Bulk Operations

Bulk operations in SCIM allow clients to send multiple requests to the server in a single HTTP request. This can significantly reduce the number of HTTP round trips required to perform multiple operations, making it more efficient.

A typical bulk operation request contains an array of operations to be performed. Each operation specifies a method (such as POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE), a path (if applicable), and the data for the operation.

Create User, Create Group and Assign User to Group

Here's an example of how a bulk request can create a user, a group, and assign the user to the group. Note the use of bulkId.

After invoking this request you may want to check the result here.

GETPOSTPATCHPUTDELETE

{
  "schemas": [
    "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:BulkRequest"
  ],
  "Operations": [
    {
      "method": "POST",
      "path": "/Users",
      "bulkId": "mscott",
      "data": {
        "schemas": [
          "urn:ietf:params:scim:schemas:core:2.0:User"
        ],
        "externalId": "mscott",
        "name": {
          "formatted": "Mr. Michael Scott",
          "familyName": "Scott",
          "givenName": "Michael"
        },
        "emails": [
          {
            "value": "michael.scott@example.com"
          }
        ],
        "userName": "mscott"
      }
    },
    {
      "method": "POST",
      "path": "/Groups",
      "bulkId": "directors",
      "data": {
        "schemas": [
          "urn:ietf:params:scim:schemas:core:2.0:Group"
        ],
        "displayName": "Directors"
      }
    },
    {
      "method": "PATCH",
      "path": "/Groups/bulkId:directors",
      "data": {
        "schemas": [
          "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:PatchOp"
        ],
        "Operations": [
          {
            "op": "add",
            "path": "members",
            "value": [
              {
                "value": "bulkId:mscott"
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

{ "schemas": [ "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:BulkRequest" ], "Operations": [ { "method": "POST", "path": "/Users", "bulkId": "mscott", "data": { "schemas": [ "urn:ietf:params:scim:schemas:core:2.0:User" ], "externalId": "mscott", "name": { "formatted": "Mr. Michael Scott", "familyName": "Scott", "givenName": "Michael" }, "emails": [ { "value": "michael.scott@example.com" } ], "userName": "mscott" } }, { "method": "POST", "path": "/Groups", "bulkId": "directors", "data": { "schemas": [ "urn:ietf:params:scim:schemas:core:2.0:Group" ], "displayName": "Directors" } }, { "method": "PATCH", "path": "/Groups/bulkId:directors", "data": { "schemas": [ "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:PatchOp" ], "Operations": [ { "op": "add", "path": "members", "value": [ { "value": "bulkId:mscott" } ] } ] } } ] }

Create User and Assign Group

There may be instances where you need to assign groups to users at the time of their creation. This can be efficiently achieved in a single request. Pay particular attention to the usage of bulkId and bulkId:sdoe in the following example.

GETPOSTPATCHPUTDELETE

Fill placeholders

{
  "schemas": [
    "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:BulkRequest"
  ],
  "Operations": [
    {
      "method": "POST",
      "path": "/Users",
      "bulkId": "sdoe",
      "data": {
        "schemas": [
          "urn:ietf:params:scim:schemas:core:2.0:User"
        ],
        "externalId": "sdoe",
        "name": {
          "formatted": "Mrs. Sandra Doe",
          "familyName": "Doe",
          "givenName": "Sandra"
        },
        "emails": [
          {
            "value": "sandra.doe@example.com"
          }
        ],
        "userName": "sdoe"
      }
    },
    {
      "method": "PATCH",
      "path": "/Groups/{GROUP_ID}",
      "data": {
        "schemas": [
          "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:PatchOp"
        ],
        "Operations": [
          {
            "op": "add",
            "path": "members",
            "value": [
              {
                "value": "bulkId:sdoe"
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

{ "schemas": [ "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:BulkRequest" ], "Operations": [ { "method": "POST", "path": "/Users", "bulkId": "sdoe", "data": { "schemas": [ "urn:ietf:params:scim:schemas:core:2.0:User" ], "externalId": "sdoe", "name": { "formatted": "Mrs. Sandra Doe", "familyName": "Doe", "givenName": "Sandra" }, "emails": [ { "value": "sandra.doe@example.com" } ], "userName": "sdoe" } }, { "method": "PATCH", "path": "/Groups/{GROUP_ID}", "data": { "schemas": [ "urn:ietf:params:scim:api:messages:2.0:PatchOp" ], "Operations": [ { "op": "add", "path": "members", "value": [ { "value": "bulkId:sdoe" } ] } ] } } ] }

Asynchronous Processing in SCIM

In cases of bulk requests, asynchronous processing may be preferable.

The core SCIM protocol specification does not currently support asynchronous processing. However, a draft profile, SCIM Profile for Security Event Tokens, introduces a way to enable this. It allows clients to request asynchronous processing by using the Prefer: Async-response HTTP header. Servers can then acknowledge this request by returning an HTTP status of 202 Accepted.

At present, this functionality is not supported by SCIM Playground.