For AI agents: an index of this documentation is at https://developer.rippling.com/llms.txt. Public pages have a Markdown version at the same URL with .md added.

Skip to main content
guide

API names and unique IDs

Find API names for custom objects and fields, and unique IDs for records used in lookups and CSV imports.

Use with AI:Rippling AI ChatGPT Claude Cursor

API names​

When you create custom objects and fields, each object and field is assigned an API name. The API name is used in the endpoint that lets you interact with that item using the Rippling platform API. The API name also serves as a unique identifier for each object and field in Rippling.

You may need to reference the API name to uniquely identify a field if you've customized its display name.

Standard permission to the object is required to view the API names for an object and its fields.

In Catalog, the object's Overview tab shows the object API name. The Fields tab has an API name column for each field. You cannot change the API name of default fields.


Unique IDs for records​

When you import records via CSV, you must supply a unique ID for the record used in each lookup field rather than the display name. This prevents incorrect mapping due to identically named entities.

For employees, you can use an ID or email address. For the other types of records, you must provide an ID.

ObjectID typeDescriptionHow to retrieve it
EmployeeRippling System IDThe Rippling-generated unique ID for the employee or contractorGET List workers. Use the worker id. This is the same value as Role ID in Rippling. Example: 583fd9d08c324319bdf1dd3b
EmployeeEmailA personal or work email address stored in Rippling for the employee or contractorGET List workers. Use work_email or personal_email. You can filter the list by work_email
DepartmentRippling System IDThe Rippling-generated unique ID for the departmentGET List departments. Use the department id. Example: 583fd18a8c324339bdf18deb
TeamRippling System IDThe Rippling-generated unique ID for the teamGET List teams. Use the team id
Custom objectRippling System IDThe Rippling-generated unique ID for the recordGET List custom object records. Use the record id. Example: 0191be17-7e82-7559-a3c6-95fd4e932104. The ID is also a default field on every custom object. You need the object’s api_name first from GET List custom objects
Custom objectExternal IDThe ID for the record in an external system. This can be useful if you want to be able to tie this record back to the other systemGET List custom object records (external_id), or GET Retrieve a specific custom object record by its external_id

See also​