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Visual Radio Assist already integrates with a lot of the most used radio automation softwares (Link Radio Automation ). But it could happen that we missed yours, luckily integrating is quick and easy with the generic automation link integration. This way you can enable your client to work with Visual Radio after your next update.
Looking for a complete and future-proof integration that works best for your radio automation software? Check out the Connecting with AutomationLink documentation for all steps to create a custom integration.

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Generic JSON Request

Make the following request to push your automation data to the VRA Core API (hostname core.vra.local or the LAN VRA machine IP). Network Connectivity 
POST http://core.vra.local:3002/alink/generic
Content-type: application/json

{
  "id": "{MessageID}",
  "timestamp": "{MessageTimestamp}",
  "current": [
    {
      "id": "{ID}",
      "artist": "{Artist}",
      "title": "{Title}",
      "timestamp": "{Start time}",
      "position": "{Start position / In point}",
      "duration": "{Duration}",
      "type": "{Type}",
      "category": "{Category}",
      "meta_1": "{Meta Field 1}",
      "meta_2": "{Meta Field 2}"
    }
  ],
  "upcoming": [
    {
      "id": "{ID}",
      "artist": "{Artist}",
      "title": "{Title}",
      "timestamp": "{Start time}",
      "position": "{Start position / In point}",
      "duration": "{Duration}",
      "type": "{Type}",
      "category": "{Category}",
      "meta_1": "{Meta Field 1}",
      "meta_2": "{Meta Field 2}"
    },
    {
      "id": "{ID}",
      "artist": "{Artist}",
      "title": "{Title}",
      "timestamp": "{Start time}",
      "position": "{Start position / In point}",
      "duration": "{Duration}",
      "type": "{Type}",
      "category": "{Category}",
      "meta_1": "{Meta Field 1}",
      "meta_2": "{Meta Field 2}"
    }
  ]
}

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{Fields} description

Item FieldDescriptionAccuracyRequired in: CurrentUpcoming🔄 Video sync
Artist✅✅✅
Title✅✅✅
IDUnique identifier of the item in the radio automation contextPreferred UUID / ULID✅➖✅
TypeString describing the global type of the item (Music / Jingle / Station ID)➖➖➖
Start timeStarting timestamp of the item
In case of upcoming: projected starttime in the moment of generating the payload.		|< ms ➖➖✅
In pointOffset from the original beginning of the item|< ms ➖➖✅
DurationTotal playable duration of the item|< ms➖➖➖
CategoryString describing the category of the item. (90s, 2000s, Sweep)➖➖➖
Extra FieldsAll other fields are made available to the client in the Meta object.
GeneralNot required, but can improve processing
Message IDUnique ID of the message, to prevent double processing
Message TimestampGeneration timestamp, in-sync with sending machine’ time|< ms✅

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Handling character encoding

The Core API is only able to process correctly encoded and parsable UTF-8 payloads in the provided Content-type. This means that special characters (often used in artist/title strings) MUST be encoded in the way that the content format describes. Otherwise the payload won’t be processed in the AutomationLink. Interesting characters in JSON or XML payloads for example: & " ' < > / $ , ;
When working with XML or JSON payloads, it is crucial to properly encode special characters in the property values. This is because some characters, such as &, ", ', <, >, /, $, ,, and ;, have a special meaning in XML and JSON formats and can cause parsing errors if not encoded properly.To encode special characters in XML, you can use character entity references. These are special codes that represent the special characters in a way that can be read by the XML parser. For instance, to encode an ampersand character (&) in XML, you can use &amp;. Similarly, to encode a single quote ('), you can use &rsquo;, and to encode a double quote (") you can use &quot;.To encode special characters in JSON, you can use backslashes to escape the character. For example, to encode a double quote character (") in JSON, you can use \". Similarly, to encode a backslash (\), you can use \\.It is important to properly encode special characters to avoid processing errors in the AutomationLink. If you fail to do so, the XML or JSON parser may interpret a special character as a command or instruction, causing the payload to be parsed incorrectly. This can lead to data loss or other issues that can affect the functionality of your application.By following the guidelines described above, you can ensure that your XML or JSON payloads are properly encoded and parsed without any issues, making it easier to work with and integrate your data with other systems.