Creating an API

Follow the steps below to add an API to the API Store using the API Publisher Web application.

1. Log in to the API Publisher as a user who has the creator role assigned. For more information on creating users and assigning roles, refer to section User Management.   
2. Once logged in, click Add. The Add New API window opens.
   
   

   We explain each field of the above page using a sample phone validation service. This service is exposed by Cdyne company, has SOAP and REST interfaces and is documented using a WSDL file. This service is described at http://wiki.cdyne.com/index.php/Phone_Verification. 

   The table below explains the fields and sample values according to the phone validation service. Only the fields marked with * are mandatory.
    
   

   Field	Description	Example Values
   Name*	Name of API as you want it to appear in the API store	PhoneVerification
   Context*	URI context path that is used by to API consumers	/phoneverify
   Version*	API version (in the form of version.major.minor)	1.0.0
   Tier Availability*	For details, see Throttling Tiers.	Bronze/Gold/Silver/Unlimited
   Visibility*	For details, see API Visibility.	Public
   Thumbnail Image	Icon to be displayed in API store (can be jpeg, tiff, png format)	Image file
   Description	High-level description of API functionality.	Text
   Tags	Any number of tags separated by comma. Tags allow you to group/categorize APIs that have similar attributes and behaviors. When tagging, always use relevant keywords and common search terms. Once a tagged API gets published to the API Store, its tags appear on the dashboard as links to the API consumers, who can click on them to quickly jump to a category they are interested in.	String
   Endpoint Security Scheme*	Secured endpoint or Non secured endpoint. Default is non secured endpoint. If secured endpoint is selected, user will be asked for credentials of the backend service.	Secured
   Credentials*	If secured endpoint is selected as the "Endpoint Type" above, user will be asked for credentials of the backend service.
   Transports*	The transport protocol on which the API is exposed	HTTP, HTTPS
   Production/Sandbox URLs*	Endpoint of the back-end service URL and endpoint of sandbox (testing) back-end service. A sandbox URL is used for online testing of an API with easy access to an API key. Also see Maintaining Separate Production and Sandbox Gateways.	http://ws.cdyne.com/phoneverify/phoneverify.asmx
   Sequences	Custom sequences that you want to invoke in the message flow. For details, see per-API sequences.
   WSDL	URL of WSDL file (describing API interface): http://ws.cdyne.com/phoneverify/phoneverify.asmx?wsdl	URL
   WADL	URL to WADL file (describing API interface).	URL
   Business Owner and Email	Information about the person responsible for this API at a business level.	String
   Technical Owner and Email	Information about the person responsible for this API at a technical level.	String
   API Resources	For details, see API Resources.

   When adding an API, both HTTP and HTTPS transports will be selected as default. If the user wishes to restrict API availability to only one transport (E.g. HTTPS), this can be achieved by removing the tick against the unwanted transport, in the transports section.

   When the user tries to send requests to a secured endpoint, s/he might get a Hostname verfiication failed exception. To overcome this, set <parameter name="HostnameVerifier"> to AllowAll in <APIM_HOME>/repository/conf/axis2/axis2.xml file's HTTPS transport sender configuration. For example,<parameter name="HostnameVerifier">AllowAll</parameter>.

   This parameter is used to verifies the hostname of the certificate of a server when API Manager acts as a client and does outbound service calls.

    

3.  Once the required information is filled, click the Create button at the end of the page to create the API.

4. If the API is created successfully, the All APIs window opens with the newly-added API.

5. Click the API to access its information. It has the following tabs:

   

   
   
   • Overview: Displays the details of the API
     
   • Edit: Allows the user to change the API details and test the Endpoint URL, Sandbox URL, WSDL and WADL.
     
   • Versions: Shows usage and subscription statistics of the API per version.
     
   • Docs: Allows to add  documents to an API. For instructions, refer to section Adding Documentation Using API Publisher.  
     
   • Users: Shows the list of active users subscribed to the API and their subscription statistics.
     
     

   Note: The Edit tab is only visible to users with creator privileges. Users logged in as creators do not have permission to publish the API. To publish, you need to log in as a user with publisher privileges.

Using these tabs, you can manage your API. Next, see Modifying and Deleting an API.