Developers cannot proceed with an API integration<\/a> until they understand the API\u2019s capabilities, find out how to structure an API call<\/a>, and identify the endpoints for accessing API resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn about API endpoints and why they are essential to any API integration.<\/p>\n\n\n An API endpoint is a network location that enables a client application to access an API resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By sending a request to the specified location, the client prompts the server resource to perform an action. An API resource typically serves multiple clients through the endpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n API owners provide documentation that lists API endpoints, describes what type of resources they give access to, and specifies the request methods and parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Application Programming Interface (API)<\/strong> enables <\/strong>two applications to interact over a network, regardless of their programming language or architectural design. An API enforces rules and constraints that a client application must adhere to when communicating with a resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n API endpoints<\/strong> are the touchpoints for this communication. The endpoint URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) represents the resource location to which API users must send their requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One API solution can have hundreds of endpoints that perform numerous actions and provide access to different resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The endpoint URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) format can vary depending on the API type<\/a> and architectural style. API endpoints for web-based applications usually take the form of a URL<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Developers use web browsers or send curl requests from a terminal to interact with an API endpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The RESTful API<\/a> architectural style is one of the most popular protocols for creating web-based apps and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A typical RESTful API request has 5 elements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, CCBill\u2019s RESTful Transaction API uses bearer tokens<\/a> to authorize client requests. To receive a bearer token (for accessing CCBill\u2019s API resources), the client needs to send an API call to the https:\/\/api.ccbill.com\/ccbill-auth\/oauth\/token <\/em><\/strong>endpoint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As seen in this example, the API endpoint is a mandatory element of the request:<\/p>\n\n\n\n API owners often provide Software Development Kits (SDK)<\/a> to streamline the API integration process. SDKs give developers access to specific tools, documentation, software libraries, and code examples they need to automate API call iterations and complete the integration with minimal friction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CCBill RESTful Transaction API allows merchants to integrate their applications with CCBill\u2019s payment platform. Merchants can use CCBill\u2019s API to tokenize customer payment information, charge customers using payment tokens<\/a>, or retrieve data about existing transactions. The API\u2019s base URL is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Endpoint URIs are appended to the base URL to provide access to different API resources. For example, the \/payment-tokens\/merchant-only<\/strong> endpoint is used to create payment tokens. Merchants need to send an API request to the following URL endpoint:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The API call must contain the required parameters listed in CCBill\u2019s API documentation. The following API call, written in PHP, contains the endpoint URI, HTTP method, header, and request parameters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merchants can then use the payment token to charge a customer by sending a new request to the \/transactions\/payment-tokens\/{payment_token_id}<\/em><\/strong> endpoint:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The payment_token_id<\/em><\/strong> value is included in the endpoint URI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merchants can retrieve transaction data by initiating an API call to the following endpoint:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GET method used for this request only retrieves data without changing the state of the resource:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The API resource responds by sending a set of parameters a merchant can capture and use to initiate new requests or power other processes or applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the name, an endpoint is one of the first elements a developer looks for when starting to work on an API integration. Some of the benefits of APIs and API endpoints include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the integration process, developers often need to iterate API calls. To test API endpoints, clients must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several API platforms help developers write scripts and test their applications; these include Postman<\/a>, Insomnia, Testfully, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some companies provide interactive API documentation that allows developers to test requests during the API integration process. A good example is phoenixNAP<\/a>, a data center company, and IaaS provider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bare Metal Cloud API<\/a> is designed for managing server infrastructure using API calls. After registering with the phoenixNAP BMC service, developers can select the API resource endpoint they want to test. The page provides methods and descriptions for each endpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n Selecting a resource URI gives developers access to parameters, endpoints, and responses for that specific resource.<\/p>\n\n\n The Try this API<\/em><\/strong> section lets developers enter the necessary data directly on the API page. The Execute<\/em><\/strong> button triggers an API call to the specified endpoint and displays the endpoint\u2019s answer.<\/p>\n\n\n When testing API endpoints, developers must analyze responses for individual API requests: <\/p>\n\n\n\n A failure or inconsistency in API requests or responses requires developers to repeat the API calls until they receive the desired result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses use APIs to streamline internal processes and expose their products and services to other companies and end-users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In these instances, API endpoints need to be secured as they facilitate external access to a company\u2019s most valuable resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To secure API endpoints:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies that expose API resources need to monitor endpoints to improve their API\u2019s reliability, security, and performance. Some of the best practices for monitoring API endpoints include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When choosing an API endpoint monitoring tool, look for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Developer](\"https:\/\/ccbill.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/what-is-api-endpoint.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAPI Endpoint Definition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
API Vs. Endpoint: What's The Difference?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Use API Endpoints?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
curl - POST 'https:\/\/api.ccbill.com\/ccbill-auth\/oauth\/token' \\\n--header 'Content-Type: application\/x-www-form-urlencoded' \\\n--header 'Authorization: Basic Merchant_ApplicationID:Merchant_Secret ' \\\n--data-urlencode 'grant_type=client_credentials'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAPI Endpoint Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
https://api.ccbill.com\/<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nhttps://api.ccbill.com\/payment-tokens\/merchant-only<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<?php\n$request = new HttpRequest();\n$request->setUrl('https:\/\/api.ccbill.com\/payment-tokens\/merchant-only');\n$request->setMethod(HTTP_METH_POST);\n$request->setHeaders(array(\n'Cache-Control' => 'no-cache',\n'Authorization' => 'Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9mIfkrfQ',\n'Content-Type' => 'application\/json'\n));\n$request->setBody('{ "clientAccnum": 900000, "clientSubacc": 0, "customerInfo": { "customerFname": "Tyler", "customerLname": "Thomas", "address1": "Woodland Drive", "address2": "Apt 21", "city": "Tempe", "state": "AZ", "zipcode": "85281", "country": "US", "phoneNumber": "5555555555", "email": "tthomas@xyz.com", "ipAddress": "10.70.60.14", "browserHttpUserAgent": "Mozilla\/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:60.0) Gecko\/20100101 Firefox\/60.0", "browserHttpAccept": "text\/html,application\/xhtml+xml,application\/xml;q=0.9,*\/*;q=0.8", "browserHttpAcceptLanguage": "en-US,en;q=0.5", "browserHttpAcceptEncoding": "gzip, deflate, br" }, "paymentInfo": { "creditCardPaymentInfo": { "cardNum": "4473707989493598", "nameOnCard": "Tyler Thomas", "expMonth": "04", "expYear": "2019" } }, "subscriptionId":900000000000000001, "timeToLive": 30, "validNumberOfUse": 3 }');\ntry {\n$response = $request->send();\necho $response->getBody();\n} catch (HttpException $ex) {\necho $ex;\n}\n?><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nhttps://api.ccbill.com\/transactions\/payment-tokens\/{payment_token_id}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<?php\n$request = new HttpRequest();\n$request->setUrl('https:\/\/api.ccbill.com\/transactions\/payment-tokens\/01047ed6f3b440c7a2ccc6abc1ad0a84');\n$request->setMethod(HTTP_METH_POST);\n$request->setHeaders(array(\n'Cache-Control' => 'no-cache',\n'Authorization' => 'Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.e',\n'Content-Type' => 'application\/json'\n));\n$request->setBody('{ "clientAccnum":900123, "clientSubacc":10, "initialPrice": 9.99, "initialPeriod": 10, "recurringPrice": 15.00, "recurringPeriod": 30, "rebills": 99, "currencyCode": 840, "lifeTimeSubscription": false, "createNewPaymentToken": false, "passThroughInfo": [ { "name": "val1", "value": "val2" } ] }');\ntry {\n$response = $request->send();\necho $response->getBody();\n} catch (HttpException $ex) {\necho $ex;\n}\n?><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nhttps://api.ccbill.com\/payment-tokens\/{payment_token_id}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<?php\n$request = new HttpRequest();\n$request->setUrl('https:\/\/api.ccbill.com\/payment-tokens\/01047ed6f3b440c7a2ccc6abc1ad0a84');\n$request->setMethod(HTTP_METH_GET);\n$request->setHeaders(array(\n'Cache-Control' => 'no-cache',\n'Authorization' => 'Bearer y25GKPZgIHViMrJmwSKqG2kC60JEYDrOsZsajhicbKPytXw'\n));\ntry {\n$response = $request->send();\necho $response->getBody();\n} catch (HttpException $ex) {\necho $ex;\n}\n?><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhy Are API Endpoints Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/ccbill.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/build-api-solution-using-endpoints.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
How to Test API Endpoints?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"Endpoints](\"https:\/\/ccbill.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/phoenixnap-bmc-api-documentation.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Endpoint](\"https:\/\/ccbill.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/phoenixnap-endpoint-api-bmc.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Testing](\"https:\/\/ccbill.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/execute-phoenixnap-bmc-endpoint.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
How to Secure API Endpoints?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
How to Monitor API Endpoints?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"Technician](\"https:\/\/ccbill.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/tools-monitoring-api-endpoints.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Using Monitoring Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n