Getting started with Refinitiv Data Platform 
Naomi O'Selmo, MBA
Digital Customer Experience Associate Digital Customer Experience Associate

Introduction

This guide provides step by step instructions on how to start using the Refinitiv Data Platform (RDP). After completing these steps, you should be ready to make your first request for content from the Refinitiv Data Platform.

Before you start: Understanding Refinitiv Data Platform accounts

Refinitiv Data Platform offers two types of accounts for accessing our data and services. Each account has different setup steps.

  • User account: Account for the user that allows access to contracted content and APIs on production. The user account is used to log in to Refinitiv Data Platform.  A user ID normally is the user’s email address. For example: sample@refinitiv.com 

  • Machine account: Account for a machine that allows access to contracted content and APIs on production. The machine account is used for programmatically retrieving the contracted content and incorporating it into an internal application or user interface.  For example: GE-A-01234560-1-1234.

  • AppKey (Client ID): A unique identifier defined for an application that allows access to RDP data and APIs. The AppKey is typically a random generated number.  https://amers2-apps.platform.refinitiv.com/Apps/AppKeyGenerator  

Activate your user account

To access Refinitiv Data Platform:

1. Receive your welcome email with user ID

The subject line of the email that contains the user ID is “Welcome to Refinitiv Data Platform — your new user account.” The content of the email is as follows:

2.  Create a password for your user account

The welcome email you received contains instructions to create a user account password.   After you create your new password, you will have successfully activated your user account. 

Activate your machine account

1. Receive your welcome email with machine ID

The welcome email that contains the machine ID is as follows:  

 

 

2. Activate the machine ID

The welcome email contains instructions and a link to activate your machine ID. 
Click the link to create a new password and activate the machine ID. 

3. Register your application

The AppKey is the data encryption key used to "encode" the messages between the end nodes and the RDP API. You will need to register your application to generate the AppKey manually using the AppKey Generator.

To generate an AppKey:

1.     Open AppKey Generator and login with the user ID credentials.

2.     Create a unique, meaningful App Display Name to identify the application.

3.     Tick the EDP API checkbox.

4.     Click “Register New App” and accept the Terms & Conditions.

5.     The generated AppKey will be in the AppKey column.

Support materials and resources

Developer Community portal

The Developer Community portal provides information on all Refinitiv APIs. It includes documentation, sample code, and tutorials. The Refinitiv Data Platform APIs and Refinitiv Data Platform Library pages contain extensive support materials including Quick Starts, tutorials, and API documentation. We encourage you to review the available documentation in the Developer Community in addition to the information contained in this guide.

Another valuable resource in the Developer Community is the Q&A Forum. This forum is dedicated to questions and discussions centered around Refinitiv API usage. Most of the members of the forum are developers, and the moderators are API experts.

API Playground

The API Playground is a front end to RDP APIs via a Graphical User Interface (GUI). It is an interactive tool and reference guide where you can experiment with APIs, send requests, view responses, and review Swagger documentation. The API Playground URL is: https://apidocs.refinitiv.com/Apps/ApiDocs

The API Playground provides useful materials such as:

  • API technical documentation
  • A playground for trying out API endpoints with your RDP credentials
  • Swagger documentation

For more details and sample usage of the API Playground, review the API Playground section in the RDP API General Guidelines document.

Note: The ability to access certain features of the API Playground will depend on your particular license.

MyRefinitiv

MyRefinitiv is a consolidated, personalized entry point to answers, product information, support and billing. You can access MyRefinitiv with your RDP user account credentials.

MyRefinitiv support

For incident support (i.e. connectivity issues) and content related questions, you can open a case directly with the API product support team via MyRefinitiv Get Support.

Github

Find sample code, articles, and tutorials for Refinitiv Data Platform on our Github page.