Consume APIs in API Manager

Overview

API consumer users consume managed APIs exposed by the API Gateway, using them to build and test client applications. API consumers can be client application developers from named organizations or the community organization. They can also include operator users who are responsible for monitoring production applications that invoke managed APIs. API Manager provides an intuitive user interface to enable API consumers to consume the managed APIs exposed by the API Gateway.

Consume REST APIs

Each API consumer user has an account in API Manager. They can use API Manager to perform tasks such as the following:

• Create applications
• Manage application authentication credentials
• Give other API consumers permission to view or manage their applications
• Monitor application API usage
• Manage their own account settings

API consumers are concerned only with applications, credentials, and APIs. They do not require detailed knowledge of the API Gateway

Register an API Manager user account

The API consumer can use to following URL to register an API Manager user account:

https://HOSTNAME:8075

This displays the following registration dialog:

When the user account has been registered, an email is sent to the user to enable them to activate their account. They can then log into API Manager using their registered user name and password.

For details on optional registration codes for organizations, see Administer APIs in API Manager.

API consumer view

When an API consumer user logs in to API Manager, this displays a specific view for the API consumer. This includes the following tabs:

• Monitoring: View historical reports and statistics on all client applications created by the API consumer.
• Applications: Create, manage or delete client applications that invoke APIs.
• API Catalog: Browse all virtualized APIs available to the organization.
• Settings: Manage user Account Settings (for example, change password or user details).

Browse and retrieve APIs

You can use the API Catalog view to browse and retrieve APIs in API Manager. For example:

Manage client applications

You can use the Applications tab to manage client applications (for example, create, update, or remove client applications that invoke specific APIs). When an application is created, API administrators can also set authentication, quota, and sharing settings on the appropriate tab.

The following example shows editing a client application:

Create an application

To create an application, perform the following steps:

1. Click New application in the toolbar, and configure the following general fields:
   • Image: Click to add a graphical image for the application (for example, .png, .gif, or .jpeg file).
   • Application name: Enter the name of the application. This field is required.
   • Organization: Enter the name of the organization that the application belongs to. This field is required. The choice of organization determines which APIs are available to the application. For more details, see Administer APIs in API Manager.
   • Enabled: Select whether the application is enabled. Applications are enabled by default.

2. Configure the following additional attributes:
   • Email: Enter an email address for the application.
   • Phone: Enter a phone number for the application.
   • Description: Enter a short description of the application.

3. Click Add API to select the APIs and methods used by the application. You can add multiple APIs for an application.
4. Click Create in the toolbar.

Edit an application

When applications have been created, you can click an application name in the Managing applications screen to edit its existing settings on the Application tab. API administrators can also configure additional settings on the following tabs:

Authentication

The following settings are available on the Authentication tab:

• API KEYS: Click New API Key to create an API key for the application. API keys are enabled by default. Click Show Secret to obtain the associated secret key. You can also specify JavaScript Origins to allow the application to run on specific protocols or domains (for example, https://my_test_url.example.com) for Cross Origins Resource Sharing (CORS). You can enter * to allow all domains. For more details, see Virtualize REST APIs in API Manager.
• OAUTH CREDENTIALS: Click New client ID to create a client ID for the application, and enter the following settings in the dialog:
• • Application Type: Defaults to Confidential. Alternatively, select Public.
  • Redirect URLs: You can enter optional redirect URLs for the application (one URL per line). The application can then redirect users only to the specified URLs, which helps prevent attacks.
  • X.509 Certificate: You can paste the contents of a Base64-encoded public X.509 certificate for the application.
• Newly created client IDs are enabled by default. You can click Show Secret to obtain the associated secret key. You can specify JavaScript Origins to allow the application to run on specific protocols or domains for CORS. For more details, see Virtualize REST APIs in API Manager.
• OAUTH EXTERNAL CREDENTIALS: Click New client ID, and enter the external client ID for the application. Client IDs are enabled by default. You can specify JavaScript Origins to allow the application to run on specific protocols or domains for CORS. For more details, see Virtualize REST APIs in API Manager.
• OAUTH SCOPES: Click Add scope, and select one of the following scopes to manage application access to protected resources:
• • resource.READ: Read-only access to the resource.
  • resource.WRITE: Write access to the resource.
  • openid: OpenID Connect access to the resource.
  • Add New Scope: Enter a custom scope name to manage access to the resource.

For more details on OAuth, see the API Gateway OAuth User Guide.

Quota

The Quota tab enables API administrators to override the application-default quota and specify application-specific quota rules. For more details, see Administer APIs in API Manager.

Sharing

The Sharing tab enables API administrators to manage access to the application for specified users. Click Add User, select an existing user name from the list, and select whether the user can View or Manage the application. The default is View.

You can add multiple existing users. For details on creating users, see Administer APIs in API Manager. To remove user access to the application, select the user name, and click Remove.