# Outgoing API Calls

It's also quite common to want to send data to a third party API (perhaps even your own) at some point in a workflow execution. Fortunately, we've build a Custom API Block to handle just that. To add a Custom API Block, simple add it at any point in your workflow as seen below.

![Custom API Block is found under Utilities](/files/hsJbuW4JBmiIATEatC7S) ![Configure the Custom API Block method, authentication, etc](/files/gjGAt3xhJ47xjBP2Eydz)

You can easily configure the Custom API block authentication (if applicable), method, and any header or body parameters you want sent out. Of course, you can use any variable data exposed in previous blocks by using the variable selector.

If you're sending data to your own API, we've found it useful to be able to identify which workflow and user the incoming request is coming from. To alleviate that problem, whenever an outgoing API call is sent via the Custom API Block, we attach the following headers:

* `X-Alloy-ParentWorkflowId` - The Forge Parent Workflow Id
* `X-Alloy-WorkflowId` - The Forge Child Workflow Id
* `X-Alloy-UserId` - The Forge User Id


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