Get Access to a BIM 360 Account
An APS app needs to be connected to a specific BIM 360 account before you can start accessing that account using the BIM 360 API. This is to ensure that your app has been granted permission to access that account. Account-level permission can be given only by an Account Admin in BIM 360. This section outlines how to get access to a BIM 360 account.
Before You Begin
Make sure that you have registered an app and have your client ID available to you before proceeding.
Step 1: Provisioning a BIM 360 Account
Development Account
During the development phase, we strongly recommend that you use a separate testing environment.
- Create a trial account and convert it to a developer account, by following these instructions:
- Browse to the Try BIM 360 for Free page, and click the Try Docs Free box, which will give you free access to both BIM 360 Docs and BIM 360 Account Admin for 30 days. The Try Docs for 30 Days page appears.
- Click the Try Docs Free button at the top right corner of the screen. The Sign up to BIM 360 Docs pop-up opens. Fill in the fields and click Submit.
- Enter an email address in the Email field. The Sign in screen appears. Note that the email address will be your trial BIM 360 account name for BIM 360 Docs and BIM 360 Account Admin.
- If the email address is already associated with an Autodesk account, click Next, enter your password, and click Sign in. Otherwise, click Create Account, and follow instructions to create an Autodesk account. The BIM 360 Documentation Management screen appears.
- Select the matrix at the top left corner of the screen, and select Account Admin. The BIM 360 Account Admin screen appears, displaying the Settings tab.
- Find the account ID by clicking View Account ID at the bottom left corner of the screen. Note the ID.
- Send an email to bim360appsactivations@autodesk.com with a request to convert your BIM 360 account to a developer account. Include the following information.
- BIM 360 Account Name - the email address you used to create the account.
- BIM 360 Account ID - the account ID generated when you created the account. To find the account ID, click View Account ID at the bottom left corner of the screen.
- Email address of the BIM 360 account admin.
- BIM 360 Enterprise (100+ users) license holders have automatic access to the BIM 360 API.
- Members of the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) can request a Partner Evaluation and Demonstration (PED) version of products for development purposes. Browse to the ADN login page, navigate to the Web Services Request form, and select BIM 360.
Production Account
Once you have developed and tested your app, you can connect it to a production BIM 360 account using BIM 360 Account Administration. You need to be either an account administrator of the account or be invited by the account administrator.
Step 2: Connect Your App to a Specific BIM 360 Account
There are two ways to complete this step, depending on your permissions in that account.
- If you are the Account Admin on your BIM 360 account
- Log in to your BIM 360 enterprise account and navigate to the “Custom Integrations” tab
- Click the “Add Custom Integration” button.
- Select access levels for your app (account administration, BIM 360 Docs, or both).
- Select the “I’m the developer” option.
- Enter your app’s client ID, name, description, and logo.
- Click the “Save” button.
- If you need to be added as a Developer by the Account Admin on the BIM 360 account
- The Account Admin must initiate the “Add Integration” process and choose the “Invite a Developer” option, providing your email address.
- The Account Admin will specify what access level your App will receive (Account Administration, Docs or both).
- An invitation email will be send to you.
- Log in using your Autodesk account after clicking the link in the invitation email.
- Enter your app’s client ID, name, description, and logo.
- Once you save this info, the Account Admin will need to approve it before you can access that specific BIM 360 account.
Note that Account Admin cannot see your app’s client ID. They are restricted to seeing only the app name, description, logo, and your email address.
Step 3: Getting the Account ID
You will need the account_id
of a specific account to call all API endpoints. There are two ways to get the account_id
of a BIM 360 account, depending on your permissions in that account:
- If you are the Account Admin, you can log into the BIM 360 enterprise portal and find the account ID under the “Account Settings” tab.
- If you are invited to an account as a Developer, you would have received the account ID while connecting your app to the BIM 360 account.
Remember that when transitioning from a development sandbox to a production BIM 360 account, you need to update the account_id
in your API calls to the new production account ID.