Automating Drupal with ECA and HTTP Client Modules: A Practical Guide

Two modules make this possible: ECA (Event-Condition-Action) for visual workflow building and HTTP Client for API integrations. Here's how to use them to automate your Drupal site without writing custom code.

Why Automate Your Drupal Site with ECA and HTTP Client Integration?

Manual tasks eat up time and create inconsistencies. Every time someone publishes content, updates user accounts, or processes orders, there's potential for automation.

Consider these common scenarios:

• A new blog post gets published and needs to be shared on social media
• A user registers and should receive a welcome email with specific content based on their role
• Product inventory changes and needs to sync with your external warehouse system
• Contact forms submissions require follow-up actions in your CRM

Instead of handling these manually or building custom modules, you can create visual workflows that handle everything automatically.

Understanding ECA: Visual Workflow Automation for Drupal Content Management

ECA stands for Event-Condition-Action. Think of it as a replacement for the old Rules module, but designed specifically for modern Drupal versions.

The concept is simple:

• Events trigger your workflow (user logs in, content gets published, form submitted)
• Conditions check if the workflow should continue (user has specific role, content type matches)
• Actions perform the actual work (send email, update fields, call external APIs)

What makes ECA special is its visual workflow builder. You drag and drop elements to create flowcharts that represent your business logic. Non-technical team members can understand and even build these workflows.

HTTP Client Module: Connecting Drupal to External API Services

The HTTP Client module handles API communications. It provides a user interface for configuring HTTP requests and integrates perfectly with ECA workflows.

You can configure multiple API endpoints, handle authentication, set headers, and process responses—all through Drupal's admin interface.

Setting Up Your First Drupal Automation Workflow with ECA

Let's build a practical example: automatically sending new article data to an external analytics service when content gets published.

Installation and Module Setup

Start by installing the required modules:

composer require drupal/eca drupal/http_client_manager drupal/bpmn_io
drush en eca eca_ui eca_content eca_bpmn http_client_manager bpmn_io

Configure Your HTTP Client API Connection

Navigate to Configuration > Web Services > HTTP Client Manager and create a new client configuration.

Set up your API endpoint:

• Service name: Analytics API
• Base URL: https://api.analytics-service.com
• Authentication: Add your API key in headers
• Default headers: Content-Type: application/json

Save this configuration. You'll reference it in your ECA workflow.

Build Your Visual Drupal Workflow with ECA

Go to Configuration > Workflows > ECA and click Add new model.

The visual modeler opens, showing a blank canvas. Here's how to build your workflow:

• Add a Start Event: Drag "After saving content" from the events panel
• Add Conditions: Drag a condition gateway and configure it to check: "Content type equals Article" AND "Publishing status equals Published"
• Add HTTP Action: Drag "Send HTTP Request" action and configure it to use your Analytics API client

Your workflow looks like a flowchart. The visual representation makes it easy to understand the logic at a glance.

Configure the HTTP Request Action for API Integration

In the HTTP action configuration:

• Select your "Analytics API" client
• Choose POST method
• Set the endpoint path (e.g., /content/new)
• Configure the JSON payload using token replacement:

{
  "title": "[node:title]",
  "author": "[node:author:name]",
  "published_date": "[node:created:custom:Y-m-d]",
  "url": "[node:url]",
  "content_type": "[node:type]"
}

Drupal's token system automatically replaces these placeholders with actual content data.

Test Your Drupal Automation Workflow

Save your ECA model and publish a new article. Check your external service to confirm the data arrived correctly.

If something goes wrong, check Reports > Recent log messages for debugging information. ECA logs all workflow executions and API responses.

Advanced Drupal Automation Examples Using ECA and HTTP Client

User Welcome Email Automation Workflow

Create a workflow that triggers when users register:

• Event: User account created
• Condition: User has "Premium Member" role
• Actions: Send personalized welcome email, Add user to external mailing list via API, Create initial user preferences in CRM

E-commerce Order Processing Automation

Automate order fulfillment:

• Event: Commerce order completed
• Conditions: Order total above $100 AND shipping address in specific regions
• Actions: Send order data to warehouse API, Create tracking record in external system, Schedule follow-up email sequence

Content Workflow Management Automation

Build editorial workflows:

• Event: Content updated
• Conditions: Content status changed to "Ready for Review"
• Actions: Notify editorial team via Slack API, Set automatic publication date, Update project management tool via API

Advanced Drupal ECA Workflow Patterns and Best Practices

Error Handling in ECA Workflows

Add error handling to your workflows:

• Use ECA's "On Error" events to catch failed API calls
• Create fallback actions (log errors, notify administrators)
• Implement retry logic for temporary failures

Queue Processing for High-Volume Drupal Automation

For high-volume scenarios, use ECA's queue actions:

• Instead of immediate API calls, queue actions for background processing
• This prevents timeouts and improves site performance
• Drupal's cron processes queued items automatically

Conditional Logic in Drupal Workflows

Build complex decision trees:

• Use multiple condition gateways
• Create parallel branches for different scenarios
• Combine multiple conditions with AND/OR logic

Troubleshooting Common Drupal ECA and HTTP Client Issues

API Authentication Failures

• Verify API keys in HTTP Client Manager configuration
• Check if external service requires specific header formats
• Test API endpoints outside Drupal first

Workflows Not Triggering

• Confirm you have the right ECA submodules enabled
• Check event configuration matches your use case exactly
• Review condition logic—failed conditions prevent actions

Performance Problems

• Use queue actions for heavy processing
• Avoid synchronous API calls on high-traffic events
• Consider caching API responses when appropriate

Data Mapping Issues

• Test token replacement in other Drupal contexts first
• Check field permissions and access restrictions
• Verify JSON payload structure matches API requirements

Best Practices for Production Drupal Automation Workflows

Start Simple with Basic ECA Workflows

Begin with basic workflows before adding complexity. A working simple automation is better than a broken complex one.

Document Your Drupal Workflows

Use ECA's description fields to document business logic. Future team members will thank you.

Test Thoroughly in Staging Environments

Always test workflows on staging environments first. Use dummy external endpoints during development.

Monitor and Log ECA Workflow Performance

Enable detailed logging for production workflows. Set up alerts for failed API calls or workflow errors.

Version Control for ECA Models

Export ECA models to configuration files and commit them to version control. This ensures workflow changes are tracked and deployable.

Getting Help and Resources for Drupal ECA Development

The ECA community provides excellent resources:

• ECA Model Library (ecaguide.org/library): Pre-built workflows you can import and customize
• GitHub Examples: Working examples of ECA HTTP Client integrations
• Drupal Slack #eca Channel: Active community support

Import ready-made models by going to Configuration > Workflows > ECA > Import and uploading model files from the community library.

Future of Drupal Automation with ECA and HTTP Client Modules

ECA and HTTP Client modules are changing how we think about Drupal development. They're enabling site builders to create sophisticated integrations without custom code, making automation accessible to more team members.

Start with a simple automation in your current project. Pick one repetitive task and build a workflow to handle it automatically. Once you see the time savings and reliability improvements, you'll find more opportunities to automate.

The combination of visual workflow building and powerful API integration capabilities makes these modules essential tools for modern Drupal sites. Whether you're managing content workflows, user experiences, or business process automation, ECA and HTTP Client provide the foundation you need.

Your Drupal site can do more than serve content—it can actively participate in your business processes, integrate with your existing tools, and reduce manual work across your organization.