Migrating Data from Slate to WebAdMIT

Retrieving Your User Identity ID with Postman

To use Postman to retrieve your User Identity ID, follow these steps:

1. Download the WebAdMIT API collection (updated 9/22/25).
2. Download the WebAdMIT API Prelaunch environment and the WebAdMIT API Production environment (updated 9/22/25).
3. From your Workspace, select the Collections tab and click Import.
   
   
4. Select the WebAdMIT API collection and WebAdMIT API environments from your computer. It will automatically import. You should now see a collection created in the Collections section and an environment created in the Environments section.
5. Click Environments, then the WebAdMIT Prelaunch environment. Add the API key you generated for your WebAdMIT account to the environment.
   
   
6. Repeat step 5 for the production environment.
7. Click Collections, then in the WebAdMIT Custom Fields grouping, select GET User Identities. In the drop-down in the upper right corner, select your WebAdMIT API Prelaunch environment.
   
   
8. Click Send to retrieve the User Identities.
   
   
9. Copy the number after “id” for the CAS and cycle you want to make updates and set this value as the “UserIdentityID” variable.
   
   
10. If the API call fails, it will return a status code of 401. This indicates that the user is not authorized to access the API. Check the user’s permissions in WebAdMIT and verify that the user has the correct organization and program assignments.

Retrieving Your User Identity ID without Postman

To retrieve your User Identity ID without using Postman, follow these steps:

1. Use CURL or POSTMAN to make the below API calls:

• PRODUCTION
  Base URL: https://api.webadmit.org

$ curl -n https://api.webadmit.org/api/v1/user_identities \
  -H "x-api-key: <ENTER YOUR API KEY>"

• PRELAUNCH
  Base URL: https://prelaunch.webadmit.org

$ curl -n https://prelaunch.webadmit.org/api/v1/user_identities \
-H "x-api-key: <ENTER YOUR API KEY>"

3. Make sure to use the correct API Keys for PRELAUNCH and PRODUCTION.
4. A successful API call should generate a status code of 200 with the following example response body:           

{
"href": "/api/v1/user_identities",
"user_identities": [
{
"id": 42,
"type": "Admissions User",
"association": "SOPHAS",
"institution": "Demo University",
"organization": "Demo University School of Public Health",
"cycle": "2014 - 2015"
}
]
}

5. Make note of the number after "id":. Corresponding to the cycle for which you want your applicant custom fields updated, this is the identity ID and is needed for prelaunch and production. You'll use this in the next section.
6. If the API call is unsuccessful, then it will return a status code of 401. This means the user is not authorized to gain access to the API. Verify the user’s permissions in WebAdMIT and confirm that the user has the correct organization and program assignments.

Option 1: Making API Calls to Retrieve Custom Field IDs in WebAdMIT

You can retrieve the the custom field IDs in WebAdMIT either with or without using Postman.

$ curl -n https://api.webadmit.org/api/v1/user_identities/:<ENTER USER_IDENTITY_ID>/programs/
-H "x-api-key: <ENTER YOUR API KEY>"

$ curl -n https://api.webadmit.org/api/v1/user_identities/:<ENTER USER_IDENTITY_ID>/programs/:<ENTER PROGRAM_ID>/custom_fields \
-H "x-api-key: <ENTER YOUR API KEY>"

{

"href": "/api/v1/user_identities/1/programs/42023191739237/custom_fields",

  "custom_fields": [
    {
      "id": 4,
      "label": "Preferred house",
      "field_type": "select",
      "options": [
        "Gryffindor",
        "Hufflepuff",
        "Ravenclaw",
        "Slytherin"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Option 2: Manually Retrieve Custom Field IDs in WebAdMIT

1. Log in to WebAdMIT prelaunch or production.
2. Click Custom Fields in the Management section of the Navigation Panel on the left.
3. From the Custom Fields Manager page, click the pencil icon on the right of your desired custom field.
   
   
4. In the URL of the properties page that opens, you'll find the ID for that custom field.
   
   
5. Repeat this process for each needed custom field to capture their IDs.

Note that custom field IDs are different between prelaunch and production, so you'll need to complete this process for each environment as needed.

We recommend that you create a data mapping document for each cycle to capture the WebAdMIT Custom Field Label, Custom Field IDs, and Custom Field Data Types, as seen in the example below. 

Editing the Python script

1. Download the Python script and config.json file from Integration Help Center and place it on the windows server meant to host the script.
2. On the server, create a folder called SlateToWebAdMIT.
3.  Create a sub-folder called Archive.
4. Place the Python script and the config.json file in the SlateToWebAdMIT folder.
5. The CSV file from Slate must also be dropped in the SlateToWebAdMIT folder.
6. Edit the config.json file in the SlateToWebAdMIT folder using Notepad++ or Notepad and make the following changes:
   • Change the api_key value to your API key for prelaunch or production.
   • Change the url_link value to prelaunch or production URL.
   • Change working_dir to the full directory path of your SlateToWebAdMIT folder. Note that the directory separations use  "/".
   • Set file_name to the name of the incoming CSV file from Slate.
   • Set cycle in the format of “2025 - 2026” depending on the cycle you are working with. Note that this value changes each cycle so will need to be updated.

Creating a Python executable

Next, you'll need to create a Python executable that will run the script. To do so:

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Run the following command: pip install pyinstaller
   • If you get an error message that  pip is not recognized as an internal or external command, this means your Python installation did not include the pip package.
   • The article How to Install PIP on Windows provides guidance on installing pip.
   • Once installed, type pip –version in Command Prompt to verify if the installation was successful.
   • If pip installation was successful, rerun thepip install pyinstaller command.
3. Run the following command: pip install requests and ensure the requests module gets installed correctly.
4. If pyinstaller and requests installation was successful, in Command Prompt, navigate to the SlateToWebAdMIT directory.
5. Type the following command: pyinstaller --onefile main.py and press enter.
6. This command converts the script into an executable.
7. The executable is found in the \SlateToWebAdMIT\dist\ folder.
8. Copy the config.json file from the SlateToWebAdMIT folder to \SlateToWebAdMIT\dist\ folder.

Testing the executable

The following should be completed for Slate to prelaunch WebAdMIT:

1. Navigate to the \SlateToWebAdMIT\dist\ folder in Windows Explorer and double-click main.exe to open a running Command Prompt window.
2. If the Command Prompt window closes immediately after opening, then there is an issue with your Python code or the config.json file. In that case, navigate to the SlateToWebAdMIT\dist folder and check the main.log file. If this file shows HTTP connection errors, this could mean that your API key, URL, or Cycle is incorrect.
3. Edit the config.json file to make sure the file name, directory paths, API keys, base URL, and cycle are correct.
4. Once verified, run the executable again.
5. If the executable continues to run, this means the JSON file is correct.
6. Drop a CSV export from Slate to the SlateToWebAdMIT folder. The file will be picked, processed, and archived by the executable.
7. Navigate to the Archive folder under SlateToWebAdMIT\Archive folder. You will see a timestamped_yourfilename.csv file.
8. Open the file, and you will see HTTP status codes printed in each row.
9. The number of status codes printed are equivalent to the number of fields that need to be processed. So, if five fields need to have data loaded to five custom fields in WebAdMIT, then the status codes will be printed five times per row.
10. Successful loads have a status code of 200, while unsuccessful loads have a status code of 404. As described below, a status code of 422 may also be present in the file.
11. The 404 status code could indicate several issues, including custom fields missing in WebAdMIT, incorrect authentication methods (api_key), or CAS ID not found in WebAdMIT.
12. The 422 status code may indicate a mismatch of data types for the field in Slate and custom field in WebAdMIT. It is also the expected status code if the field from the Slate export is null.
13. If all rows show a 200 (or 422 for expected null data) for each field, the next step is to check prelaunch WebAdMIT to ensure the data was loaded correctly into corresponding custom fields.
14. If the data is not loaded into the correct custom fields, but is present, this means that the order of the fields in your Slate export is incorrect.
15. If the data is correctly loaded to the WebAdMIT custom fields, then close the running executable command prompt window and delete the archived file.

Setting the Python Executable as a Windows Service

To keep the script running indefinitely, the following steps are required to set up the Python executable as a windows service. For this purpose, you'll need to install a tool called NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager).

1. On your web browser on the Windows server meant to host the script, navigate to https://nssm.cc/download
2. Download the latest release of NSSM which is nssm 2.24.
3. This should download a zip file called nssm-2.24.zip.
4. Extract the zip file in the SlateToWebAdMIT folder.
5. Open Command Prompt as an administrator, and within Command Prompt,  navigate to SlateToWebAdMIT\nssm-2.24\win64 (or win32, depending on your windows server).
6. Run the following command by replacing the paths to your python executable and python (.py) file:
   • nssm install "SlateToWebAdMIT" "PathTo\SlateToWebAdMIT\dist\main.exe" "PathTo\SlateToWebAdMIT\main.py"
7. If the service is successfully installed, it displays the following message in command prompt: Service "SlateToWebAdMIT" installed successfully!
8. Open services.msc in Windows as an admin and locate the SlateToWebAdMIT service.
9. Start the SlateToWebAdMIT service.

Testing the SlateToWebAdMIT Service

1. To test the service, navigate to Testing the executable and perform steps 6 to 14.
2. If the test is successful, then stop the SlateToWebAdMIT service in services.msc and make sure to delete the archived file.
3. After all testing is completed and preparations are being made to move to production then perform the following steps to remove the service:
   • Open Command Prompt as an administrator, and within Command Prompt navigate to SlateToWebAdMIT\nssm-2.24\win64 (or win32 depending on your Windows server).
   • Run the following in Command Prompt:nssm remove “SlateToWebAdMIT”
   • A dialog box will open to ask if you want to remove the service, click yes, and it should say the service was successfully removed.
   • Open services.msc as an admin and refresh the services to ensure the SlateToWebAdMIT service is not in the list of services.

Moving the Script to Production

1. If all testing has been completed in the prelaunch environments, then it is time to prepare the script for production use.
2. Navigate to the SlateToWebAdMIT folder in Windows Explorer.
3. Delete the following file and folders:
   • Build folder.
   • Dist folder.
   • Main.spec file.
4. Edit the config.json file found in the SlateToWebAdMIT folder.
5. In the file, change the  API key, URL, and cycle to production values.
6. Save the file.
7. Perform the steps found in Creating a Python executable section.
8. Perform the steps found in Setting the Python executable as a Windows Service section.
9. Start the SlateToWebAdMIT service.
10. Have Slate drop a CSV file to the SlateToWebAdMIT folder.
11. Check the archived file for status codes for a successful load.

Special Considerations

• If you have multiple CASs that require custom fields to be updated in WebAdMIT, then you will need one version of the script and config.json file per CAS.
• If your CAS cycles overlap, you will need two versions of this process per CAS cycle. Once the previous cycle ends, make sure to stop and delete the service.