Understanding the Autodesk Application and Integration Process

1. Introduction

CDEAdminTools connects directly with Autodesk Platform Services (APS) to read and synchronize data from your Autodesk projects.
To enable this connection, each customer must create their own Autodesk custom application and integrate it into their Autodesk account.

This article explains what this integration is, why it is required, and provides references to the full setup guides.
It is not intended as a step-by-step tutorial—those instructions are available in the onboarding article and the guided Scribe tours.

2. What Is the Autodesk Custom Application?

Autodesk Platform Services (formerly Forge) allows external applications—such as CDEAdminTools—to securely access project data through APIs.

To ensure security and isolation, Autodesk requires each organization to create its own Custom Integration (App).
This app generates:

• Client ID

• Client Secret

These two credentials uniquely identify your organization and authorize CDEAdminTools to interact with your Autodesk environment.

Think of them as a secure “key pair” that allows the two systems to communicate.

3. Why Is This Required?

Creating your Autodesk application is essential because:

✔️ Security & Isolation

Each tenant has its own unique credentials, ensuring that your data cannot be accessed by any other customer.

✔️ Authorization Control

Your organization can choose which scopes or permissions the integration should have.

✔️ Full Traceability

Autodesk logs all calls made by your integration, giving you full visibility into who accessed what and when.

✔️ Compliance with Autodesk Platform Services Standards

APS requires each customer application to be registered to comply with API access policies.

4. How the Integration Works (High-Level Overview)

Once your Autodesk app is created:

1. You provide the Client ID and Client Secret to CDEAdminTools during registration.

2. CDEAdminTools validates and securely stores this information.

3. When you create data sources or perform synchronizations, the platform uses your credentials to request data from Autodesk.

4. Autodesk verifies the credentials and grants access only to the data you authorized.

This ensures a secure, controlled and audited connection between both systems.

5. Where Can I See the Full Setup Instructions?

If you want detailed guidance on how to create the Autodesk application and how to integrate it with your Autodesk account, you can follow our dedicated guides.

➡️ Step-by-step guided tutorials (Scribe)

➡️ How to get valid Autodesk credentials (Client ID & Client Secret)
https://scribehow.com/viewer/How_to_get_a_valid_credentials__xGOiYFUhSrmP3zljFNa5ww

➡️ How to add your Custom Integration to Autodesk Platform Services
https://scribehow.com/viewer/How_to_Add_a_Custom_Integration_to_Autodesk_Platform_Services__SgWH__dvRsOQzu9fpZv6ZA

➡️ Onboarding article with full instructions

For a complete setup walkthrough, check:
➡️ How to Complete Your Registration in CDEAdminTools
(This article includes the detailed steps and validation process.)