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SAP CMIS Setup

FileRelay as a CMIS 1.1 client against SAP Document Management Service. Works on S/4HANA Cloud Public — no ABAP.

SAP CMIS Setup

CMIS is an OASIS standard for document repositories. SAP exposes Document Management Service (DMS) via a CMIS 1.1 endpoint. FileRelay polls or subscribes, fetches new documents, and routes them.

Use CMIS when you're on S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (no other option) or on Private Edition / RISE and prefer pull over ArchiveLink push. See the protocol comparison for the full matrix.

SAP-side prerequisites

Four things from your Basis / BTP admin:

Item Where it comes from
CMIS base URL DMS service key → endpoints.dms_url
Repository ID List at {base-url}/browser — pick the one holding the documents you want
OAuth client ID + secret Service key → uaa.clientid / uaa.clientsecret
OAuth token URL Service key → uaa.url + /oauth/token

The service key is generated when an admin creates a service instance of sdm in BTP cockpit (plan name varies — standard, integration).

If your tenant uses Communication Arrangements instead (typical for integrated S/4HANA Cloud):

  1. SAP Fiori → Communication Arrangements → create one with template SAP_COM_0552 (Document Management Service Integration).
  2. Bind a Communication User + System as inbound.
  3. Note the Service Endpoint URL (= CMIS base URL) and the OAuth credentials.

Configure the source

  1. Repositories → Add Source → CMIS.
  2. Fill in: name, CMIS base URL, Repository ID, OAuth client ID / secret / token URL.
  3. Test connection — FileRelay mints a token, queries the CMIS service document, validates.
  4. Save.

Credentials are encrypted at rest. See the Security page for the deeper architecture.

How fetching works

Polling (default, 60 s)

CMIS query for documents created or modified since the last poll:

SELECT * FROM cmis:document
WHERE cmis:lastModificationDate > TIMESTAMP '<last-poll-time>'

For each result, FileRelay fetches the binary via cmis:contentStream and forwards.

Polling works on every tenant. Right for moderate volume + few-seconds latency tolerance.

Webhook / Event Mesh

If your tenant has SAP Event Mesh connected to DMS, FileRelay can subscribe to sap.dms.DocumentCreated + sap.dms.DocumentVersionCreated events. The endpoint is https://<your-deployment-host>/cmis/<source-slug>/events. Triggers immediate fetches — no polling lag.

If you're not sure whether Event Mesh is wired up, stay on polling.

Authentication + rotation

UAA tokens are ~12 h. FileRelay refreshes automatically with the configured credentials.

  • OAuth secret rotation — paste the new value; next token request uses it.
  • Service key regeneration — plan rotation before the old key expires; the source starts failing the moment the old key is invalidated.

Forwarded metadata

CMIS property Forwarded as
cmis:name filename
cmis:objectId source document ID (traceability)
cmis:createdBy author
cmis:creationDate source creation timestamp
cmis:contentStreamMimeType MIME type
Custom (sap:businessObjectKey, etc.) passed through verbatim, mapped to destination custom fields where supported

Per-connection mapping in Document Routing.

Gotchas

  • Browser binding (JSON) over AtomPub (XML) — FileRelay defaults to browser binding (/browser). Faster, simpler to debug, supported on every SAP DMS release.
  • Repository ID ≠ BTP service instance name — get the repository ID from a CMIS-level GET {base}/browser, not from the BTP UI.
  • Pagination — handled internally, but a poll interval shorter than the time to drain peak load causes lag accumulation. Tune to your peak document creation rate.
  • Permissions — the principal needs DocumentDownload + DocumentRead scopes. Without them getContentStream returns 403 with no useful body.
  • No delete propagation by default — when documents are deleted in DMS, FileRelay does not delete them from destinations. Once a document is routed, you own its lifecycle. Contact us if you need propagation.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Likely cause
401 from token URL Wrong client ID/secret, or Communication User isn't bound as inbound
404 on the service document CMIS base URL wrong (missing /browser?) or DMS isn't provisioned on the tenant
Polling works, nothing picked up Repository empty, or the OAuth principal lacks read on documents
Polling falls behind Poll interval too long, or upstream rate-limited — switch to Event Mesh if available

Raw CMIS request/response captures: Request Viewer.

Next steps