https://apiary.io/how-apiary-works

1<!doctype html>
2<html prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#">
3  <head>
4    <meta charset="utf-8">
5
6    <title>How Apiary Works: Fast-track your API Design Process | Apiary</title>
7
8    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
9    <meta name="author" content="Apiary">
10
11    <meta name="referrer" content="origin">
12
13              <meta name="description" content="Design an API in minutes. Share it with other developers. Let them use the API mock to take your API for a spin—without writing any code. Automatically document your API.">
14                      <meta property="og:title" content="Apiary | How Apiary Works: Fast-track your API Design Process">
15          <meta property="og:description" content="Design an API in minutes. Share it with other developers. Let them use the API mock to take your API for a spin—without writing any code. Automatically document your API.">
16        
17    <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//www.oracle.com">
18    <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//consent.trustarc.com">
19    <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://static.apiary.io">
20
21    <link rel='stylesheet' crossorigin="anonymous" href="https://static.apiary.io/assets/website-c6964ad4.css">
22    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://static.apiary.io/assets/3aqvBs0H.ico">
23    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="https://static.apiary.io/assets/2LhCErCD.png">
24    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://static.apiary.io/assets/kcRGh7aY.png">
25    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="114x114" href="https://static.apiary.io/assets/3y9KoZlJ.png">
26    <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://static.apiary.io/assets/fX9wgjhh.png">
27
28  </head>
29  <body class="website app howApiaryWorks">
30
31    <!-- website-header -->
32      <header id="websiteHeader"><div class="positioning">
33    <a class="headerLogotypeLink" href="https://apiary.io/"><h1 class="visuallyhidden" title="Apiary Inc.">Apiary</h1><div class="headerLogotype"></div></a>
34    <a class="to_nav" href="#navigation"><span class="visuallyhidden">Go to Navigation</span></a>
35  </div></header>
36    <!-- /website-header -->
37
38    
39  <section>
40    <div class="buildingAnAPI pageHeadLead mainSectionWrap startSectionWrap">
41      <div class="positioning">
42        <h1 class="largerTopSpace">Building an API</h1>
43        <h2>Fast-track your API Design</h2>
44        <p>Write an API in 30 minutes. Share it with your teammates or customers. Let them use the API mock to take your API for a spin--without writing any code. Iterate, rinse &amp;

44 repeat. Coding can wait until you know what your developers really need.</p>
45        <img class="resizeable largerTopSpace design-use-implement-schematics" src="https://static.apiary.io/assets/3PBYeVhR.png" width="571" height="189" alt="Design, Use, Implement—Schematics">
46      </div>
47    </div>
48    <article class="apiBlueprint">
49      <div class="positioning clearAfter">
50        <div class="apiBlueprintParagraph">
51          <h1>API Blueprint</h1>
52          <p>DNA for your API&mdash;powerful, <a href="https://apiblueprint.org" target="_blank">open sourced</a> and developer-friendly. The ease of Markdown combined with the power of automated mock servers, tests, validations, proxies, and code samples in your language bindings.</p>
53        </div>
54        <div class="blueprintSample">
55          <pre>
56<span class="lineWrap">FORMAT: 1A</span>
57<span class="lineWrap"></span>
58<span class="lineWrap"><span class="headline"># Message of the Day API</span></span>
59<span class="lineWrap">A simple [<span class="reference">MOTD</span>](<span class="linkage">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/motd</span>) API. </span>
60<span class="lineWrap"></span>
61<span class="lineWrap"><span class="headline"># Message [/messages/{id}]</span></span>
62<span class="lineWrap">This resource represents one particular message identified by its <span class="reference">*id*</span>.</span>
63<span class="lineWrap"></span>
64<span class="lineWrap"><span class="headline">## Retrieve Message [GET]</span></span>
65<span class="lineWrap">Retrieve a message by its <span class="reference">*id*</span>.</span>
66<span class="lineWrap"></span>
67<span class="lineWrap">+ <span class="response">Response 200 (text/plain)</span></span>
68<span class="lineWrap"></span>
69<span class="lineWrap">        Hello World!</span>
70<span class="lineWrap"></span>
71<span class="lineWrap"><span class="headline">## Delete Message [DELETE]</span></span>
72<span class="lineWrap">Delete a message.</span>
73<span class="lineWrap"><span class="reference">**Warning:**</span> This action <span class="reference">**permanently**</span> removes the message from the database.</span>
74<span class="lineWrap"></span>
75<span class="lineWrap">+ <span class="response">Response 204</span></span>
76          </pre>
77        </div>
78      </div>
79    </article>
80    <article class="buildingTools mainSectionWrap">
81      <div class="positioning clearAfter">
82        <div class="serverMock">
83          <h1>Server Mock</h1>
84          <p class="largerTopSpace">It's often hard to see how an API will be used until you have the chance to code against it. What wireframes are for UI design, a server mock is for API design. A quick way to prototype an API - even before you start writing code.</p>
85        </div>
86        <div class="gitHubConnection">
87          <h1>GitHub Sync</h1>
88          <p class="largerTopSpace">Two clicks will link Apiary to a repository of your choice. It’s up to you whether you make the API Blueprint private or public and let community contribute. We update API docs every time you commit, and we push commits to the repo whenever you update your documentation at Apiary. It's a virtuous cycle. We even support on-premise GitHub Enterprise!</p>
89        </div>
90      </div>
91    </article>
92    <article class="commandLineTools mainSectionWrap">
93      <div class="positioning clearAfter">
94        <img class="ilu resizeable how-it-works-terminal" src="https://static.apiary.io/assets/1jmI11tI.png" width="344" height="225" alt="Terminal Schematic">
95        <h1>Command Line Tools</h1>
96        <p class="largerTopSpace">As nice as our online editor is, we know the command-line is what really counts. The <a href="https://help.apiary.io/tools/apiary-cli/">Apiary CLI Gem</a> lets you validate your API Blueprint, preview the documentation, publish it to Apiary—-or seamlessly automate Apiary goodness in your own workflow.</p>
97    </article>
98  </section>
99
100  <hr>
101
102  <section>
103    <div class="sharingAnAPI mainSectionWrap">
104      <div class="positioning">
105        <h1 class="largerTopSpace">Sharing an API</h1>
106        <h2>An  API Is Only As Good As Its Documentation</h2>
107        <p>Time and time again, developers list quality documentation as the most important API feature. Good news! While you were building your API in Apiary, we've been building the documentation all along. Interactive, rich documentation your developers will love.</p>
108        <figure class="visualizeBox">
109          <img class="resizeable how-it-works-doc" src="https://static.apiary.io/assets/1JGuDKC-.png" width="532" height="359" alt="Documentation Schematics">

110          <span class="visualize visualizeToc visualizeItem"><small>Table of contents desc<span class="visualizeLine"></span></small></span>
111          <span class="visualize visualizeHumans visualizeLineOnLeft visualizeOnTop visualizeItem"><small>For Humans<span class="visualizeLine"></span></small></span>
112          <span class="visualize visualizeMachines visualizeLineOnLeft visualizeItem"><small>For Machines<span class="visualizeLine"></span></small></span>
113        </figure>
114      </div>
115    </div>
116    <article class="trafficInspector mainSectionWrap">
117      <div class="positioning">
118        <h1 class="sectionHeadline">Traffic Inspector</h1>
119        <p>If things go wrong with your developers' API calls, helping them debug can be a royal pain&mdash;TCP dumps, Wireshark, installing local HTTP proxies… Not fun. But now your developers can just opt to send their API calls through Apiary's debugging proxy. We'll show them the exact data, down to HTTP level, and outline differences from API documentation, or even perform validations against your schema. If that doesn't help, they can always send you a bug report with all the detailed data attached.</p>
120        <figure class="visualizeBox">
121          <img class="resizeable how-it-works-inspector" src="https://static.apiary.io/assets/22L9GTDX.png" width="532" height="271" alt="Traffic Inspector Schematics">
122          <span class="visualize visualizeList visualizeNoCircle visualizeLineOnLeft visualizeItem"><small>List of records<span class="visualizeLine"></span></small></span>
123          <span class="visualize visualizeSingle visualizeItem"><small>Single record<span class="visualizeLine"></span></small></span>
124          <span class="visualize visualizeDiff visualizeLineOnLeft visualizeOnTop visualizeItem"><small>Diff description<span class="visualizeLine"></span></small></span>
125        </figure>
126      </div>
127    </article>
128  </section>
129
130    <!-- website-navigation -->
131      <div id="navigation">
132    <nav class="websiteNav positioning">
133      <ul class="clearAfter websiteNavMenu">
134        <li class="websiteNavItem hide-sm"><a class="websiteNavLink" href="https://apiary.io/how-apiary-works">How Apiary Works</a></li>
135        <li class="websiteNavItem"><a class="websiteNavLink" href="https://apiary.io/products">Product</a></li>
136        <li class="websiteNavItem"><a class="websiteNavLink" href="https://apiary.io/plans">Plans</a></li>
137        <li class="websiteNavItem hide-sm"><a class="websiteNavLink" href="https://apiary.io/company">Company</a></li>
138        <li class="websiteNavItem"><a class="websiteNavLink" href="https://help.apiary.io">Help</a></li>
139                  <li class="websiteNavItem"><a class="websiteNavLink js-signInButton" href="https://login.apiary.io/">Sign in</a></li>
140          <li class="websiteNavItem"><a class="websiteNavLink websiteNavLinkHighlighted signIn js-signUpButton" href="https://login.apiary.io/register">Sign up</a></li>
141              </ul>
142            <a class="websiteNavLink backToTop" href="#~"><span class="visuallyhidden">Back to top</span></a>
143    </nav>
144  </div>
145    <!-- /website-navigation -->
146
147    <!-- website-footer -->
148    <footer class="applicationFooter">
149
150  <div class="applicationFooterRow">
151    <div class="applicationFooterColumns">
152    <div class="applicationFooterColumn">
153    </div><div class="applicationFooterColumn">
154      <h3 class="applicationFooterTitle">Platform</h3>
155      <ul class="applicationFooterList">
156        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://apiary.io/how-apiary-works">How Apiary Works</a></li>
157        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://apiary.io/products">Product</a></li>
158        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://apiary.io/plans">Plans</a></li>
159        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://help.apiary.io ">Help</a></li>
160      </ul>
161    </div><div class="applicationFooterColumn">
162      <h3 class="applicationFooterTitle">Company</h3>
163      <ul class="applicationFooterList">
164        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://blog.apiary.io/">Blog</a></li>
165        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://apiary.io/company">About</a></li>
166        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://apiary.io/jobs">Jobs</a></li>
167        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://www.oracle.com">Oracle</a></li>
168      </ul>
169    </div><div class="applicationFooterColumn">
170      <h3 class="applicationFooterTitle">Open Source</h3>
171      <ul class="applicationFooterList">
172        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://apiblueprint.org">API Blueprint</a></li>
173        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://github.com/apiaryio/gavel">Gavel</a></li>
174        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://github.com/apiaryio/dredd">Dredd</a></li>
175        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://docs.apiary.io/tools/apiary-cli/">Apiary CLI</a></li>
176      </ul>
177    </div><div class="applicationFooterColumn">
178      <h3 class="applicationFooterTitle">Social</h3>
179      <ul class="applicationFooterList">
180        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://github.com/apiaryio">GitHub</a></li>
181        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://twitter.com/apiaryio">Twitter</a></li>
182        <li><a class="applicationFooterListLink" href="https://facebook.com/apiary.io">Facebook</a></li>
183      </ul>
184    </div></div>
185  </div>
186
187  <div class="applicationFooterRow">
188    <p class="applicationFooterCopyright">

189      Copyright © 2026, Oracle and/or its affiliates.
190      All rights reserved.
191      Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
192      Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.<span class="applicationFooterCopyrightLinks"><a href="https://apiary.io/tos" class="applicationFooterCopyrightLink">Terms</a>
193        • <a href="https://apiary.io/privacy" class="applicationFooterCopyrightLink">Privacy</a>        • <span id="teconsent"></span>
194        </span>
195      • Version:     </p>
196  </div>
197</footer>
198    <!-- /website-footer -->
199
200    
201              

201<script src="https://www.oracle.com/us/assets/metrics/ora_apiary.js" defer></script>

201      
202    
203        

203<script src="https://consent.trustarc.com/notice?domain=apiary.io&amp;c=teconsent&amp;text=true&amp;js=nj&amp;noticeType=bb" async="async" crossorigin=""></script>

203
204    
205    <!-- JavaScripts -->
206    

206<script crossorigin="anonymous">window.webpackManifest = {"0":"0-e9daaa54.js","1":"1-e9daaa54.js","2":"2-e9daaa54.js","3":"3-e9daaa54.js","4":"4-e9daaa54.js","5":"5-e9daaa54.js","6":"6-e9daaa54.js","7":"7-e9daaa54.js","8":"8-e9daaa54.js","9":"9-e9daaa54.js","10":"10-e9daaa54.js","11":"11-e9daaa54.js","12":"12-e9daaa54.js","13":"13-e9daaa54.js","14":"14-e9daaa54.js","15":"15-e9daaa54.js","16":"16-e9daaa54.js","17":"17-e9daaa54.js","18":"18-e9daaa54.js","19":"19-e9daaa54.js","20":"20-e9daaa54.js","21":"21-e9daaa54.js","22":"22-e9daaa54.js","23":"23-e9daaa54.js","24":"24-e9daaa54.js","25":"25-e9daaa54.js","26":"26-e9daaa54.js","27":"27-e9daaa54.js","28":"28-e9daaa54.js","29":"29-e9daaa54.js","30":"30-e9daaa54.js","31":"31-e9daaa54.js"}</script>

206<script src="https://static.apiary.io/assets/vendor-e9daaa54.js" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>

206<script src="https://static.apiary.io/assets/website-e9daaa54.js" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>

206    <!-- /JavaScripts -->
207  </body>
208</html>