SDK Generation, API Validation And Transformation Using The APIMATIC CLI

Continuing a growing number of command line interfaces (CLI) being deployed side by side with APIs, SDK generation provider APIMATIC just released a CLI for their platform, continuing their march towards being a continuous integration provider. There was a great post the other day on Nordic APIs about CLI, highlighting one way API providers seem to be investing in CLIs to help increase the chances that their services will get baked into applications and system integrations.

"APIMatic CLI is a command line tool written in Python which serves as a wrapper over our own Python SDK. It is available in the form of a small windows executable so you can easily plug it into your build cycle. You no longer have to write your own code or set up a development environment for the consumption of our APIs."

SDK generation, API validation and API transformation baked into your workflow, all driven by API definitions available via any URL. This is a pretty important layer of your API lifecycle, something that isn't easily done if you are still battling the monolith system, but when you've gone full microservices, DevOps, Continous Integration Kung Fu (tm), it provides you with a pretty easy way to define, deploy, and validate API endpoints, as well as the system integrations that consume those APIs--all driven and choreographed by your API definitions.

I'm still very API-centric in my workflows and use the APIMATIC API to generate SDKs, and API Transformer to translate API definitions from one format to the other, but I understand that a CLI is more practical for the way some teams operate. API service providers seem to be getting the message and responding to developers with a fully functional CLI, as well as API like Zapier did the other day with the release of their CLI--pushing the boundaries of what is a continuous integration platform as a service.

I asked Adeel of APIMATIC when they would have a CLI generator based upon API definitions. I mean their CLI is a tool that wraps the APIMATIC SDK, which I assume is generated by APIMATIC, using an API definition. Why can't they just autogenerate a CLI for their customers using the same API definition being used to generated the SDK? He responded with a smile. ;-)

Disclosure: I am an advisor to APIMATIC.