1. What is Informatica CAI?

Answer:
Cloud Application Integration (CAI) is an API-led and event-driven integration service within IDMC. It helps build real-time, synchronous integrations, microservices, and business workflows.

2. What are the key components of CAI?

Answer:

• Processes (BPMN-based workflows)

• Service Connectors

• Guides

• Process Objects

• Process Designer

• Application Integration Console

• Process APIs / REST APIs

3. What is an Application Integration Process?

Answer:
A Process is a workflow that integrates applications by using:

• Steps

• Decisions

• Assignments

• Loops

• Service calls

• Fault handlers

It executes synchronously or asynchronously depending on design.

4. Difference between CDI and CAI?

Answer:

Both are part of IDMC but serve different integration needs.

5. What is a Service Connector?

Answer:
A Service Connector is a reusable object for connecting to APIs/services. Supports:

• REST

• SOAP

• OData
  You define inputs/outputs, authentication, and operations.

6. What are Process Objects?

Answer:
Process Objects are structured data models (like JSON schemas) used to pass complex inputs/outputs between activities.
Example: Customer, Order, Invoice objects.

7. How do you call external APIs in CAI?

Answer:
Using:

• Service Connector calls

• Service Step

• REST API step
  You configure method, URL, headers, authentication, and body.

8. What are Fault Handlers in CAI?

Answer:
Fault handlers manage:

• Exceptions

• Timeouts

• API failure responses

• Retry logic

• Custom error messages
  Improves reliability of integrations.

9. What is a Guide?

Answer:
A Guide is a step-by-step user-facing workflow.
Used for:

• Business approvals

• Data entry

• Support workflows

• HR onboarding

It interacts with humans instead of just systems.

10. What authentication methods does CAI support?

Answer:

• OAuth 2.0

• Basic Auth

• API Keys

• JWT tokens

• Session-based authentication

11. What is Process Input and Output?

Answer:

• Process Input → Parameters the process accepts via API invocation

• Process Output → Final response returned to the caller
  These help CAI expose processes as API endpoints.

12. How does CAI support real-time integrations?

Answer:

• Webhooks

• REST calls

• Event triggers

• API-based orchestration

• Real-time process execution

CAI is designed for immediate response-based interactions.

13. What is the Wait step used for?

Answer:
Used to delay execution for:

• Scheduling

• Polling

• Retrying operations

• Waiting for external system responses
  Useful in long-running workflows.

14. How do you handle looping in CAI?

Answer:
Using:

• For Each loops

• While loops

• Iterating arrays from process objects

Often used for processing multiple items from API responses.

15. What is the Application Integration Console?

Answer:
A monitoring dashboard to track:

• Process executions

• Error logs

• API calls

• Performance

• Process usage statistics

Critical for production monitoring.