as intranets are not supported.

Supported authentication types

The following authentication types are supported:

• No authentication
• Basic authentication
• API key authentication
• Oauth2 authentication
  Note: Nintex Automation Cloud supports access flow and application (client credentials) flow.

If you are creating an Xtension for an on-premises application, we recommend using Nintex Gateway to handle secure connections. If you are not using Nintex Gateway, you may need to configure your firewall to allow IP addresses related to Xtensions and Nintex Automation Cloud. See the Nintex platform allowlist.

File imports and file names

All files imported into Nintex Automation Cloud are stored in the default file storage.

Files sent from Nintex Automation Cloud are sent using the header Transfer-Encoding: chunked, with no Content-Length header, in accordance with the HTTP spec.

When importing files into your workflow:

• Using streaming, Nintex Automation Cloud attempts to guess the file name and extension using:
  • The content-disposition value in the header, if available.
  • The URL path of the endpoint, if it contains a file extension. For example, https://example/com/readme.txt.
  • The URL path of the endpoint and the content-type header, if the URL does not contain a file extension.

  If no file name can be determined, the file is stored using a GUID as the file name, with no file extension.

• Using x-ntx-file-reference or base64 encoding, the files are stored in the default file storage as a GUID, with no file extension.

If you want to use these files outside of the workflow (for example, by emailing them):  

1. Save the file to a Connector (an external file share service such as Box or Dropbox Business).
2. Set a variable value to use the file stored in the file sharing service.
3. Use that variable to send the file outside the workflow.

See Download base64 files.

Using Xtensions in Nintex Automation Cloud

The following are known issues when using Xtensions in Nintex Automation Cloud:

• When editing or deleting Xtensions, the actions of Xtensions are not updated or removed from workflows where they have been used. These actions must be removed and reconfigured for each workflow in the Workflow designer. See Edit an Xtension.
• In the workflow designer, after deleting a Xtension, adding the same Xtension back onto the design canvas will repopulate it with the previous configuration.
• If a connection is deleted or not authorized, workflows using that connection will terminate with an error message in the instance.

• If you are importing an OpenAPI Specification written by a third party, ensure that it is less than 1Mb, and that it is a valid OpenAPI specification according to editor.swagger.io. This applies to OpenAPI Specifications imported by URL and uploaded as JSON.

Last updated: Wednesday, December 11, 2024, 1:45:12 PM