1. Building a basic API

This tutorial will help with creating an API.

Praise Magidi avatar
Written by Praise Magidi
Updated over a week ago

The Gateway (API Builder) can be used to design and create an API definition to build a set of dedicated Routes and EndPoints.

Every API definition will include the OpenAPI (Swagger) specification that the Synatic definition is based on and defines the overall structure of the API.

There are 3 types of API which can be created which are the following:

  1. REST API

  2. oData API

  3. Data Gateway - Used to view buffer data in a reporting tool such as Power BI for analytics.

In this tutorial, we are first going to create the basic root definition of the API. Only the API Title and Description, as well as the API Type is configured.

1. Creating a REST API:

To create a REST API, follow these instructions:

1. Click the three menu dots (⋮) adjacent to the flow name on the sidebar (1).

2. Click on the Create Rest API button (2).


3. Provide the API name.

Once the basic Portal API definition is in place, open the API to start adding the rest of the API components in the API Builder's main tabs.

Info The APIs service and metadata URLs including the API type.

Tags – Tags are used to organize the Endpoints and Routes in the Paths option.

Security Schemes – Security schemes are created to manage various authorization levels. The goal is to describe the security requirements for a given API operation.

IP Whitelist – Configure to limit access to the API from trusted IP addresses only.

Rate Limit – Applies a maximum rate of records to run every 10 seconds.

Paths For a Flow to retrieve all books/users. Although this component is not part of the API, it is used in the Synatic Source flows when building the API path endpoints and routes.

  • Schema – The schema is metadata that describes how our data is structured.
    Most databases implement some form of schema which will help define the APIs data in a more structured manner.

  • You can connect various components of your API development and testing process to your schema.

2. Creating an oData API:

To create an oData API, follow these instructions:

1. Click the three menu dots (⋮) adjacent to the flow name on the sidebar (1).

2. Click on the Create oData API button (2).

3. Provide the API name.

Once the basic Portal API definition is in place, open the API to start adding the rest of the API components in the API Builder's main tabs.

Info The APIs service and metadata URLs including the API type.

Entities – Define the path using of the API. This can be done through configuring a model or selecting a data source.

IP Whitelist – Configure to limit access to the API from trusted IP addresses only.

3. Creating a Data Gateway:

To create a Data Gateway, follow these instructions:

1. Click the three menu dots (⋮) adjacent to the flow name on the sidebar (1).

2. Click on the Create Data Gateway button (2).

3. Provide the Gateway name.

Once the basic Portal API definition is in place, open the API to start adding the rest of the API components in the API Builder's main tabs.

For information about Data Gateway, follow the link below:


Useful Tutorials

Revisit the Getting Started page for a refresher.

Read more about the API Builder here.


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