Apidog is an API collaboration platform designed to boost team productivity across backend, frontend, and testing workflows. For backend developers, Apidog offers a range of core features that simplify and accelerate the API development process. These features include API invocation, definition, development and debugging, and documentation generation. In this article, we will explore how backend developers can leverage Apidog to streamline their work.
API Invocation
Quick Request
If you're familiar with tools like Postman for API testing, you'll find Apidog’s user interface quite similar. After creating a Quick Request, you can easily enter the necessary headers, bodies, and parameters, then click Send to make the API call.
Multi-Protocol Support
In addition to HTTP, Apidog supports a variety of protocols, including WebSocket, TCP, GraphQL, and MsgPack. You can create endpoints for these protocols by clicking on +.
For projects using RPC architecture, Apidog also offers a gRPC project creation option for seamless debugging.
Import Existing API Projects
If you already have an API project (e.g., Swagger, OpenAPI, Postman), you can import it directly into Apidog, eliminating the need for reconfiguration. This enables you to start invoking and managing APIs immediately.
API Definition
Auto-Generate Documentation
Writing API documentation can be tedious for many backend developers. Apidog simplifies this by auto-generating documentation.
After creating a Quick Request and successfully sending it, you can click Save as Endpoint. Apidog will generate API documentation automatically, including request and response examples.
Swagger Integration
If your team uses Swagger, Apidog allows you to import Swagger definitions directly. You can set up automatic imports to sync project data in real time.
Design-First Approach
Apidog promotes a design-first approach, where endpoint definitions are created before development begins. This helps backend and frontend teams work in sync, improving overall development efficiency.
Once you create a new endpoint in Apidog, switch to Design mode to start defining the endpoint. In Apidog's visual endpoint design dashboard, there are mainly three sections: basic information, request parameters, and response details. Simply fill in the necessary information, such as the endpoint name, path, methods, and request parameters.
Apidog also allows you to pre-define schemas for common response structures. This makes it easy to create complex responses by referencing or dereferencing these schemas.
Auto-Generate Response Examples
Instead of manually writing response examples, Apidog provides an auto-generate feature that creates example data (e.g., names, and phone numbers) based on your data structure definitions or field names. This saves you significant time in generating sample responses.
Additionally, you can import data structures such as JSON, XML, or MySQL directly into Apidog.
For recurring error responses (e.g., 400, 401, 404), you can create reusable response components in the Component. These components can be referenced across multiple endpoints, reducing repetition.
API Development and Debugging
Frontend & Backend Collaboration
Once APIs are defined, frontend developers can join the project and start working with mock data, even before the backend is fully implemented. This reduces the wait time for backend development and shortens the overall development cycle.
Code Generation
Apidog can automatically generate code based on your API definitions. By clicking on the Generate Code located at the top right of the created API documentation, you can choose between Generate Client Code or Generate Server Stubs & Client SDKs to generate the code automatically.
Apidog supports multiple programming languages and frameworks and allows you to configure code styles. The generated code includes routing, request validation, and response handling, so you can focus on adding business logic.
Dynamic Request Generation
Once the endpoint is ready, you can directly test it in Apidog by clicking Send. For complex request bodies, you can use the Generate Automatically feature to create request parameters based on your data structure.
The Dynamic Value feature allows you to generate random or custom-formatted test data. It also supports encryption functions like Base64 and MD5.
Response Validation
Apidog automatically validates API responses against predefined endpoint specifications, flagging any discrepancies such as missing fields or invalid values, making it easy to identify and fix the issues promptly.
Pre/Post Processors
Pre/Post Processors in Apidog allow you to customize API requests and responses before or after the request is sent. For users familiar with Postman, Apidog fully supports script compatibility. You can run custom scripts in the Custom Script section to set environment variables, process data, encrypt/decrypt, or execute custom tests.
If needed, you can also extracting variables from responses using JsonPath expressions for assertions or storing variables. This allows you to handle complex self-testing without writing additional scripts.
In addition to assertions and variable extractions, Apidog supports database operations. You can query databases before or after requests to validate data correctness. It supports MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and ClickHouse.
Use Case Management
You can save successfully debugged requests as use cases for future testing. This feature simplifies repetitive testing tasks, improving test efficiency.
Environment Management
Apidog offers flexible environment management, allowing you to configure different base URLs for different services (e.g., order service, user service). This is especially useful for projects with microservices or multiple backend services.
You can define multiple environments (e.g., development, testing, production) and assign base URLs for each service. Apidog automatically uses the correct service URL based on the selected environment, eliminating the need to manually update URLs for each API.
You can also configure services at the folder level, applying settings to all endpoints within the folder.
Debug Mode
For smaller projects that don’t need pre-written documentation, you can switch to Debug mode. This allows you to send requests and modify parameters directly. After debugging, Apidog automatically generates a complete API specification, making it easy to continue testing and generate documentation.
API Documentation Generation
Apidog makes it easy to share and publish API documentation once your API development is complete.
1. Online Share Documentation
Once your API is developed, you can easily share the documentation via Apidog. By clicking "Share Docs -> Quick Share," you can create a sharing link, select the endpoints to share, and configure environment settings, and access passwords. Apidog generates a well-organized API documentation that can be shared with collaborators or other departments.
On the generated API documentation, you can directly click the Try it oit button to initiate a request on the page, or generate a request code.
2. Publish Doc Sites
If you want to publish API documentation for public access or on your website, Apidog offers a Publish Docs Sites feature. You can customize the navigation, domain name, and redirection rules. Apidog also integrates Algolia’s search service for better search functionality in your API docs.
You can create multiple documentation sites and publish different versions of your API documentation.
Conclusion
Apidog provides a comprehensive API management solution for backend developers, covering everything from API invocation and definition to debugging and documentation generation. It simplifies the development process by integrating essential features into one platform.
Whether you’re following a design-first approach for large projects or a code-first approach for smaller ones, Apidog caters to various development needs, helping developers complete their API development tasks more efficiently.
For more information, refer to Apidog’s help documentation and experience Apidog firsthand.
