A REST API is a programming interface based on the HTTP protocol that allows applications to communicate with each other by exchanging data in JSON or XML format.
What is a REST API?
A REST API (Representational State Transfer) is a software architecture style that defines a set of constraints for creating web services. It uses the standard HTTP protocol and allows different applications to communicate with each other in a simple and standardized way.
Fundamental principles
- Client-server: The client (your application) sends requests to the server (the API) which processes and returns data
- Stateless: Each request contains all necessary information, the server doesn't store context between requests
- Resources identified by URLs: Each piece of data is accessible via a unique URL (endpoint)
- HTTP methods: GET (read), POST (create), PUT (update), DELETE (remove)
Data format
Modern REST APIs primarily use JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format to exchange data. This format is lightweight, human-readable and easily parseable by all programming languages.
REST API and AILabsAudit
AILabsAudit provides a complete REST API v1 that lets you programmatically access your audit data, clients, reports and analytics. Authentication is done via an API key (X-Api-Key header) and all responses are in JSON format with built-in pagination.