API Blueprint is simple and accessible to everybody involved in the APIlifecycle. Its syntax is concise yet expressive. With API Blueprint you canquickly design and prototype APIs to be created or document and test alreadydeployed mission-critical APIs.
# GET /message+Response 200 (text/plain) Hello World!API Blueprint is built to encourage dialogue and collaboration betweenproject stakeholders, developers and customers at any point in the APIlifecycle. At the same time, the API Blueprint tools provide the support toachieve the goals be it API development, governance or delivery.
API Blueprint is completely open sourced under the MIT license.Its future istransparent and open.API Blueprint doesn't need a closed work group. Instead it uses the RFCprocess similar to Rust language or Django Enhancement Proposal RFC processes.
To contribute, submit a proposal toAPI Blueprint RFC repository.
The API Blueprint language is recognized by GitHub.Search for API Blueprint on GitHub using thelanguage:"API Blueprint" query.
The media type for API Blueprint istext/vnd.apiblueprint, and thestandard file extension is.apib. If you use this extension yourblueprints on GitHub will get syntax-highlighted.
API Blueprint is built to encourage better API designs through abstraction.The goal of API Blueprint is to decouple elements of API to enable modularitywhile encapsulating backend implementation behavior.
For example, model your data first using the data description syntax.
# Data Structures## Blog Post (object)+ id: 42 (number, required)+ text: Hello World (string)+ author (Author) - Author of the blog post.## Author (object)+ name: Boba Fett+ email: fett@intergalactic.comThen, use and reuse the data in your API endpoints.
# Blog Posts[/posts]## Retrieve All Posts[GET]+Response 200 (application/json) +Attributes (array[Blog Post])API Blueprint is all about the design-first philosophy. Similar to tests intest-driven development, API Blueprint represents a contract for an API.Discussing your API and settling on the contract before it is developed tends tolead to better API designs.
Once your API Blueprint is in place everybody cantest whether theimplementation is living up to the expectations set in the contract.
Thanks to its broad adoption there is a plethora of tools built for API Blueprint.From various standalone tools such as mock server, documentation and testingtools to full-featured API life-cycle solutions.
See theTools section for the list.
To get started with API Blueprint you will need a plain-text editor. For thebest editing experience switch the syntax-highlighting to Markdown ordirectly to API Blueprint (ifsupported by your editor).
With editor ready, follow theAPI Blueprint tutorial.
Once you have written your first API Blueprint you can discuss the API designwith friends and use thetools for API Blueprint. For example,to render documentation, generate a mock of your service or start testing yourbackend implementation.
Check theDocumentation section for additional resources onthe API Blueprint syntax.