Connector or API
Connectors are built and maintained by the vendor, configured by an admin and mapped field by field; they suit standard systems such as a DAM, PIM, CMS or social scheduler. An API suits the unusual: triggering imagery when a SKU goes live, embedding generation in an internal portal, or running batch jobs from your own pipeline. Webhooks complete the picture by telling your systems when something happens, such as an asset being approved, so they do not have to keep asking. The practical rule: use maintained connectors wherever one exists, and spend engineering time on the API only where the workflow is genuinely yours alone.
What a good connector carries
Moving files is the easy part. A useful connector maps metadata both ways: SKU, campaign, market, channel, usage rights, expiry date, alt text and the AI provenance record, written into the DAM's fields or embedded as XMP with IPTC properties. It sends status back, so the source system knows an asset was approved or rejected. It handles renditions per channel, retries failures without creating duplicates, respects the target system's rate limits and reports errors somewhere a person will see them. Test it against your own configuration of the DAM or PIM, custom fields included, not the vendor's demo instance.
Identity: SSO and SCIM
Single sign-on through SAML 2.0 or OpenID Connect lets people log in with their corporate identity, so password rules and multi-factor authentication are enforced centrally and a disabled account cannot sign in. SCIM 2.0, defined in RFC 7643 and RFC 7644, goes further: it creates, updates and removes users and groups in the tool automatically from your identity provider. Without it, someone who leaves keeps an account until an admin remembers to remove it, which matters in a tool full of unreleased campaigns. Map identity-provider groups to roles such as brand admin, market editor and approver, so permissions follow organisational changes.
What to ask vendors
For the API: rate limits and how they are raised, versioning and the notice given before breaking changes, a sandbox environment, authentication through OAuth 2.0 client credentials or scoped keys that can be rotated, webhook support, and a status page with incident history. For connectors: which systems and versions are supported, who maintains them, what they cost and how failures are supported. Synthetic White supports SSO with SAML or OIDC and SCIM provisioning, offers connectors for DAM, PIM, CMS and social scheduling systems, and runs batch generation from a PIM or product feed.
Updated 25 September 2026