= API Method: StartAction

This is the method the OliveTin web UI uses to start actions, and is probably the best method to use if you are writing scripts.

* **HTTP Method**: `POST`
* **Request Type**: xref:api/start_action.adoc#api-request-startaction[StartAction request object] (`bindingId`, `arguments`, `uniqueTrackingId`, `justification`)
* **Response Type**: Execution Tracking ID

NOTE: `StartAction` selects the action with `bindingId`, not `actionId`. For a normal action, the binding ID is the same as the action `id` from your `config.yaml`. See xref:api/start_action.adoc#api-ids[Action IDs vs Binding IDs].

There are several variants of this API call available which might be easier for scripts (or humans) to work with:

include::partial$api/start_action_methods.adoc[]

== Example API call: Start an action using `StartAction`

[source,bash]
.curl
----
user@host: curl "http://olivetin.example.com:1337/api/StartAction" --json '{"bindingId": "nuclear_reactor_shutdown"}'
{"executionTrackingId":"6ecda25d-b6e1-4621-898c-d4e6f2dbeda5"}
----

[source,powershell]
.Powershell
----
PS C:\Users\xcons> $json = '{"bindingId": "deploy_attack_gnomes"}'
PS C:\Users\xcons> Invoke-RestMethod -Method "Post" -Uri "http://olivetinServer:1337/api/StartAction" -ContentType "application/json" -Body $json
----

== Example API call: Start an action using `StartAction` with arguments

[source,bash]
.curl
----
user@host: curl 'http://olivetin.example.com:1337/api/StartAction' --json '{"bindingId": "Ping_host", "arguments": [{"name": "host", "value": "example.com"},{"name": "count", "value": "1"}]}'
----