Developing and publishing APIs with API Connect

When you create an API, you can publish and manage it with the tools that are provided by IBM® API Connect.

The following steps provide an overview of the process for developing, publishing, and managing your APIs with API Connect.

1. Create your APIs.

   You can create APIs by using either the API Designer (graphical interface) or the API command line interface. For details on how to create your APIs, see the topic, Developing your APIs and applications.

2. Add your new APIs to a product so that you can easily stage and publish collections of related APIs.
   A product is a collection of related APIs that you will offer to your customers. Creating the product involves the following steps, which are described in the section, Working with Products:

   1. Defining the product.
   2. Staging the draft product for testing. When you stage the product, you an add it to the catalog of products that you want to offer to customers.
   3. Publishing the product so that customers can access it.
3. Manage your APIs with the API Manager.

   The API Manager provides an interface for configuring security settings, managing the lifecycles of APIs, and running analytics to determine usage patterns.

Customer uses the Developer Portal to browse and subscribe to APIs. The portal includes forums, blogs, comments, ratings, and analytics that help customers discover your APIs and learn more about them. The portal additionally provides a sandbox where customers can test your APIs while deciding whether to purchase them. You can customize the branding and theme in the Developer Portal to represent your organization.