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What keeps an integration running
← Integrations
Building is the easy part. An integration that only works when everything goes well is not an integration. The difference is in error handling, logging and monitoring — and in who gets called when a certificate expires or a password changes.
The four parts
- Error handling
- A record that does not add up is set aside and reported; the rest carries on. Halting at the first deviation costs more work than it saves.
- Logging
- Afterwards it must be visible per record and per run what was processed and what was not. Without a log every discussion is unresolvable.
- Monitoring
- An integration doing nothing goes unnoticed — until the month-end close. Alerting on absence matters as much as alerting on errors.
- Repeatability
- A run has to be repeatable without creating duplicate entries.
What goes wrong in practice
- Expired certificates
- The classic cause of an integration stopping on a Saturday. Expiry dates belong under monitoring.
- Changed passwords
- An account change on the other side brings everything to a halt. Prefer keys or service tokens.
- A package update
- Fields change, new mandatory data appears. Sticking to the interface limits the damage.
- Unexpected data
- An empty postcode, a negative amount, a duplicate line. The integration should report those, not process them blindly.
We keep an eye on the integrations we build, so you do not find out through an empty ledger.
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