Extract data from Workday using RaaS (Reports-as-a-Service) as a practical integration path

Steps

1. Build or identify a Workday custom report in the tenant; navigate to the report, then go to Actions > Web Service > View URLs to find the RaaS endpoint URL specific to that report.
2. The RaaS URL follows the pattern https://{hostname}/ccx/service/customreport2/{tenant}/{owner}/{reportName}; authenticate using Workday Integration System User (ISU) credentials via HTTP Basic auth.
3. Append '?format=json' to the URL for JSON output, or '?format=csv' for CSV; the default response format is XML — specify format explicitly to avoid parsing issues.
4. Create a dedicated Integration System User in Workday with minimal required permissions, assign it the correct security domain access, and use its credentials for API calls rather than a named user's credentials.
5. For large reports, use the 'As Of Effective Date' and pagination parameters if the report supports them; alternatively filter the report definition itself in Workday to limit result size before calling via RaaS.
6. Wrap the HTTP call in retry logic — Workday tenants can be temporarily unavailable during weekly maintenance windows, which are published per-tenant in the Workday Community.