Initiative

Create an Initiative

Creates a new Initiative.

Required fields:

title - Non-empty string
owners - Must contain exactly one organizational owner (team, Business Unit, or organization)

Optional fields:

description, status, start_date, target_date, external_id, confidence_level
owners.users - Optional user owner (zero or one)
supports - Alignments to create

Status default: If not provided, status defaults to not_started.

Ownership rules:

Must specify exactly ONE organizational owner (team, Business Unit, or organization)
User owner is optional
Only the id field is used; names are ignored

Request body

titlestring required

Title of the Initiative.

descriptionstring nullable

Detailed description of the Initiative.

status'not_started' | 'in_progress' | 'in_danger' | 'done' | 'failed'

Current status of the Initiative. Defaults to not_started if not provided.

start_datestring date

Planned start date in ISO 8601 format.

target_datestring date

Target completion date in ISO 8601 format.

external_idstring

External system identifier for integration purposes.

confidence_levelinteger nullable

Confidence level (1-10) of reaching the Initiative's Goal. Send null to clear it.

Example request

{
  "title": "Raise brand awareness among target group",
  "description": "Tasks you need to perform in order to generate progress on your key results.",
  "status": "not_started",
  "start_date": "2026-01-01",
  "target_date": "2026-03-31",
  "external_id": "a1b2c3d4",
  "owners": {
    "users": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ],
    "teams": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ],
    "business_units": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ],
    "organizations": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ]
  },
  "supports": {
    "goals": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ],
    "key_results": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ],
    "initiatives": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ],
    "kpis": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ],
    "strategic_elements": [
      {
        "id": 1
      }
    ]
  },
  "confidence_level": 7
}

Response

Created

idinteger required

Unique identifier for the Initiative.

titlestring required

Title of the Initiative.

descriptionstring nullable required

Detailed description of the Initiative.

status'not_started' | 'in_progress' | 'in_danger' | 'done' | 'failed' required

Current status of the Initiative:

not_started: Work has not begun
in_progress: Work is underway
in_danger: Delivery is at risk
done: Successfully completed
failed: Did not complete successfully

progressnumber nullable required

Overall progress of the Initiative, expressed as a decimal between 0 and 1. null when progress tracking is disabled on the Initiative; 0 when tracking is enabled but no progress update has set a value yet.

start_datestring date nullable required

Planned start date of the Initiative in ISO 8601 format.

target_datestring date nullable required

Target completion date of the Initiative in ISO 8601 format.

external_idstring nullable required

Identifier of the same item in another system, for example a Jira issue key. Workpath stores it without interpreting it, so you can match Initiatives to records in your own tools.

created_atstring date-time required

Timestamp when the Initiative was created in ISO 8601 format.

updated_atstring date-time required

Timestamp when the Initiative was last updated in ISO 8601 format.

workpath_urlstring uri required

URL to view the Initiative in the Workpath platform.

confidence_levelinteger nullable

Confidence level of the Initiative (1-10). null when nobody has set one. Independent of progress tracking, so it is returned even when progress is disabled.

Example response

{
  "id": 7,
  "title": "Roll out OKR training program to all teams",
  "description": "Train every team lead in writing and reviewing OKRs before the Q2 planning cycle.",
  "status": "in_progress",
  "progress": 0.4,
  "confidence_level": 7,
  "start_date": "2026-01-01",
  "target_date": "2026-03-31",
  "external_id": "a1b2c3d4",
  "created_at": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-02-20T14:45:00Z",
  "workpath_url": "https://acme.workpath.com/initiatives/7",
  "owners": {
    "users": [
      {
        "id": 8,
        "name": "Elena Fischer"
      }
    ],
    "teams": [
      {
        "id": 6,
        "name": "People & Culture"
      }
    ]
  },
  "supports": {
    "goals": [
      {
        "id": 42,
        "title": "Successfully implement the strategic operating model across the organization"
      }
    ],
    "key_results": [
      {
        "id": 12,
        "title": "Teams have drafted their quarterly goals"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Create an Initiative

Request

Request body

Example request

Response

Example response

Changes