Auto-generation of application programming interface (API) documentation via implementation-neutral analysis of API traffic
A method of application programming interface (API) documentation generation includes receiving an API interaction, determining at least one interaction parameter based on the API interaction, and automatically generating the documentation based on the at least one interaction parameter. The generated documentation documents an action associated with the API interaction.
1. A method performed by a processor of an API gateway comprising:
receiving an application programming interface (API) interaction, wherein the receiving includes receiving an API request from a user and an API response from an API backend, wherein the API response is generated in response to the API request;
determining at least one interaction parameter based on the API interaction, wherein the determining includes determining at least one request parameter and at least one response parameter;
using statistics generated by at least one machine learning model to analyze the at least one interaction parameter, the at least one machine learning model trained using a validation dataset, the validation dataset comprising feedback from at least one selected from a group comprising a user, a document generator, and storage device; and
automatically generating documentation based on the one or more statistics and the at least one interaction parameter that includes the at least one request parameter and the at least one response parameter, wherein the documentation documents action data of the API request and the API response.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one request parameter includes whether a request parameter is optional or required.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one request parameter includes at least one selected from a group comprising of hostname, Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) method, security, authentication type, and request path.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one response parameter includes a response code, response message, and response data.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one response parameter is derived from the API interaction.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one response parameter includes a request parameter type.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one response parameter includes a response data schema.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the API interaction corresponds to a legacy API.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the determination of the at least one interaction parameter is performed in real time.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generation of the documentation is performed in a same runtime session as the receipt of the API interaction.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination of the at least one interaction parameter includes parsing the API interaction.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interaction parameter is derived from the API interaction.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subsequent to receiving the API interaction, receiving a second API interaction, wherein the second API interaction is for an API different from the API interaction; and
automatically generating a second documentation based on the second API interaction.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving audit documentation;
comparing the audit documentation with the automatically generated documentation; and
responsive to a determining of a mismatch between the audit documentation and the automatically generated documentation, updating the audit documentation.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising triggering an automated workflow based on the generated documentation.
16. A system for generating documentation, comprising:
a communications interface coupled to a processor and configured to receive an application programming interface (API) interaction;
the processor configured to:
receive, at an API gateway, an API interaction, wherein the configuration to receive includes configuration to receive an API request from a user and an API response from an API backend, wherein the API response is generated in response to the API request;
determine, by an analyzer of the API gateway, at least one interaction parameter based on the API interaction, wherein the configuration to determine includes configuration to determine at least one request parameter and at least one response parameter;
using statistics generated by at least one machine learning model to analyze the at least one interaction parameter, the at least one machine learning model trained using a validation dataset, the validation dataset comprising feedback from at least one selected from a group comprising a user, a document generator, and storage device; and
automatically generate, by the analyzer, documentation based on the one or more statistics and the at least one interaction parameter that includes the at least one request parameter and the at least one response parameter, wherein the documentation documents action data of the API request and the API response.
17. A computer program product for generating documentation, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
receiving, at an API gateway, an application programming interface (API) interaction, wherein the receiving includes receiving an API request from a user and an API response from an API backend, wherein the API response is generated in response to the API request;
determining, by an analyzer of the API gateway, at least one interaction parameter based on the API interaction, wherein the determining includes determining at least one request parameter and at least one response parameter;
using statistics generated by at least one machine learning model to analyze the at least one interaction parameter, the at least one machine learning model trained using a validation dataset, the validation dataset comprising feedback from at least one selected from a group comprising a user, a document generator, and storage device; and
automatically generating, by the analyzer, documentation based on the one or more statistics and the at least one interaction parameter that includes the at least one request parameter and the at least one response parameter, wherein the documentation documents action data of the API request and the API response.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedback comprises at least one selected from a group comprising an indication of the accuracy of the document and at least one selected from a group comprising one or more annotations and one or more edits.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein:
the feedback comprises a group of API interactions, the at least one machine learning model using the group of API interactions to identify a commonality between the API interactions; and
the automatically generated documentation includes the commonality, the commonality used to facilitate identifying a cause of an error.
20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a signature using the one or more statistics, the at least one interaction paramc ter. and documented API interactions to determine if a change occurred.