Developer Portal Overview
The Developer Portal is a dedicated platform designed for API consumers (e.g., third-party developers, and internal teams) that provides unified access to API documentation, testing tools, and related resources. This portal not only facilitates developers in quickly understanding and integrating APIs but also enhances visualization and control capabilities at the management and security levels. For an API gateway platform, offering a developer portal enables the following:
Streamlined API Exposure: By consolidating fragmented documentation, examples, and interface specifications into a unified platform, the portal significantly reduces integration costs and accelerates product integration with external systems.
Improved R&D and Operations Efficiency: Self-service features like documentation lookup, testing, and debugging reduce repetitive communication and documentation maintenance, thereby enhancing overall efficiency.
Centralized Management and Monitoring: The platform provides better tracking of API usage, response analysis, and key metrics monitoring, along with early detection of potential issues.
In API7 Enterprise 3.3.0, API7 Gateway now supports the automatic generation of a developer portal directly from the user-provided API documentation. This capability enables organizations to more easily expose API resources to external parties while delivering a consistent and convenient experience for developers.
API7 Provider Portal and Developer Portal
As API management platforms, the API7 Provider Portal and Developer Portal serve complementary roles but cater to different audiences and functionalities.
API7 Provider Portal
API7 Provider Portal is a management console tailored for API providers to facilitate API lifecycle management with ease.
- Target Audience: API providers and administrators
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Core Functions:
- Publishing and managing API products.
- Managing developers.
- Configuring policies for Developer Portal access, such as anonymous API viewing and login methods.
- Visualizing API access statistics, performing analytics, and tracking logs.
API7 Developer Portal
API7 Developer Portal provides a unified, self-service entry point for developers or partners, enabling them to quickly understand, access, and utilize API services.
- Target Audience: API consumers, such as third-party developers, partners, or internal development teams
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Core Functions:
- Providing API documentation, usage guides, and example code.
- Offering online testing and debugging interfaces.
- Managing application registration, obtaining API keys, and handling authentication credentials.
How to Use API7 Portal
Accessing the API7 Provider Portal
After logging into the API7 Enterprise dashboard, users are directed to the Gateway Management page by default. To switch to API7 Provider Portal, click the toggle button in the top-left corner. Upon switching, the page title updates to API7 Provider Portal, and the menu on the left reflects the relevant options for managing API products.
Creating and Publishing API Products
API products are a core resource in the API7 Provider Portal, representing a group of related APIs. Developers typically subscribe to APIs at the product level. There are two methods for creating API products.
1. Based on Published Services in API7 Gateway
- Select existing published services in API7 Gateway and group them into an API product.
- Within the API product, each service’s corresponding routes are treated as independent APIs.
2. Importing OpenAPI Files
- Quickly generate API products by importing existing OpenAPI files.
- Note that products created this way are not directly linked to the gateway’s configurations.
Example: Adding API Product from API7 Gateway
To add an API product, click the "Add API Product" button and select the "From API7 Gateway" menu item to access the API product creation form.
On the form, you need to fill in the following information:
- Basics: Includes name, description, labels, logo, etc.
- Authentication Type: Specify whether approval is required.
- Visibility: Set the visibility scope of the API product.
- Linked Gateway Services: Select a published gateway service that meets the following two conditions:
- A hostname has been configured.
- An OpenAPI document has been uploaded.
Adding a New API Product
If no services meet the requirements, you can follow the configuration steps below.
1. Upload OpenAPI Document and Configure Hostname for Existing Services
In the service details or service template page, click OpenAPI Specification in the left navigation bar. Then, upload the corresponding OpenAPI document for the service. Ensure that the API definitions in the document precisely match the service's actual routes. This guarantees developers accurate API documentation during debugging and successful upstream access.
After uploading the document, you can preview it in real time, which mirrors the final API documentation developers will access.
Next, in the Routes section of the service details or template details page, configure the hosts in the Request URL module. By default, the hosts is set to "*", which means the service processes requests from any hostname.
For linking the service to an API product, a precise host must be specified. This requirement ensures that developers can access APIs using the complete path format: host + path prefix + API.
2. Create a New Service for Linking to an API Product
If no services have been published, you can create a new service by uploading an OpenAPI document as a service template and publishing it, or by creating a service in the gateway group directly. Services created this way automatically parse the OpenAPI-defined APIs into routes, retaining the document without requiring re-upload. Configure the host as described earlier to make the service eligible for API product linkage.
Once the gateway configuration is complete, return to the provider portal and click Add Linked Gateway Service. Select the required published service to complete the linkage.
By default, the newly created API product will be in a draft state, invisible to developers. Before publishing, review the API documentation, visibility settings, and authentication settings. It's recommended to configure API product event notifications (e.g., subscription approval or cancellation) to avoid missing critical updates.
Publishing an API Product
After verifying the API product, click the Publish button at the top-right corner and confirm. Developers matching the visibility settings can then access the product through the Developer Portal.
Accessing API7 Developer Portal
You can access the API7 Developer Portal in two ways:
- Visit the Developer Portal's URL.
- Click the Developer Portal button in the left menu of the API7 Portal dashboard.
On the homepage of the API7 Developer Portal, click the Login button in the top-right corner to log in.
Creating a Developer
There are two ways to create a developer account:
- Self-Registration: Developers register themselves on the login page.
- Administrator Invitation: Administrators create accounts via the API7 Portal dashboard.
Self-Registration
Click the Sign up button on the login page, and complete the form with a username and password.
Administrator-Initiated Registration
In the API7 Portal dashboard, navigate to the Developers section and click Invite Developer. Fill out the form with the username and a one-time password, and optionally provide a display name for identification.
After adding the developer, share the username and password with the user. Upon first login, they must reset their password.
Viewing API Products
After logging in, developers can click API Hub to view all published API products.
Except for viewing API documentation, the system also supports generating multi-language code samples for each API on the detail page. Developers can copy these sample codes to their development environment for testing.
Debugging API Products
Besides, developers can test APIs directly by clicking the Test Request button.
After clicking Test Request, you can see an online testing panel.
- The Request URL is automatically generated based on the service configuration associated with the API product.
- The Authentication Method defaults to Key Auth and automatically fills in the API Key for the current developer account.
Developers only need to supplement the required request parameters according to the API interface definition to proceed with debugging.
Subscribing to API Products
If an API product is restricted to specific users, the provider portal's administrator can disable the Unsubscribed developers can view API details option in the product's visibility settings. This ensures that developers must subscribe to the product before accessing or invoking its APIs.
When a developer accesses the API product details page under this setting, a "Subscribe to Unlock" button will be displayed. Clicking the button sends a subscription request to the provider administrator.
If the approval process is enabled for the API product, the developer must wait for the administrator's approval before gaining access to view the details.
In the Organization menu of the API7 Provider Portal, if there are pending approvals, a red dot will appear next to the Approvals menu item as an indicator. Clicking this menu item navigates to the approval management page.
The approval page is designed for managing developer requests to access API resources. Administrators can review the following request information on this page: event type, resource name, applicant, and apply time. Through the interface, administrators can take action to Approve or Reject the request.
The approval decision directly impacts the developer's API access permissions:
- Approve: The developer gains access to view the API product details page and invoke the API.
- Reject: The developer must communicate with the administrator, make necessary adjustments based on the feedback, and resubmit the request.
Conclusion
API7 Enterprise integrates the API gateway platform with a developer portal to create an efficient API management solution for both API providers and developers.
The API7 Provider Portal enables API providers to easily publish, manage, and monitor API products while effectively coordinating developer resources. Meanwhile, developers can quickly understand, integrate, and efficiently utilize API services, accelerating application development. These two portals work in synergy to streamline the API lifecycle management process, making each step—from deployment to invocation—more seamless and efficient.
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