> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://doc.wearepatchworks.com/product-documentation/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://doc.wearepatchworks.com/product-documentation/developer-hub/patchworks-core-api/core-api-spotlights/initialising-a-process-flow-and-sending-data-via-the-patchworks-api.md).

# Initialising a process flow & sending data via the Patchworks API

## Introduction

This section walks through the steps required to pass data from your own system into a Patchworks process flow, via the Patchworks API.

## Assumptions

To complete these steps it's assumed that you have:

* [Registered for a Patchworks account](/product-documentation/registration/registering-for-a-patchworks-account.md) and have a username and password to access your Patchworks dashboard
* [Built at least one process flow](/product-documentation/process-flows/building-process-flows.md) that you want to update via the Patchworks API

## What you need to do

The required steps are detailed in the following stages:

<table><thead><tr><th width="128.33333333333331">Stage #</th><th>Action</th><th>Tool</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td><a href="/pages/wr20jUyH5dZFMKmG28oY">Prepare your data</a></td><td>Your preferred text editor</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td><a href="/pages/7BCsHyIIxQhgxuwySnyV">Map your payload data</a></td><td>Patchworks dashboard (process flows)</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td><a href="/pages/18hOpYclLzdPXZ5hQ4cd">Obtain the process flow ID &#x26; version for API requests</a></td><td>Patchworks dashboard (process flows)</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td><a href="/pages/vD2lVg6BPgiPl5msLjmg">Obtain a token for Patchworks API authentication</a></td><td>Postman</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td><a href="/pages/4QM41H8Elkt0raSv052o">Initialise a process flow and send data via the Patchworks API</a></td><td>Postman</td></tr></tbody></table>

{% hint style="info" %}
In this guide we're using Postman for API calls - you can use your preferred tool for these steps.
{% endhint %}