Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) Integration

Overview

The Administrate - Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) integration connects your two systems so they stay in sync automatically. You run all instructor-led training (ILT) and virtual ILT (vILT) operations in Administrate, and learners see accurate, up-to-date information in Cornerstone - without any manual data entry in between.

What Is the CSOD Integration?

The CSOD integration is a real-time, bidirectional data sync between Administrate and Cornerstone OnDemand. It eliminates duplicate work by automatically reflecting changes in one system inside the other.

For your training administrators, that means you schedule, plan, manage resources, and communicate through Administrate. For your learners and HR teams, Cornerstone remains the single source of truth for enrollment status, training history, and compliance records.

Why We Built This

Organizations using both Administrate and Cornerstone have traditionally maintained data in two places. That creates errors, delays, and administrative overhead. A training administrator who updates a session date in Administrate still has to update Cornerstone manually. A learner who registers through Cornerstone may not appear in the right roster.

This integration removes that problem entirely. Every key event in either system triggers an automatic update in the other. Your data stays accurate, and your team focuses on training instead of data entry.

Key Features

• Organizational sync: Organizational units (OUs) in Cornerstone map to Accounts in Administrate and stay in sync daily.
• User and contact sync: New users created in either system are automatically provisioned in the other.
• Course and session sync: Published course templates in Administrate create Event Learning Objects in Cornerstone. Events and sessions sync in real time.
• Enrollment sync: Registrations made in either system appear immediately in the other.
• Completion and results sync: Pass/fail results and attendance records flow between systems automatically.
• Cancellation sync: When a learner is canceled in Administrate, their Cornerstone assignment is withdrawn. If they are cancelled in Cornerstone the cancellation is reflected in Administrate.
• Audit logging: Every sync operation writes to a log you can review inside Administrate for troubleshooting and compliance.

How to Get Started

Before the integration goes live, confirm that the following are in place.

Administrate Requirements

• Active Administrate instance with OAuth2 API credentials configured.
• Outbound webhooks enabled for the following events: contact created, account created, event created, event updated, learner created, learner canceled, learner result updated, learner attended session, learner missed session, and course template published.

Cornerstone Requirements

• API access enabled in your Cornerstone portal, with a base URL in the format https://your-portal.csod.com.
• API credentials with permissions to manage Users, Organizational Units, Sessions, Event Learning Objects, and Learning Assignments.
• Outbound webhooks (data feeds) configured to send notifications to the integration endpoint for: user creation, training registration, training completion and training withdrawn.

Initial Data Setup

Before the ongoing sync starts, the integration runs a one-time import to establish the baseline. This pulls your existing Cornerstone Organizational Units into Administrate as Accounts and imports your Users as Contacts, Locations OU to Locations, Subjects to Learning Categories and Vendors to a Course Template Custom Field. Your implementation team guides you through this step.

How It Works

Initial Sync

Flow: Cornerstone → Administrate

When the integration first goes live, it runs a one-time import to build the baseline in Administrate:

• Organizational Units sync to Accounts.
• Users sync to Contacts.
• Locations OU to Locations
• Subjects to Learning Categories

People and Organization Sync

Flow: Bidirectional

• New Contacts created in Administrate are provisioned as Users in Cornerstone.
• New Users created in Cornerstone are created as Contacts in Administrate.
• Organizational Unit changes in Cornerstone sync to Accounts in Administrate on a daily schedule.
• New Accounts created in Administrate create a corresponding Organizational Unit in Cornerstone.

Training Catalog Sync

Flow: Administrate → Cornerstone

• Publishing a course template in Administrate creates a Event Learning Object in Cornerstone.
• Creating or updating an event in Administrate syncs the session details to Cornerstone in real time.
• Learners always see the current dates, location, and availability in Cornerstone.

Enrollment Sync

Flow: Bidirectional

• Registering a learner in Administrate creates a Learning Assignment in Cornerstone.
• A learner registering through Cornerstone creates a registration in Administrate.
• Canceling a learner in Administrate withdraws their Cornerstone Learning Assignment and vice versa.

Results and Attendance Sync

Flow: Bidirectional

• Marking a learner present or absent in Administrate updates their attendance in Cornerstone.
• Recording a pass or fail result in Administrate updates the learner's result in Cornerstone. Cornerstone then calculates the final transcript status based on the combination of that result and the learner's attendance record - Completed, Incomplete, or No Show
• When a learner completes training in Cornerstone, their attendance and pass/fail result sync to Administrate.

Record Mapping

The table below shows how records map between the two systems.

Example: Registering a Learner End to End

Here is a concrete walkthrough of what happens when your training team registers a learner on an event in Administrate.

Part 1: The Learner Record Is Created

When you add a learner to an event in Administrate, a webhook fires immediately with the learner's contact information, event details, and any existing external IDs.

The integration checks whether the learner's contact already has a Cornerstone User ID linked to it. If no User ID exists yet, the integration creates the Cornerstone user first, then stores that ID on the Administrate contact record before continuing.

Part 2: The Learning Assignment Is Created in Cornerstone

Once the integration confirms both the Cornerstone User ID and the Cornerstone Learning Object ID for the event, it builds and submits an enrollment payload to Cornerstone's API. Cornerstone creates a Learning Assignment for the learner.

The returned assignment ID is stored on the Administrate learner record as an external ID. That link makes all future updates - such as result changes or cancellations - instant and reliable.

Part 3: Results and Attendance Flow Back Automatically

When you mark a learner as present or absent in Administrate, the attendance record updates in Cornerstone straight away. When you record a pass or fail result, Cornerstone uses that result alongside the learner's attendance to calculate the final transcript status - Completed, Incomplete, or No Show.
This also works in the other direction. When a learner completes training in Cornerstone, the result updates in Administrate automatically.
If the learner cancels, the integration withdraws the Cornerstone Learning Assignment. No manual steps are required at any point.

Field Mapping for This Flow

Common Automation Use Cases

These are the scenarios the integration handles every day.

Organizational Changes

When your HR team restructures an organizational unit in Cornerstone, the daily sync updates the corresponding Account hierarchy in Administrate. No manual account management required.

New Hire Onboarding

When a new user appears in Cornerstone, the integration creates a Contact in Administrate immediately. When a new Contact is created in Administrate, a Cornerstone user is provisioned. Either way, both systems stay current.

Scheduling and Delivery

When you publish a course template in Administrate, the integration creates the Learning Object in Cornerstone. When you add or update an event, Cornerstone reflects the session details in real time, so learners always see the correct dates, locations, and availability.

Compliance Tracking

When you record results in Administrate, completion data flows to Cornerstone automatically. When a learner completes training in Cornerstone, the result updates in Administrate. Your compliance records stay accurate in both systems without any manual updates.

Cancellations

When a learner is removed from an event in Administrate, their Cornerstone Learning Assignment is withdrawn immediately. When a learner withdraws from a session in Cornerstone, the registration is canceled in Administrate. Either way, your rosters stay accurate in both systems.

Audit Logging

Every sync operation writes a log entry to the Administrate Integration Logs. You can access these logs directly inside Administrate to review, troubleshoot, and demonstrate compliance.

Each log entry records:

• The Administrate entity type and ID, with a direct link to the record
• The Cornerstone entity type and ID
• The API request URL and payload sent to Cornerstone
• The API response from Cornerstone
• The outcome: success, partial sync, or failure

If a sync fails, the log tells you exactly what was sent, what Cornerstone returned, and which record is affected. That makes investigation fast and targeted.

Known Limitations

Learner Completion and Session Requirements

Cornerstone requires a minimum number of sessions to be completed before marking a training record as complete. This threshold is set in Cornerstone and cannot be overridden by the integration. If a learner completes training in Administrate but does not meet Cornerstone's session requirement, the integration logs the error and the transcript status is not updated.