GetAllocationByExternalKey

Project management service 1.8: Returns the allocation mapped to an external ID in a named external system.


Service	Project management 1.8
Endpoint	`POST https://app{server-number}.timelog.com/{account}/WebServices/ProjectManagement/V1_8/ProjectManagementServiceSecure.svc`
SOAPAction	`GetAllocationByExternalKeyRequest`
Content-Type	`text/xml; charset=utf-8`
Authentication	A token from GetToken
Changes data	No
Safe to retry	Yes

How it works

Resolves through the external-system mappings of allocations and returns that allocation. The response is flagged as paged although it holds at most one item. An unknown system name does not produce the 'unknown external system' error: the look-up returns an empty GUID and the call fails with a null-reference text.

Parameters

Each parameter has one label: Required, Conditional (required depending on other values) or Optional. Send them in the order shown.

keystring

Required

The allocation's ID in the external system.

systemNamestring

Required

tokenSecurityToken

Required

The token from GetToken: Initials, Expires and Hash, sent back unchanged.

Request

POST /{account}/WebServices/ProjectManagement/V1_8/ProjectManagementServiceSecure.svc HTTP/1.1
Host: app{server-number}.timelog.com
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8
SOAPAction: "GetAllocationByExternalKeyRequest"

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
                  xmlns:pm="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_8"
                  xmlns:tok="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_3">
  <soapenv:Body>
    <pm:GetAllocationByExternalKey>
      <pm:key>{key}</pm:key>
      <pm:systemName>{systemName}</pm:systemName>
      <pm:token>
        <tok:Initials>{Initials from GetToken}</tok:Initials>
        <tok:Expires>{Expires from GetToken, unchanged}</tok:Expires>
        <tok:Hash>{Hash from GetToken}</tok:Hash>
      </pm:token>
    </pm:GetAllocationByExternalKey>
  </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

curl -X POST "https://app{server-number}.timelog.com/{account}/WebServices/ProjectManagement/V1_8/ProjectManagementServiceSecure.svc" \
  -H "Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8" \
  -H 'SOAPAction: "GetAllocationByExternalKeyRequest"' \
  --data-binary @request.xml

import requests

URL = "https://app{server-number}.timelog.com/{account}/WebServices/ProjectManagement/V1_8/ProjectManagementServiceSecure.svc"
SOAP_ACTION = '"GetAllocationByExternalKeyRequest"'

envelope = """<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
                  xmlns:pm="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_8"
                  xmlns:tok="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_3">
  <soapenv:Body>
    <pm:GetAllocationByExternalKey>
      <pm:key>{key}</pm:key>
      <pm:systemName>{systemName}</pm:systemName>
      <pm:token>
        <tok:Initials>{Initials from GetToken}</tok:Initials>
        <tok:Expires>{Expires from GetToken, unchanged}</tok:Expires>
        <tok:Hash>{Hash from GetToken}</tok:Hash>
      </pm:token>
    </pm:GetAllocationByExternalKey>
  </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>"""

response = requests.post(
    URL,
    data=envelope.encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Content-Type": "text/xml; charset=utf-8", "SOAPAction": SOAP_ACTION},
    timeout=60,
)
result = parse_result(response)  # see "Responses and errors"

Replace every {…} placeholder with your own value.

Response

The call returns the standard response envelope. Check ResponseState first: a failed call still returns HTTP 200.

ResponseStatestring

Required

Success, Invalid or Error.

ErrorCodeinteger

0 on success, otherwise the error code. See Errors.

ReturnAllocation[]

Response<Allocation> with the one mapped allocation; IsReturnPaged true and TotalPageCount -1 are set on every response, success or not. ExternalKeys / CustomFields are not loaded. Never a Success with an empty Return: a missing key or system is an Error.

Example response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8

<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Body>
    <GetAllocationByExternalKeyResponse xmlns="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_8">
      <GetAllocationByExternalKeyResult xmlns:a="http://api.timelog.com"
                                        xmlns:b="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_7"
                                        xmlns:c="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_5"
                                        xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
        <a:Return>
          <b:Allocation>
            <a:Action>Original</a:Action>
            <a:IsCustomFieldsLoaded>false</a:IsCustomFieldsLoaded>
            <a:CustomFields i:nil="true"/>
            <a:IsExternalKeysLoaded>false</a:IsExternalKeysLoaded>
            <a:ExternalKeys i:nil="true"/>
            <b:AllocationID>1001</b:AllocationID>
            <b:ID>3f2504e0-4f89-41d3-9a0c-305000000001</b:ID>
            <b:TaskID>1001</b:TaskID>
            <b:HoursAllocated>0</b:HoursAllocated>
            <b:HourlyRateID>1001</b:HourlyRateID>
            <b:EmployeeID>1001</b:EmployeeID>
            <b:StartDate>2026-10-01T00:00:00</b:StartDate>
            <b:EndDate>2026-10-01T00:00:00</b:EndDate>
            <b:Details>
              <b:EmployeeHeader>
                <c:ID>3f2504e0-4f89-41d3-9a0c-305000000002</c:ID>
                <c:EmployeeID>1001</c:EmployeeID>
                <c:Initials>ABC</c:Initials>
                <c:FirstName>Example first</c:FirstName>
                <c:LastName>Example last</c:LastName>
                <c:EmployeeNo>1001</c:EmployeeNo>
                <c:Fullname>Example</c:Fullname>
              </b:EmployeeHeader>
            </b:Details>
          </b:Allocation>
        </a:Return>
        <a:ReturnTypeDescription>Allocation</a:ReturnTypeDescription>
        <a:Request>…</a:Request>
        <a:ResponseState>Success</a:ResponseState>
        <a:Messages>
          <a:APIMessage>
            <a:Message>Duration of call was 0,0421337 sec.</a:Message>
            <a:Severity>Message</a:Severity>
            <a:ErrorCode>0</a:ErrorCode>
          </a:APIMessage>
        </a:Messages>
        <a:ErrorCode>0</a:ErrorCode>
        <a:IsReturnPaged>false</a:IsReturnPaged>
        <a:TotalPageCount>0</a:TotalPageCount>
      </GetAllocationByExternalKeyResult>
    </GetAllocationByExternalKeyResponse>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

Illustrative example: built from the service description (WSDL) in the same format as a real response, with made-up values. The Request block is shortened.

Errors

All errors come back with HTTP 200: check ResponseState, ErrorCode and Messages. The errors every operation can return (expired or invalid token, API not enabled, HTTPS required, general errors) are listed once in Responses and errors.

Errors specific to this operation:

ResponseState	ErrorCode	Message	What it means	What to do
Error	40001	Error during call on TimeLog.API, Message 'The external key "{externalID}" was not found for the chosen external system "{systemName}".'	The system exists but no allocation is mapped to `key`.	Create the contact first; a not-found is a normal outcome for sync look-ups.
Error	40001	Error during call on TimeLog.API, Message 'Object reference not set to an instance of an object.'	`systemName` is not a registered external system, or the mapping points at an allocation that no longer exists.	Re-read the allocation and send its ID.

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