About ADP
ADP is one of the largest providers of payroll, HR, tax, and benefits administration software, serving organizations through platforms such as ADP Workforce Now, Vantage HCM, GlobalView, and RUN. Connecting ADP to Serval lets your team query worker data and automate employee-lifecycle and payroll-adjacent workflows against ADP’s REST APIs.The ADP integration is in beta. Your ADP administrator controls which ADP products and data your connection can access.
What the ADP integration enables
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Worker data access | Read worker and HR data your ADP API client is allowed to access |
| Workflow automation | Use approved ADP data in Serval workflows |
ADP permissions are managed in ADP, not in Serval. If a workflow cannot read the data you expect, ask your ADP administrator or representative to confirm the right ADP products and data permissions are enabled.
How ADP authentication works
ADP uses a secure app-to-app authentication flow. To connect ADP to Serval, you provide the credentials and certificate material for an ADP API client that your organization controls. Serval stores secret values encrypted and uses them to authenticate with ADP when workflows run. You do not need to handle ADP access tokens yourself. Connecting ADP to Serval requires these values:| Credential | What it is |
|---|---|
| Client ID | The identifier of your ADP API client |
| Client Secret | The secret paired with the Client ID |
| Client Certificate | The certificate ADP issued or registered for this API client |
| Private Key | The private key matching that certificate |
| Region | The ADP region for your organization |
ADP configuration
Prerequisites
- An ADP product with API access (for example ADP Workforce Now, Vantage HCM, or GlobalView)
- Either ADP’s self-service API administration product or an ADP representative who can provision a custom API integration for you
- Administrator access to API Central, if you’re using the self-service path
Step 1: Get a Client ID and Client Secret
If your organization uses ADP API Central: sign in, create or open the API project for this integration, and copy its generated Client ID and Client Secret. If not: your ADP representative can provision an API client for a custom integration and deliver the Client ID and Client Secret to you.Step 2: Get the certificate and private key
ADP issues or registers a certificate for each API client. There are two common ways to obtain one:- Generate it in ADP API Central. API Central can create the certificate and key pair for you.
- Bring your own key. Generate a key pair yourself, submit the request to ADP through your usual ADP process, and ADP returns the signed certificate. You keep the private key.
Track the certificate expiry date. When the certificate expires or is rotated, update the ADP connection in Serval.
Step 3: Confirm your region and enabled APIs
Confirm which ADP region your organization uses and which ADP products or data sets should be available to Serval.Serval configuration
Enter your credentials
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Client ID | Yes | The Client ID of your ADP API client |
| Client Secret | Yes | The Client Secret paired with the Client ID |
| Client Certificate | Yes | The certificate ADP issued or registered for this API client |
| Private Key | Yes | The private key matching the certificate |
| CA Bundle | No | Optional certificate authority bundle, if your ADP setup requires one |
| Region | Yes | Your organization’s ADP region |
Save and validate
Click Save. Before storing anything, Serval:
- Checks that the certificate and private key are usable together
- Verifies that ADP accepts the connection
After connecting, run the built-in health check to confirm Serval can read ADP data available to this connection.
Using ADP in workflows
Once connected, workflows can use the ADP API request action to read from ADP APIs that your ADP client is allowed to access. Use the ADP documentation available to your organization to choose the right request for your workflow.Troubleshooting
”The certificate or private key could not be parsed”
- Paste the complete certificate and private key values from ADP
- Make sure the private key matches the certificate
- Avoid stray characters or lost line breaks introduced by copy/paste
”ADP rejected the credentials”
- Verify the Client ID and Client Secret are correct and belong to the same API client
- Verify the certificate is the one ADP issued or registered for this API client
- Check whether the certificate has expired
- Confirm you selected the correct region
Health check fails after a successful connect
Edit and save the connection to re-validate the credentials. If the connection saves successfully but the health check still fails, ask your ADP administrator to confirm this API client has access to the data Serval is trying to read.Rotating or renewing the certificate
- Generate a new certificate and key in ADP API Central, or ask your ADP representative to issue updated certificate material
- In Serval, open the ADP connection and edit it
- Paste the new Client Certificate and Private Key. Fields you leave untouched keep their stored values, so you don’t need to re-enter the Client ID or Client Secret
- Save. Serval re-validates the new material before storing it
The optional CA bundle can be replaced on edit but not cleared. To remove a CA bundle entirely, disconnect and reconnect the integration.
Need help? Contact support@serval.com for assistance with your ADP integration.