Proofpoint API Patterns

Proofpoint API Patterns

Overview

The Proofpoint APIs provide programmatic access to email security data including threat events, quarantine management, people risk analytics, and URL defense. This skill covers authentication, base URLs, rate limiting, pagination, error handling, and best practices for API integration.

Proofpoint operates multiple API endpoints, each serving a different product area. All APIs share the same authentication mechanism but have different base URLs and rate limits.

Authentication

HTTP Basic Auth

All Proofpoint APIs use HTTP Basic Authentication with a service principal and secret:

GET /v2/siem/all?sinceSeconds=3600
Host: tap-api.proofpoint.com
Authorization: Basic <base64(service_principal:service_secret)>
Content-Type: application/json

Constructing the Authorization Header:

const credentials = Buffer.from(`${servicePrincipal}:${serviceSecret}`).toString('base64');
const headers = {
  'Authorization': `Basic ${credentials}`,
  'Content-Type': 'application/json'
};

# Using curl
curl -u "SERVICE_PRINCIPAL:SERVICE_SECRET" \
  "https://tap-api.proofpoint.com/v2/siem/all?sinceSeconds=3600"

Environment Variables

export PROOFPOINT_SERVICE_PRINCIPAL="your-service-principal"
export PROOFPOINT_SERVICE_SECRET="your-service-secret"
export PROOFPOINT_MCP_URL="https://proofpoint-mcp.wyre.workers.dev/mcp"

Obtaining Credentials

1. Log into the Proofpoint TAP Dashboard at https://threatinsight.proofpoint.com
2. Navigate to Settings > Connected Applications
3. Click Create New Credential
4. Copy the Service Principal and Service Secret
5. Store securely - the secret is shown only once

Important: Service credentials are scoped to your organization. Each MSP client organization requires its own set of credentials.

Base URLs

API Endpoints

| API | Base URL | Description | |-----|----------|-------------| | TAP SIEM | https://tap-api.proofpoint.com | Threat events, clicks, messages | | People | https://tap-api.proofpoint.com | VAP reports, top clickers, user risk | | Quarantine | https://tap-api.proofpoint.com | Quarantine management | | Forensics | https://tap-api.proofpoint.com | Threat response and investigation | | URL Defense | https://tap-api.proofpoint.com | URL decoding and analysis |

Note: All APIs currently share the same base URL (tap-api.proofpoint.com) but are versioned and namespaced separately in the path.

API Versioning

| API | Version | Path Prefix | Example | |-----|---------|-------------|---------| | TAP SIEM | v2 | /v2/siem/ | /v2/siem/all?sinceSeconds=3600 | | People | v2 | /v2/people/ | /v2/people/vap?window=30 | | Campaign | v1 | /v1/campaign/ | /v1/campaign/{campaignId} | | Forensics | v2 | /v2/forensics/ | /v2/forensics?threatId={id} | | URL Defense | v2 | /v2/url/ | /v2/url/decode |

Rate Limiting

Rate Limit Tiers

| API | Requests per Hour | Burst Limit | Notes | |-----|-------------------|-------------|-------| | TAP SIEM | 1000 | 10/sec | Per service principal | | People | 500 | 5/sec | Per service principal | | Quarantine | 500 | 5/sec | Per service principal | | Forensics | 500 | 5/sec | Per service principal | | URL Defense | 1000 | 10/sec | Per service principal |

Rate Limit Headers

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
X-RateLimit-Limit: 1000
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 995
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1708012800

| Header | Description | |--------|-------------| | X-RateLimit-Limit | Maximum requests per window | | X-RateLimit-Remaining | Requests remaining in current window | | X-RateLimit-Reset | Unix timestamp when the window resets |

Rate Limit Response (HTTP 429)

{
  "error": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "message": "Too many requests. Please retry after the rate limit window resets.",
  "retryAfter": 60
}

Retry Strategy

async function requestWithRetry(url, options, maxRetries = 5) {
  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++) {
    const response = await fetch(url, options);

    if (response.status === 429) {
      const retryAfter = parseInt(response.headers.get('Retry-After') || '60');
      const jitter = Math.random() * 5000;
      await sleep(retryAfter * 1000 + jitter);
      continue;
    }

    if (response.status >= 500) {
      const delay = Math.pow(2, attempt) * 1000 + Math.random() * 1000;
      await sleep(delay);
      continue;
    }

    return response;
  }

  throw new Error(`Request failed after ${maxRetries} retries`);
}

Pagination

TAP SIEM API Pagination

The TAP SIEM API does not use traditional offset-based pagination. Instead, it uses time-based windowing:

GET /v2/siem/all?sinceSeconds=3600
GET /v2/siem/all?sinceTime=2024-02-15T00:00:00Z
GET /v2/siem/all?interval=PT30M/2024-02-15T12:00:00Z

| Parameter | Description | Max | |-----------|-------------|-----| | sinceSeconds | Events from N seconds ago to now | 86400 (24h) | | sinceTime | Events from timestamp to now | 24h from now | | interval | ISO 8601 interval (duration/end) | 1 hour window |

Quarantine API Pagination

GET /v2/quarantine/search?limit=25&offset=0
GET /v2/quarantine/search?limit=25&offset=25

| Parameter | Description | Default | Max | |-----------|-------------|---------|-----| | limit | Results per page | 25 | 500 | | offset | Starting offset | 0 | - |

People API Pagination

GET /v2/people/vap?window=30&size=100&page=1

| Parameter | Description | Default | Max | |-----------|-------------|---------|-----| | size | Results per page | 100 | 1000 | | page | Page number (1-based) | 1 | - |

Error Handling

HTTP Status Codes

| Code | Meaning | Action | |------|---------|--------| | 200 | Success | Process response | | 204 | No content | No events in the specified window | | 400 | Bad request | Check request parameters | | 401 | Unauthorized | Verify service principal and secret | | 403 | Forbidden | Check API access permissions | | 404 | Not found | Resource does not exist | | 429 | Rate limited | Implement backoff and retry | | 500 | Server error | Retry with exponential backoff | | 503 | Service unavailable | Retry after brief delay |

Error Response Format

{
  "error": "Bad Request",
  "message": "The sinceSeconds parameter must be between 1 and 86400.",
  "status": 400
}

Common Error Scenarios

| Error | Cause | Resolution | |-------|-------|------------| | 401 with valid credentials | Credentials may be expired | Regenerate in TAP dashboard | | 403 on People API | License does not include People | Upgrade license or contact Proofpoint | | 400 on time range | Window exceeds 24 hours | Reduce sinceSeconds to <= 86400 | | 204 on SIEM query | No events in time window | Normal - no threats in the period | | 404 on campaign | Campaign ID is invalid or old | Verify ID from TAP event data |

Request Patterns

TAP SIEM All Events

GET /v2/siem/all?format=json&sinceSeconds=3600
Authorization: Basic <credentials>

TAP Messages Blocked

GET /v2/siem/messages/blocked?format=json&sinceSeconds=3600
Authorization: Basic <credentials>

TAP Messages Delivered

GET /v2/siem/messages/delivered?format=json&sinceSeconds=3600
Authorization: Basic <credentials>

TAP Clicks Permitted

GET /v2/siem/clicks/permitted?format=json&sinceSeconds=3600
Authorization: Basic <credentials>

People VAP Report

GET /v2/people/vap?window=30&size=20
Authorization: Basic <credentials>

Campaign Details

GET /v1/campaign/{campaignId}
Authorization: Basic <credentials>

Forensics Report

GET /v2/forensics?threatId={threatId}
Authorization: Basic <credentials>

Response Patterns

TAP SIEM Response Structure

{
  "queryEndTime": "2024-02-15T12:00:00Z",
  "messagesBlocked": [...],
  "messagesDeli