API Explorer

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Looking for the explorer? Click the API Explorer link in the top navigation menu!

Ready to get started with our API? Our API explorer lets you make requests right in this portal! No special tools, software, or knowledge needed.

What is the API explorer?

The API explorer is both a reference guide and interactive tool. At its most basic, the explorer is like a map to our API. It lists all our available actions, made up of endpoints, methods, and parameters – key building blocks in your API requests. It also effectively lists the main resources available to you through our API.

The most exciting feature of the explorer, though, is that it lets you create and send real API requests right from your web browser.

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When we say "real API requests," we mean it! Requests you make in the explorer affect the live data of whatever Rev.io instance you specify — be careful if you're working with production.

How do I make requests with the API explorer?

It's easy! Click the "API Explorer" link in the top navigation menu. Select the action you want to take in the left-hand sidebar, such as "Create a Customer," or just scroll down until you find it. Fill out some parameters and click the "Try It" button. We'll prompt you to enter missing parameters and to authorize your request if needed. Once you make your request, our response will display right there in the explorer!

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We've tried to mark which parameters are required for the different actions, but we can't do that yet for body parameters. We've tried to list those in our required fields documentation.

How do I authorize my requests?

If you already have a Rev.io user account, you can authorize your requests with those credentials.

No account? No problem! Just request access to our sandbox environment.

Using the explorer: Creating a note

Here's an example of using the API explorer to add a note to a customer.

1. Click the "API Explorer" link in the top navigation menu to open the explorer.
2. In the left-hand sidebar, scroll down to the "Notes" endpoint and click on it to expand it.
3. Click on the "Create a Note" action. The explorer will automatically scroll down to that action.
4. Enter values for the subject, body, and customer_id parameters.
5. Click the icon of a person and a lock, to the left of the "Try It" button at the top-right. This button prompts you to enter authorization information.
6. Enter your basic authentication credentials. They will be saved automatically.
7. Click the "Try It" button to send your request.

Our response will display underneath the "Try It" button.

Example code

One of the explorer's features is its automatically generated example code. Under each API action, you can find example code in a number of programming languages. Click on the name of a language to view that code.

As you enter parameter values into the explorer, the example code will automatically update to include them.

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Since our example code is automatically generated, it isn't always perfect. To use it in your own applications, you may have to include code to add a content type and authorization information to your requests.

Details

Want to learn more about the API explorer? Here, we explain everything you'll see when using it.

The API explorer is a single page containing all the basic actions you can take through our API. It has a left-hand sidebar that lists all these actions, and a main page with details about these actions.

Sidebar

The sidebar is a condensed list of all available actions.

To the left of each action name is an icon telling you what method the action uses. Click an action to jump to it in the main page. The action currently visible in the main page is always highlighted in the sidebar.

Main page

The main page contains detailed information about all actions.

Resource type

Actions are grouped by resource type, under top-level headers such as "Products".

Action

The next-level header is the name of an action itself, such as "Search Products". Underneath is a more detailed description of the action, such as, "Search for products in the product catalog."

Code box

Below this is a box containing various buttons and text. The top of this box contains, from left to right:

• An icon of the action's method, like in the sidebar
• The action URI, consisting of the endpoint address plus any path parameters
• An icon of a person with a lock: the authorization menu
• A "Try It" button

Underneath this top section of the box is a larger main section, containing:

• Code language tabs
• Code for the request you've built so far, on the left-hand side
• Details of our response, on the right-hand side, once you've submitted a request

Authorization menu

The authorization menu lets you enter the information needed to authorize your requests. In general, you'll only need to enter this information once, and we'll save it for any other requests you make with the explorer during that visit.

"Try It" button

Push this button to send us your API request.

Code language tabs

Click on one of these tabs to choose which programming language you want your request's code to appear in.

Request code

The left-hand side of the box contains code for the request you've built so far. As you add parameters to your request, the code will change to include them.

Response details

Once you've clicked the "Try It" button and successfully made your API request, the right-hand side of the box will display information about our response.

Parameters and response types

Underneath the code box are request parameters, on the left side, and response types, on the left side.

Parameters

All the parameters available for an action are listed here. They are grouped by parameter type, such as "path params" or "body params." You can enter or select parameter values you want to include in your request.

On the left is the name of each parameter. Underneath each name is the parameter's type, such as "int32." In the middle is a short description of the parameter. On the right is an input box, where you can choose a value of the parameter for your request.

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Not sure what parameters you need? Don't worry! Go ahead and send your request. If you're missing a required parameter, we'll do our best to let you know in our response.

Response types

Finally, on the right side of the parameters are some types of responses we might return to your request. Status codes are listed in a dropdown box.