Glossary · API
What is an API?
Definition: An API (application programming interface) is a set of rules that lets one program request data or actions from another in a structured, controlled way.
An API defines which operations a system offers, what data must be sent to it and what it returns. An ERP, for example, may expose operations to create a customer, read an order or post an invoice. Another program calls them over the network, usually with web requests that exchange data in JSON format, and identifies itself with credentials that limit what it can do.
APIs are the foundation of systems integration. They allow the CRM to send an order to the ERP, online banking to pass transactions to accounting, or an e-signature tool to report that a contract has been signed, without anyone copying data by hand. Many also offer webhooks: automatic notifications that one system sends to another when an event occurs.
Before planning an automation, it is worth checking which API each system offers and on what terms, as some vendors restrict it, charge extra for it or only include it in certain editions. Compared with RPA, which mimics a person on screen, an API is more stable across versions, faster and easier to trace, because every call returns a clear response.
Example: when a salesperson marks an opportunity as won in the CRM, a call to the ERP's API creates the customer and the order with the same data, without anyone retyping it.