Resources and Tools for APIs

Examples of APIs in Government  

• APIs That Power Agency-Built Mobile Apps—CDC’s Content API, Census Bureau economic APIs, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SaferBus API
• APIs That Power Agency Websites—GSA’s Social Media Registry API, FCC’s National Broadband Map APIs
• Single Endpoint API Set—Department of Labor
• Website Content APIs—CDC, FCC, SBA
• For more examples, note the individual APIs within agency's developer hubs

API Education Series 

• APIs for Dummies—An Introduction to APIs
• Case Studies from the FCC, FAA, and Department of Labor
• Case Studies from the Federal Register, NASA, and GSA
• Advanced Operations—Contracting, Legal, and IT Security
• Advanced Technical Overview—Formats, Keys, Analytics
• APIs and the Digital Government Strategy

Case Studies   

• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (MS Word, 20.93 KB, 2 pages, November 2012)
• Department of Labor—Software Development Kits (SDKs)
• Federal Register (PDF, 218 KB, 3 pages, November 2012)
• General Services Administration—Social Media Registry
• HealthFinder.gov
• National Broadband Map (PDF, 4.6 MB, 56 pages, September 2012)
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory

How to Make APIs—An Overview   

There are several different ways to generate APIs that range in complexity and functionality. This primer provides a general overview of the different methods.

API Release Kit  

Best practices around API production have agreed on a number of common elements which strongly benefit an API and warrant inclusion in the release whenever possible. The API release kit provides an outline of these components along with options for each functionality.

/Developer Kit

Government agencies are increasingly being called upon to provide a central hub by which developers can discover what APIs the agency offers and to find more information on each. The critical elements of these hubs are an agency-wide catalog of APIs, Terms of Service, and means of public engagement. However, by including further common elements, you can provide a more robust and successful developer user experience. The /developer kit provides an outline of these components.

Recommended Reading  

• What is an API?—AIDS.gov
• Introduction to Mashups—AIDS.gov
• APIs 101, Building Blocks, Tools—APIEvangelist
• Common Building Blocks—APIEvangelist
• The Secret To Amazon's Success: Internal Services—APIEvangelist
• Thoughts for Federal Agencies About To Deploy Web APIs—APIEvangelist
• GitHub in Government—BenBalter.com
• Publishing Government Data That Developers Will Actually Use—BenBalter.com
• GET /open/government/apis—Civic.io
• Making Information More Accessible—HHS
• Digital Government Strategy—OMB
• 7 Ways To Make Your APIs More Successful—NPR
• Realizing Transparency Through Federal APIs—ProgrammableWeb
• Using Mashups to Create More Efficient .Gov—ProgrammableWeb
• Top 10 Worst API Practices—ProgrammableWeb
• The Business Value of APIs—PricewaterhouseCoopers
• How Hard Is It To Make An API?—Quora
• Things API Developers Need From Your Website—Seabourne Inc
• Government—Do You Really Need An API?—Sunlight Foundation
• 5 Rules for API Management—TechCrunch
• Web Service—Wikipedia

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Content Lead: Gray Brooks
Page Reviewed/Updated: December 5, 2012