Invoking Callouts Using Apex

An Apex callout enables you to tightly integrate your Apex with an external service by making a call to an external Web service or sending a HTTP request from Apex code and then receiving the response. Apex provides integration with Web services that utilize SOAP and WSDL, or HTTP services (RESTful services).

Note

Before any Apex callout can call an external site, that site must be registered in the Remote Site Settings page, or the callout fails.Salesforce prevents calls to unauthorized network addresses.

To learn more about the two types of callouts, see:

SOAP Services: Defining a Class from a WSDL Document
Invoking HTTP Callouts

Tip

Callouts enable Apex to invoke external web or HTTP services. Apex Web services allow an external application to invoke Apex methods through Web services.