The Kiln API is a middleware service within the BC Government Social Sector Forms Foundry ecosystem. It facilitates interactions between the ICM frontend, the Kiln form renderer, and the Communications Layer, enabling dynamic viewing, editing, and rendering of forms for business processes.
- Purpose: Acts as a backend gateway for form-related requests, providing form templates and initial form data from the ICM Siebel REST API via the Communications Layer.
- Main Responsibilities:
- Serves the ICM frontend for viewing and editing forms.
- Retrieves and binds form templates and data for rendering using Kiln.
- Communicates with the Forms Foundry Communications Layer to fetch form templates and integrate ICM data.
- Supports PDF generation from form data and templates.
- ICM Frontend: Users interact with forms via the ICM Siebel application frontend.
- Kiln API: Receives requests to view/edit forms, loads templates (via Klamm[https://github.com/bcgov/klamm]) and data, integrates with Communications Layer and ICM Siebel REST API.
- Kiln Renderer: Binds templates and initial data, renders forms for editing.
- Communications Layer: Centralized service for form templates and ICM data.
| Endpoint | Method | Description |
|---|---|---|
/api/view |
GET | Returns form data/template for view-only mode |
/api/edit |
GET | Returns form data/template for editing |
/api/pdfRender/:templateId |
POST | Generates a PDF from form data and a given template |
/api/generatePDFFromJson |
POST | Generates a PDF from provided JSON data |
/api/generateNewTemplate |
POST | Creates a new form template |
/api/loadPortalForm |
POST | Loads a portal form with associated data |
/api/examples |
GET | Example endpoints for testing/development |
Additional CRUD and health check endpoints are provided for service monitoring and integration.
- Node.js v20+
- npm
npm installDevelopment mode:
npm run devOr debug:
npm run dev:debugProduction mode:
npm run compile
npm startRun Mocha unit tests:
npm testOr debug tests:
npm run test:debugVisit http://localhost:3000/api-explorer/ for interactive API documentation (Swagger UI).
A multi-stage Dockerfile is provided for building and deploying the API in containerized environments (such as OpenShift).
Helm charts are included in the helm/ directory for Kubernetes deployments. Custom labels and naming conventions are supported for SDPR platform compliance.
server/routes.ts: Configures all API routes and handlers.server/api/controllers/*.ts: Implements endpoint logic.server/api/services/icm.client.ts,icm.service.ts: Encapsulates integration with ICM Siebel REST API and Communications Layer.server/common/api.yaml: OpenAPI specification for validation and documentation.
To add or modify endpoints:
- Update route mappings in
server/routes.ts. - Implement business logic in the relevant controller/service files.
- Adjust OpenAPI spec in
server/common/api.yamlfor validation and documentation.
The following environment variables are required for integration:
COMM_API_PDFTEMPLATE_ENDPOINT_URL: URL for PDF template rendering.COMM_API_TIMEOUT: Timeout for Communications Layer requests.
Refer to deployment documentation for additional configuration options.