(v7) Get Started with the SDK

Get Started with the SDK

The Composer Software Development Kit (SDK) is a set of tools to help software developers extend Composer's capabilities and embed them into custom and third-party applications. It is intended for use by software developers. Be sure to read Composer REST API Overview as well as the following topics.

The Composer SDK is deprecated, and not supported in later versions of Composer.

Logi Analytics recommends using Trusted Access for all embed-related workflows.

• What Can I Do with the SDK?
• What's in the Box?
• What Do I Need to Get Started?
• Where Do I Begin?

What Can I Do with the SDK?

The Composer SDK allows you to extend and embed Composer's data analytics server to fit your own particular needs. You can:

• Use Composer data in your own web application
• Embed a Composer visual in your own web application
• Create a custom chart to use in Composer or your own web application
• Use Composer administrative controls in your own application
• Use Trusted Access to secure your application's use of Composer

What's in the Box?

The Composer SDK is a toolkit for extending Composer's native capabilities and for embedding Composer analytics in your own application. It includes:

• JavaScript client (the application framework) - to query data and embed visuals from Composer in a custom web application
• REST APIs - to programmatically manage Composer's administrative features, including sources, groups and users, security, and more.
• Visualization Framework - to add new visuals to Composer gallery
• Samples - working code to help you see the various APIs in action
• How-to guides - to provide steps for different common tasks
• Reference documentation - for easily looking up various object definitions and methods.

What Do I Need to Get Started?

The Composer SDK is a toolkit to augment your own skills and tools as you build your own applications and extend Composer itself. To get started, you need:

• access to a Composer server
• administrative access to one or more accounts on the server, or ideally supervisor access to the server itself
• some data
• competence with JavaScript and web development principles, if you want to use Composer's client library or visualization framework
• an understanding of REST APIs and web asynchronous processes, if you intend to use Composer's REST APIs

Where Do I Begin?

How you get started with Composer depends upon what you want to do.

I want to...	Description
customize the way the Composer app looks: the login screen, the logo, and so on.	You do not need the SDK to make customizations to the Composer application. For information about customizing the look and feel of the Composer app, see White Label the Composer Interface.
create dashboards of visuals.	You do not need the SDK to create dashboards of Composer visuals. For information about creating dashboards in the Composer application, see Manage Dashboards .
add a new visual to the Composer gallery of visuals.	The Composer SDK includes a JavaScript framework for creating or importing visuals and adding them to those provided by Composer. For more information, see Maintain Custom Charts Using the Custom Chart CLI .
modify an existing Composer visual's functionality.	The Composer SDK includes templates for its visuals. You can create a new visual from one of these templates and modify the template to your own specifications. For more information, see Maintain Custom Charts Using the Custom Chart CLI .
embed a visual in my own custom web application.	The SDK includes a JavaScript client library that allows you to embed a visual in your web app. For more information, see Embed a Visual in Your Webpage . Logi Analytics recommends using Trusted Access for all embed-related workflows.
use data from Composer in my own custom web application.	The SDK includes a JavaScript client library that allows you to use data from Composer in your web app. For more information, see Use a Data Query.
manage Composer users, accounts, data sources, etc., in my own custom application or script.	The SDK includes a large number of REST methods that allow you administer the metadata of your Composer server in your own application or using cURL or a REST client. For more information, see Composer REST API Overview .
use Trusted Access to securely access Composer functionality in my own application.	For more information, see Trusted Access.