REST connection

rest

A REST connection is a connection to a REST api that can be reused from transforms like the REST client.

The REST connection is a generic purpose metadata item. A transform or action that uses a REST connection can override its properties when required.

Related Plugins

REST client

Options

Option	Description
Name	The name to be used for this REST connection
Base URL	The URL to use as the base URL for any API calls. The base URL will need to be appended from client transforms or actions that use it to make detailed API calls.
Test URL	A full URL that can be used to test this REST connection. If no test URL is specified, the base URL will be used to perform connection tests.
Authentication type	Select how Hop should authenticate when this metadata is used. The available choices are described below.

Option

Description

Name

The name to be used for this REST connection

Base URL

The URL to use as the base URL for any API calls. The base URL will need to be appended from client transforms or actions that use it to make detailed API calls.

Test URL

A full URL that can be used to test this REST connection. If no test URL is specified, the base URL will be used to perform connection tests.

Authentication type

Select how Hop should authenticate when this metadata is used. The available choices are described below.

Use environment variables or Hop variables (for example ${PROJECT_HOME}) in any text box. The connection resolves variables when the metadata is loaded, so the same definition can be reused from pipelines, workflows, and the Hop GUI test button.

Authentication

Type Fields Description

Type	Fields	Description
No Auth	—	No authentication headers are generated. Useful for public endpoints or when a downstream transform sets headers manually.
API Key	Authorization header name, Authorization prefix (optional), Authorization value	Adds a header such as `Authorization: Bearer <token>` or any other custom header. Prefix is concatenated with the value when present.
Basic	Username, Password	Registers HTTP Basic authentication with the Jersey client. Passwords can be stored encrypted.
Bearer	Bearer token	Adds an `Authorization: Bearer <token>` header automatically.
Certificate	Configured through the SSL / Client Certificate options below	Enables mutual TLS (mTLS) by loading the specified key store.

No Auth

—

No authentication headers are generated. Useful for public endpoints or when a downstream transform sets headers manually.

API Key

Authorization header name, Authorization prefix (optional), Authorization value

Adds a header such as Authorization: Bearer <token> or any other custom header. Prefix is concatenated with the value when present.

Basic

Username, Password

Registers HTTP Basic authentication with the Jersey client. Passwords can be stored encrypted.

Bearer

Bearer token

Adds an Authorization: Bearer <token> header automatically.

Certificate

Configured through the SSL / Client Certificate options below

Enables mutual TLS (mTLS) by loading the specified key store.

SSL and client certificates

Option Description

Option	Description
Trust store file	Path to a trust store (JKS or PKCS12) that contains server CA certificates. Leave empty to use the JVM default trust store. When `Ignore SSL errors` is enabled Hop installs a trust-all manager instead.
Trust store password	Password for the trust store file. Supports variable substitution and encrypted values.
Ignore SSL errors	If selected, Hop trusts all certificates and skips hostname verification. This should only be used in development or test environments.
Key store file	Path to the client key store used for certificate authentication. PKCS12 (`.p12`, `.pfx`) and JKS files are supported.
Key store password	Password for the key store.
Key store type	Explicitly choose `PKCS12` or `JKS`. Defaults to PKCS12 when not specified.
Key password	Optional password that protects a private key entry inside the key store. Falls back to the key store password when left empty.
Certificate alias	Optional alias to pick a specific certificate inside the key store. Leave empty to use the default entry.

Trust store file

Path to a trust store (JKS or PKCS12) that contains server CA certificates. Leave empty to use the JVM default trust store. When Ignore SSL errors is enabled Hop installs a trust-all manager instead.

Trust store password

Password for the trust store file. Supports variable substitution and encrypted values.

Ignore SSL errors

If selected, Hop trusts all certificates and skips hostname verification. This should only be used in development or test environments.

Key store file

Path to the client key store used for certificate authentication. PKCS12 (.p12, .pfx) and JKS files are supported.

Key store password

Password for the key store.

Key store type

Explicitly choose PKCS12 or JKS. Defaults to PKCS12 when not specified.

Key password

Optional password that protects a private key entry inside the key store. Falls back to the key store password when left empty.

Certificate alias

Optional alias to pick a specific certificate inside the key store. Leave empty to use the default entry.

Use the Test button to validate the selected authentication method and SSL settings against the test or base URL. The dialog resolves variables before running the test so it matches pipeline execution.

Pagination

The Pagination tab defines how the REST client transform advances through paged API responses when pagination is enabled on the transform.

Pagination is configured on the connection; the REST client reads these settings and performs the HTTP loop. When the connection pagination strategy is NONE, the REST client performs a single request per incoming row (legacy behaviour).

Option Description

Option	Description
Pagination strategy	How Hop obtains the next page. See the strategies below. Default is `NONE`.
Page / cursor query parameter name	Query parameter name for `PAGE_NUMBER` or `CURSOR` paging (for example `page` or `cursor`). Ignored by `OFFSET_LIMIT` and `LINK_HEADER`.
Offset query parameter name	Query parameter for the starting index in `OFFSET_LIMIT` paging. Defaults to `offset` when blank.
Limit query parameter name	Query parameter for the batch size in `OFFSET_LIMIT` paging. Defaults to `limit` when blank.
Default batch size	Page size sent with `OFFSET_LIMIT` paging. When `0`, Hop falls back to an internal default (100).
Cursor JsonPath	JsonPath expression against a JSON response body to read the next cursor token (`CURSOR` + JSON application type).
Cursor XPath	XPath expression against an XML response body to read the next cursor token (`CURSOR` + XML application type).

Pagination strategy

How Hop obtains the next page. See the strategies below. Default is NONE.

Page / cursor query parameter name

Query parameter name for PAGE_NUMBER or CURSOR paging (for example page or cursor). Ignored by OFFSET_LIMIT and LINK_HEADER.

Offset query parameter name

Query parameter for the starting index in OFFSET_LIMIT paging. Defaults to offset when blank.

Limit query parameter name

Query parameter for the batch size in OFFSET_LIMIT paging. Defaults to limit when blank.

Default batch size

Page size sent with OFFSET_LIMIT paging. When 0, Hop falls back to an internal default (100).

Cursor JsonPath

JsonPath expression against a JSON response body to read the next cursor token (CURSOR + JSON application type).

Cursor XPath

XPath expression against an XML response body to read the next cursor token (CURSOR + XML application type).

Pagination strategies

Strategy How the next page is determined

Strategy	How the next page is determined
`NONE`	No pagination metadata is applied. Use this for single-request APIs.
`LINK_HEADER`	Follows the RFC 5988 `Link` response header: Hop requests the bracketed URI whose `rel` relation includes `next`. GitHub, Shopify, and similar APIs use this style. Hop stops when no `next` link is present or when the same URL would be requested again (cycle guard).
`OFFSET_LIMIT`	Adds offset/limit (or custom-named) query parameters. After each successful non-empty page, the offset increases by the batch size. An empty page ends the loop.
`PAGE_NUMBER`	Adds a page query parameter starting at `1` and increments it after each successful non-empty page. An empty page ends the loop.
`CURSOR`	Adds a cursor query parameter on follow-up requests. The token is extracted from the previous response with JsonPath (JSON) or XPath (XML). An empty page or missing next token ends the loop.

NONE

No pagination metadata is applied. Use this for single-request APIs.

LINK_HEADER

Follows the RFC 5988 Link response header: Hop requests the bracketed URI whose rel relation includes next. GitHub, Shopify, and similar APIs use this style. Hop stops when no next link is present or when the same URL would be requested again (cycle guard).

OFFSET_LIMIT

Adds offset/limit (or custom-named) query parameters. After each successful non-empty page, the offset increases by the batch size. An empty page ends the loop.

PAGE_NUMBER

Adds a page query parameter starting at 1 and increments it after each successful non-empty page. An empty page ends the loop.

CURSOR

Adds a cursor query parameter on follow-up requests. The token is extracted from the previous response with JsonPath (JSON) or XPath (XML). An empty page or missing next token ends the loop.

For LINK_HEADER, the path on the REST client transform is still relative to Base URL on the first request. Subsequent requests use the absolute URL from the next link as returned by the API.

Samples

github-releases.json — public GitHub API, LINK_HEADER pagination (used by rest-client-github-releases-loop.hpl in the REST transform samples project).