nuts-foundation/nuts-node

.. _api-dev:

API development
###############

When developing APIs, please follow these guidelines.

Contract first
**************

The Nuts node APIs are specified in `Open API Specification (OAS) <https://swagger.io/specification/>`_.
The files are located under ``/docs/_static/<engine>/<version>.yaml``.
Where ``<engine>`` is a specific module like ``crypto`` or ``auth`` and ``<version>`` defines the version of the API.
We use version ``3.0.y`` of the OAS.

Versioning
==========

We use versioning of the APIs.
This is reflected in both the OAS files and the HTTP paths.
Versions must follow the pattern ``v`` and start at ``v1``.
These are major versions, any breaking change results in a new major version of the API.
New additions, bug fixes and changes that are backwards compatible may be done in the current version.

Code generation
===============

The OAS files are used for code generation. The makefile contains the ``gen-api`` target which will generate the code.
The build target only needs to be extended when a new version or new engine is added.
Generated code is always placed in ``/<engine>/api/<version>/generated.go``.

Return codes
============

The error return values are generalized for all API calls.
The return values follow `RFC7807 <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7807>`_.
The definition is available under ``/docs/_static/common/error_response.yaml``.
The error definition can be used in a OAS file:

.. code-block:: yaml

  paths:
    /some/path:
      get:
        responses:
          default:
            $ref: '../common/error_response.yaml'

The error responses will not be listed as responses in the online generated documentation.
To describe error responses, the specific responses need to be added to the API description:

.. code-block:: yaml

  paths:
    /some/path:
      post:
        description: |
          Some description on the API

          error returns:
          * 400 - incorrect input

Paths
*****

The API paths are designed so it's clear which APIs are to be blocked for external traffic.

- ``/internal/**`` These APIs are meant to be behind a firewall and should only be available to the internal infrastructure.