Requests

How you tell us what you want to do.

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This page is about the requests you make to do things through our API, not the requests used in Rev.io to quote customers and order new services.

What are requests?

A request is a message asking for something. When you make an API request, you're asking us to perform the type of action you've specified in your message.

For example:

  • Get information about a customer
  • View report results
  • Download a PDF of a quote

Parts of a request

A request is made up of different parts, including an endpoint, a method, any parameters, and authorization information.

Endpoint

The endpoint in your request tells us the type of resource you want to act on. For example, if you wanted to work with a product, your request would involve the Products endpoint.

Our API explorer lists all our resources, as well as our available methods and parameters.

Method

The method of a request tells us, in general, what you want to do with the resource. For example, if you wanted to view a product, you would use the GET method, rather than something like DELETE.

Parameters

Parameters give us more detail about what you want to do, including which specific resource you want to work with. Using our same product example, you could include a product ID in your request, to tell us you want to get information about that specific product.

Authorization

Generally, your requests need to be authorized. By including authorization information, you tell us who you are and whether you're allowed to do what you want to do.

Again continuing the product example, if you weren't allowed to view your organization's product catalog, we wouldn't want to give you information about any products. Instead, we would send you an "Unauthorized" status code.


What’s Next

Let's take a closer look at the target of your requests: resources. Or if you'd rather skip ahead, check out our tutorial on making requests.