Hard Close - Hard

Resource Page Link

This is the Meridian Group Apps Portal, where you will create your API key and see your uploaded invoices in ClearLedger.

https://pathfinder.automationanywhere.com/challenges/training/PathfinderSummit2026/Hard_Close/web/index.html

Control Room Link

This is the link to the control room you will be performing all hands on activities within.

https://aa-community.cloud.automationanywhere.digital/

Your session's build is in Bots/BAA/Hard Close/3_Hard_NewVendorNewProblem.

Action One: Create a Meridian Group API Key

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Meridian Group Apps Portal.
  2. Create an account by entering any username and password.
  3. From the apps homepage, click ClearLedger to open the invoice portal.
  4. Navigate to Account Settings under Workflows, then API Keys.
  5. Enter a descriptive key name in the key name field and click Create Key.
  6. Copy the API key and store it somewhere safe.
  7. Download the zip file with the invoices from this link.

Action Two: Run the Process with a Sample Learning Instance

Before creating a private learning instance, we run the process using a public learning instance to see what the expected output may look like.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to BAA > Hard Close > 1_Easy_MatchGame > Easy_ClosingProcess.
  2. Click Run to start the process.
  3. In the UploadInvoice form, click Browse to choose one of the downloaded invoice files.
  4. In the API Key field, paste the API key generated in the app portal.
  5. In the Learning Instance field, enter: 
    PathfinderSummit_2026

Action Three: Modify the Fetch PO Details API Task

Create REST API Call

  1. Navigate to BAA > Hard Close > 3_Hard_NewVendorNewProblem > Tools > Fetch PO Details
  2. On the left side, in the Search Actions input field, enter: 
    REST Web Services Get method
  3. Drag the REST Web Services: Get method to line 2, under the Try block.
  4. Click the REST Web Services: Get method to open the properties panel on the right.
  5. In the URI section, enter the following value in the Enter the URI field: 
    $CONFIGBaseURL$/$sPONumber$
  6. In the Header section, under Custom Headers, click on Add Header to open the Custom Header dialog box.
  7. In the Name field, enter: 
    X-API-Key
  8. In the Value field, click on Insecure String and enter the following value in the input field: 
    $sAPIKey$
  9. Click on Add to add the custom header.
  10. Under Advanced Options, click on Capture Failure Response to enable it.
  11. Scroll down to the Assign the output to a variable section and click Dictionary.
  12. Click on the dropdown list and select dResponse as the output variable.
  13. Click Save to save your work.

Extract Recipient List from Response

  1. On the left side, in the Search Actions input field, enter: 
    String Assign
  2. Drag the String: Assign action to line 3, under the REST Web Services action.
  3. In the Search Actions input field, enter: 
    String Extract Text
  4. Drag the String: Extract Text action to line 4, under the String: Assign action.
  5. Click the String: Assign package to open the properties panel on the right.
  6. In the source string field, enter: 
    $dResponse{Body}$
  7. In the destination string field, select sResponse from the dropdown list.
  8. Click Save to save your work.
  9. Click Close to return to the Tools folder.

Action Four: Modify the Fetch GR Details API Task

Create REST API Call

  1. Navigate to BAA > Hard Close > 3_Hard_NewVendorNewProblem > Tools > Fetch GR Details
  2. On the left side, in the Search Actions input field, enter: 
    REST Web Services Get method
  3. Drag the REST Web Services: Get method to line 2, under the Try block.
  4. Click the REST Web Services: Get method to open the properties panel on the right.
  5. In the URI section, enter the following value in the Enter the URI field: 
    $CONFIGBaseURL$/$sPONumber$
  6. In the Header section, under Custom Headers, click on Add Header to open the Custom Header dialog box.
  7. In the Name field, enter: 
    X-API-Key
  8. In the Value field, click on Insecure String and enter the following value in the input field: 
    $sAPIKey$
  9. Click on Add to add the custom header.
  10. Scroll down to the Assign the output to a variable section and click Dictionary.
  11. Click on the dropdown list and select dResponse as the output variable.
  12. Click Save to save your work.

Extract Recipient List from Response

  1. On the left side, in the Search Actions input field, enter: 
    String Assign
  2. Drag the String: Assign action to line 3, under the REST Web Services action.
  3. In the Search Actions input field, enter: 
    String Extract Text
  4. Drag the String: Extract Text action to line 4, under the String: Assign action.
  5. Click the String: Assign package to open the properties panel on the right.
  6. In the source string field, enter: 
    $dResponse{Body}$
  7. In the destination string field, select sResponse from the dropdown list.
  8. On line 4, click the String: Extract Text action to open the properties panel on the right.
  9. In the Source String variable, enter: 
    $sResponse$
  10. In the Get characters section, select the Before and/or after radio button.
  11. Enter the following values in the following fields:
    • Start after text (optional): [
    • Occurrence: 1
    • End before text (optional): ]
    • Occurrence: 1
  12. Under Assign Output to variable, select sReceiptsList from the dropdown list.
  13. Click Save to save your work.
  14. Click Close to return to the Tools folder.

Action Five: Modify the AI Agent

Creating input and output variables

  1. Navigate to BAA > Hard Close > 3_Hard_NewVendorNewProblem > AI Agent.
  2. In the Prompt tab, navigate to the Input & Output tab.
  3. Click the + icon to create the following variables. For each variable, specify the properties as per the column names.
    4. Variable NameDescriptionUse as input/output
     
    sPendingInvoice
    pending invoice
    		input
    sAPIKey
    API Key to access account portals
    		input
    sOutputMessage
    Output message displaying success or failure
    		output

Adding newly created tools

  1. In the Tools tab, click on Add Tool and select API Task from the dropdown menu.
  2. Click on Choose to open the Find an API Task dialog box.
  3. Click on Browse and navigate to BAA > Hard Close > 3_Hard_NewVendorNewProblem > Tools and select Fetch PO Details.
  4. Click on Choose to add it to the selection of tools available to the AI Agent.
  5. Repeat the same process for the Fetch GR Details API Task.
  6. Click Save and Close to return to the 3_Hard_NewVendorNewProblem folder.

Action Six: Run the Process

  1. Navigate to BAA > Hard Close > 3_Hard_NewVendorNewProblem > Hard_ClosingProcess
  2. Click Run to start the process.
  3. In the UploadInvoice form, click on Browse to choose one of the downloaded invoice files.
  4. In the API Key field, paste the generated API Key from the app portal.
  5. In the Learning Instance field, enter: 
    PathfinderSummit_2026
  6. Click Submit to submit the invoice for processing.

Notes

  1. Should your AI Agent fail to run for any reason, take the following steps to repeat the process
    1. Log in to Meridian Home Base and click on ClearLedger to view the status of the uploaded invoice.
    2. If the invoice doesn’t reflect in the portal, repeat the process from step 3.
    3. If the invoice reflects in the portal, navigate to Account Settings under the Workflows section in the menu on the left side.
    4. Click on Reset my Work from the left hand menu.
    5. Click on Reset my Work button and then once again to confirm reset.
      Please Note: this method resets all your apps and removes any work history. Any invoices you’ve previously uploaded or email you’ve previously sent will be deleted.
  2. Click All Apps to go to the home page.
  3. Navigate to AuditTrail > Audit Log to view the decisions made by the AI Agent.
    1. Find an entry for the invoice number you had uploaded.
    2. Read through the steps taken, the supporting evidence and the reason behind action (marked in red)