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Getting Started with Magento Web APIs

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What are the Magento web APIs?

The Magento web API framework provides integrators and developers the means to use web services that communicate with the Magento system. Key features include:

  • Support for both REST (Representational State Transfer) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). In Magento 2, the web API coverage is the same for both REST and SOAP.

  • Three types of authentication:
    • Third-party applications authenticate with OAuth 1.0a.
    • Mobile applications authenticate using tokens.
    • Administrators and customers are authenticated with login credentials.

  • All accounts and integrations are assigned resources that they have access to. The API framework checks that any call has authorization to perform the request.

  • Any Magento or third-party service can be configured as a web API with a few lines of xml.

    To configure a web API, you define XML elements and attributes in a webapi.xml configuration file. If a service is not defined in a configuration file, it will not be exposed at all.

  • The framework is based on the CRUD (create, read, update, delete) & search model. The system does not currently support web hooks.

  • The framework supports field filtering of web api responses to conserve mobile bandwidth.

  • Integration style web API鈥檚 enable a single web API call to run multiple services at once for a more efficient integration. An example of this behavior can be see in the Catalog where one web API call can create a product; if your payload includes the inventory object and media object then the framework will also create the product鈥檚 inventory & media in that one API call.

What can I do with the Magento web APIs?

The APIs can used to perform a wide array of tasks. For example:

  • Create a shopping app. This can be a traditional app that a user downloads on a mobile device. You could also create an app that an employee uses on a showroom floor to help customers make purchases.

  • Integrate with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) back-end systems, such as Salesforce or Xero.

  • Integrate with a CMS (Content Management System). At present, content tagging is not supported.

  • Create JavaScript widgets in the Magento storefront or on the Admin panel. The widget makes AJAX calls to access services.

How do I get started?

You must register a web service on Magento Admin. Use the following general steps to set up Magento to enable web services.

  1. If you are using token-based authentication, create a web services user on Magento Admin by selecting System > All Users > Add New User. (If you are using session-based or OAuth authentication, you do not need to create the new user in the Admin.)
  2. Create a new integration on Magento Admin. To create an integration, click System > Integration > Add New Integration. Be sure to restrict which resources the integration can access.
  3. Use a REST or SOAP client to configure authentication.

See the User Guide for more information.