Glossary
API
What an API is, and why it decides which of a business's tools an AI job can connect to.
Updated
API: An API, short for application programming interface, is the documented way one piece of software lets another read or change its data without a person in between. A booking tool's API might let another program see open times and add an appointment; a CRM's might let it add a contact. The maker decides what its API allows, often by plan, and its terms can limit how it is used. A tool with no public API, or one kept for approved partners, usually leaves that step with a person, or with an export someone runs.
Where it shows up
A tool's developer pages describe its API, and the question of whether one tool integrates with another, such as a booking system with a CRM, usually comes down to it. Most of those integrations run through APIs, often alongside webhooks, which tell one app the moment something changes in another.
Before an AI job we build touches one of your tools, the written plan records what that tool's API lets software read and write on your plan, taken from the maker's own documentation. The keys for each connection are made in your own accounts.
Related terms
- WebhookWhat a webhook is, and how one app tells another that something has happened.
- AutomationWhat automation means for a small business, and where a person still does better.
- CRMWhat a CRM is, and when a small business needs a custom one instead of an off-the-shelf product.
- Every term in the glossary
Start with a written plan
Tell us about the business and what you need. We reply with questions, then a written plan that lists the work and its price, and nothing starts until you have read it.