Event sources

An event source is where a metric's readings come from: typed in by hand, or sent automatically by the system that counts the work. That might be a contact-centre platform, a claims system or a nightly script. Use this page to check your feeds are healthy and to set up a new one.

You need access to manage business metrics — ask your Flowstate admin.

Choose how readings arrive

Kind	How it works	Use it when
Entered by hand	Someone selects Record a reading on the metric's page. The first reading creates the source.	You report the figure monthly from a spreadsheet or a report, or you're starting out
Pushed in	Another system sends readings through the Business metrics API. The first delivery creates the source, named after that system.	The figure already lives in a system that can call an API, or you want history loaded in one go

A metric can have both. Readings from every source for the same period are added together, so give each source its own share of the work. For example, the phone platform sends contacts resolved by phone, and a team lead records the ones resolved by email. Never send a total from one source and part of that total from another.

Whichever you choose, record how many were handled without a person in every reading if you can. That's what lets Flowstate compare cost per unit by AI with cost per unit by a person. See Show what AI returns with business metrics.

Check your feeds

1. Go to Insights → Business metrics → Event sources.
2. Read the list. Sources are grouped by Status:
   • Active — delivering readings.
   • Failing — the last delivery was rejected.
   • Paused — paused in Flowstate. It still accepts readings.
3. Each row shows the metric it Feeds and its Kind: Entered by hand or Pushed in.

For more detail, go to Settings → Insights → Business Metrics. Under Metrics and their feeds, each source shows Last received, how many Readings it has sent and the Last error.

Send readings from another system

1. Create the metric if it doesn't exist yet.
2. Go to Settings → Insights → Business Metrics. Under Metrics and their feeds, find the metric and select Copy key.
3. Go to Settings → Users & Access → API Keys and select Create API Key. Tick Ingest Business Metric Readings and nothing else, then copy the key. See API keys.
4. Give your developer:
   • the Endpoint from Ingest endpoint,
   • the API key,
   • the metric key,
   • the Example request from the same page.
5. Once they send the first readings, check Metrics and their feeds. The system appears as a source with status Active and a Last received time.

Tip

Give the API key only Ingest Business Metric Readings. If the key leaks, it can only add readings. It can't change your metrics or read costs.

Load your history

Load past periods before you judge a trend. With only a month or two of readings, Trend and Volume over time have little to show.

• By hand: record each past period on the metric's page.
• Pushed in: your developer can send many past periods in one request. See the Business metrics API.

Use the same length of period as the metric's Reported setting, so periods from different sources line up.

Good to know

• Re-sending a period corrects it. Sending the same period again from the same source replaces the earlier reading.
• Sources add up. Readings from different sources for the same period are added together.
• Renaming is safe. A metric keeps its key when you rename it.

Not available yet

There's no ready-made connector that sends business metric readings, and AI provider connections don't send them either. For example, connecting Intercom Fin brings in what it costs, not a reading for any metric. To count what an AI tool resolved, send those figures through the API or record them by hand.

If something's not right

A source shows Failing. Read its Last error in Settings → Insights → Business Metrics. It names the reading that was rejected, for example one that ends before it starts, or one with more produced without a person than in total. Once the system sends a correct batch, the source goes back to Active.

Nothing appears after a send. Ask your developer to check the response. A wrong metric key, or a request Flowstate couldn't read at all, is rejected before it reaches any source.

Readings look doubled. Two sources may be sending the same figures. Check Where the events come from on the metric's page.

For your technical team

Readings are sent with POST /api/v1/org/{orgId}/business-metrics/readings, authenticated with Authorization: Bearer <API key>. Each request carries one metric key, one source name and up to 1,000 readings, each with periodStart, periodEnd (YYYY-MM-DD), value and an optional aiValue. See the Business metrics API for the full request, response, errors and rate limits.