What is SAP CPI (Cloud Integration)?
SAP CPI, now called Cloud Integration, is the capability of SAP Integration Suite that runs integration flows (iFlows). An iFlow receives a message through a sender adapter, processes it with steps such as mapping, routing and scripting, and delivers it through a receiver adapter, with monitoring, retry options and security built in.
The name has changed over the years. It began as SAP HANA Cloud Integration (HCI), became SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI), and is now Cloud Integration within SAP Integration Suite. Practitioners still say CPI, and the terms refer to the same runtime.
An iFlow is modelled graphically in the browser from a small set of building blocks:
| Building block | Examples |
|---|---|
| Sender and receiver adapters | HTTPS, SOAP, OData, IDoc, SFTP, JMS, AS2, AMQP, Kafka |
| Transformations | Message mapping, XSLT mapping, content modifier, converters |
| Routing | Router, multicast, splitter, gather |
| Persistence | JMS queues, Data Store, variables |
| Scripting | Groovy and JavaScript |
| Error handling | Exception subprocess and end events |
Content is grouped into packages, configured with externalised parameters, and deployed to the tenant's runtime, where the monitor shows each message's status and processing log. Reliability comes from patterns rather than defaults: asynchronous flows should persist messages and retry, and every flow should handle exceptions deliberately. Start with SAP error handling patterns and the retry guide.
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