This article covers information on how to get started with QBL (Quickbase language) and the Solution APIs.
In this article
Introduction
Together, QBL and Solution APIs make advanced application lifecycle management (ALM) for your Quickbase apps possible. Use the Solution APIs to export textual representations of your applications. Then, manage your apps according to the processes already set up in your organization.
Requirements
- The Solutions APIs must be turned on by a realm admin on the Permissions page in the admin console.
- QBL and Solution APIs are included for Enterprise plan customers, with no limits. Business plan customers have access to test up to 150 API calls across the Solution API endpoints until the end of 2024 as a limited trial version. This limit will be refreshed with every new QBL version release. Starting January 2025, only Enterprise customers will have access to the Solution APIs.
Core concepts
To get started programmatically managing your Quickbase solutions, you’ll need to understand how QBL and the Solution APIs work together.
Solutions
The Quickbase UI allows you to create solutions to manage a collection of apps and pipelines. You must add your Quickbase apps to a solution to export, create, and update them using the Solution APIs.
Note: Pipelines are not supported by QBL and the Solution APIs at this time. If pipelines are part of your solution, Solution API operations will not impact them.
QBL
QBL (Quickbase language) is a domain-specific language that describes Quickbase schema that platform users build and configure while creating apps in solutions. It is not the source code of a solution—rather it represents the structures and settings users create on the Quickbase platform UI.
Visit QBL definition, structure, and syntax to learn about how the language is designed.
Solution APIs
Solution APIs are a collection of endpoints that allow you to obtain and use the QBL definitions for Quickbase solutions. You can use Solution APIs to:
- Export the QBL for a given Quickbase solution
- Create a new Solution by providing a QBL definition for the schema
- Update Solutions on the platform to match the schema in a provided QBL definition
- List changes to see how QBL would impact a solution if it was applied
You can also use Solution APIs to export, create, update and list changes from a record. This set of APIs allows you to export QBL to a new record in a Quickbase table where it is saved as a file attachment. You can use the QBL saved in this record to create new solutions, update solutions, or list changes that would occur if applied to a solution.
Learn more about using these endpoints on the Solution APIs help page.
Note: Solution APIs do not impact your data, meaning you will not see data from your apps in the exported QBL. The only scenario that may impact data is if you are deleting fields or tables when updating a Solution–this will result in deleting the schema and data.
Impact on user and integration reads
The Solution APIs do not directly impact user and integration reads. However, the apps modified or created by the API may product reads if a user performs one of the actions listed in this article.
Access the Solution APIs
There are multiple options for using or testing the Solution APIs:
- Use the Quickbase developer portal
- Invoke the Solution APIs through Pipelines Webhooks channel
- Use any API testing service such as Postman, Insomnia, Apigee, etc.
- Use any API integration with an external software
Supported Quickbase features
We are continuing to build QBL to provide full schema coverage for Quickbase apps and Pipelines. To understand what schema are currently supported for each version of QBL, visit the overview page for each version.
Coming soon: We are prioritizing delivering support for reports, forms (including legacy forms), pipelines, and Quickbase sync.
If your solution contains schema objects that are not yet supported by QBL, the solutions API will not remove these objects from the target solution. Visit Solution APIs to understand how each API handles unsupported schema.
Additional resources
If you are interested in the benefits of QBL and the Solution APIs but aren’t sure how to get started or have limited experience with APIs, contact your account team. Quickbase provides services that can set up a tailored, user-friendly, and familiar Quickbase experience for you that leverages QBL and Solution APIs. Learn more about application lifecycle management with Solution APIs.