APIQuality Release Notes
Check the latest changes and improvements of APIQuality. We make the tool more efficient every day.
What are release notes?
The release notes or publication notes are a series of technical documents where the updates of a tool or platform are indicated.
APIQuality has this section where the release notes of our API Tools integrator will be published, improving it every day so you can develop your APIOps in the most efficient way. Check the latest news!
Release notes - November 2024 (version 2.3)
A new stage has been added that allows to check if the change is breaking the backward compatibility and block the deployment. To activate it you have to go to environments and activate it as another stage.
From that moment on, if the stage breaks the compatibility, a red cross will appear:
and if it does not break it will remain green.
To see why it has broken compatibility we can look at the logs:
From now on it will be possible to change the domain of an API. Be careful because in addition to the domain, the group to which it belongs within the repository is changed.
To move an API, go to the display screen of an api, click on the three dots on the display line and select Move To new domain:
A new window with the available domains will be displayed:
By clicking on the update button the api will automatically change domain.
In order to promote the API definition to another environment we must select the target environment, go to the API display screen and execute the “move definition to environment” operation.
Then a screen will be displayed for us to select the environment from which we want to collect the definition:
When selecting merge the definition of the new environment will be the definition that existed in the source environment (in this case, we have moved the development definition to production).
From now on, users will be able to subscribe to pipeline executions. They will be able to subscribe to the entire domain or to the API.
Configuration notifications: in the notifications bell you can configure whether you want to receive notifications via the web or via email. An image is shown below:
When you click on the configuration button, the following screen will appear:
Here you can activate or deactivate the notifications and indicate the channel through which you wish to receive them. In addition, you can see the items you are currently subscribed to.
- Domain notifications: to activate the domain notifications we must go to the domain display screen and hit follow, as shown in the following screen:
From then on all pipeline executions will be notified to the user.
- API Notifications: to activate notifications to an API you must go to the display screen of an API and click on the follow icon, as shown in the following screen:
The usability of the general screen where the subscription and the general parameters of the organization are displayed has been improved. From now on, there will be 2 tabs that will allow a better visualization of the information, being able to filter by the parameters of the system. The two screens are shown below:
In order to generate the API in an agile way, an operation generation screen has been developed where you only have to enter the name of the properties, and the AI will propose a design of the API. It is important that the style guide is correct and that there is an api_template within the organization, since it will be used as a context for the generation of the new API.
In order to complete this form, it must be designed within the opportunities section. With the API administrator or architect profile, you must generate a new template of opportunities.
You must create a question that is of type path and whose answer is of type form, as shown below:
By clicking on it we will have the operations tab to be able to create the API.
Profiles that can create APIs can also create opportunities, so in the opportunities screen they can click on create:
Clicking on create will display the following form:
When clicking on create, a new “Create API” button will appear, which will be the one we will use to create the API:
By clicking it
A new API will be created:
An example of a generated APi is shown below:
Release notes - November 2024 (version 2.2)
With APIQuality, you can easily deploy your APIs in different API Managers.
With environment profiles, you can define APIOPs for different life cycles and define your stages according to the API Manager in which you want to deploy.
From now on, when uploading testing collections, the % of endpoints being tested and a summary of the test result will be calculated.
The option to view the full report is still active.
A new option has been created to cancel the entire pipeline. Just go to the API display screen and click on the cancel button.
Sometimes you don’t know which examples have been loaded in Microcks, so we have added the possibility of being able to visualize directly in APIQuality the endpoints that have an example. To do this, just click on “view mock details” in the API information:
This allows us to visualize in which operations the examples have not been loaded and to check if the mocking is being performed correctly. If we click on one of the operations we can better see the information of the loaded request:
We can also see the information of each example by clicking on them.
From now on, within the environment screen, new environment profiles can be created to define different APIOps cycles for each environment.
Within the environment screen you can see a new button that allows you to create new environment profiles.
If we click on create we can create a new environment profile:
From there, we see that we can modify the same environment (development) but for each profile. For example, for APIs that are deployed in Azure we do not want to do neither mocking nor contract tests in the development environment. We edit it in the environment and now we can see that the environments are already different for each profile:
Then, we will only have to select the environment profile when creating the api and thus select the related APIOps cycle:
The new version allows to generate a spectral from the style guide developed in openapi. This spectral will be linked to the spectral stored in each repository and therefore can be used by any API design program being compatible with the configured sonar rules.
In order to see the spectral that is generated you can go to the style guide screen:
If we download the file and put it in a repository with an api and open it with Visual Studio Code, if we activate the spectral plugin and rename the file to .spectral.yml we can see how the APIQuality rules start to validate locally as shown in the following image:
If we visualize the API repository we can see that the spectral file has been automatically generated and that simply cloning the repository and opening it with Visual Studio Code or another definition ide can be used.
If the openapi2postman stage has been activated, an advanced configuration has been added that allows you to configure the different options that the tool allows. Some screens are shown below:
- Custom Oauth2: Allows to configure the oauth requests to obtain the tokens and use them in the rest of the requests. When the oauth is activated we must add the url where we will obtain the token.
- When executed, it creates a collection with a request to oauth2:
- Is inline: Defines the data in the body of the request if the value will be collected from the environments or put directly in the request. If the value is:
- True:
- False: Data are collected from the environment:
- Schema is inline: The output schema with which the request outputs are validated is checked.
- true: The scheme for validating the output is stored in the environment configuration.
- false: The schematic is shown in postman in the scripts section.
- Schema pretty print:It allows to visually display the schema used to validate the postman’s output in order to better configure it.
- true: I is shown as follows:
- true: I is shown as follows:
- Has scopes: Indicates whether or not it has scopes. If it has scopes, the number of scopes must be indicated. If it has scopes, a request is created for each scope as shown in the image:
- Application token: Allows to test the application with user token and application token.
- Microcks headers: It allows to test a mock created with microcks. In the following image you can see how it introduces a header with the name of the example to be returned.
The resolved bugs are listed below:
- Fixed the bug that did not allow the API Designer profile to save a comment.
- Fixed the redocly bug that kept showing the report information once the stage was removed from the environment.
- The message about the limit of users in an organization has been changed when a user tries to register within the organization. So far it only showed an “error” message.
- Fixed a bug where the microcks url displayed inside an api when a new version of the API was created was not updated correctly.
- Fixed a bug that did not allow to select the binding mode (Cloud / Server).
Release notes - October 2024 (version 2.1)
A linter has been added (in this case, Redocly) that allows you to linter the API before passing the organization’s style guide.
The linter is activated within the environment’s APIOps cycle:
This linter can be executed within the APIOps life cycle:
It is also possible to review the result within the overall API rating:
Opportunities are now able to have domains and permissions management is unified with domains.
From now on the opportunities must be specified within the domains and the permissions are the same as those applied to the APIs.
When creating the opportunity we must define in which domain it applies:
Until now, the documentation displayed was generated in Microcks. Now, the documentation is generated directly in the tool itself.
As you can see, within the API screen there is an option to view documentation:
This screen allows you to view the documentation within the tool itself.
When generating new files with all the external href links, it can be configured in 3 places:
- At the organization level.
- When importing an openapi
- In a Stage
Once activated, when we work with the file with references, a file delivered in both json and yaml will be created, for later use for other tools.
Currently there are a number of parameters that are necessary to set up the style guide and make it consistent. A form has been created to register them in order to create the style guide according to the organization:
YAML Style:
One of the first things to define in a corporate style guide is the parameter definition format, input body and output body.
The rules to be configured are the following:
- OAR011 – UrlNamingConvention – The base path and resource names with more than two words must be compliant with the standard naming convention
- OAR066 – SnakeCaseNamingConvention – RequestBody and Responses schema property names must be compliant with the snake_case naming convention
- OAR067 – CamelCaseNamingConvention – RequestBody and Responses schema property names must be compliant with the camelCase naming convention
- OAR068 – PascalCaseNamingConvention – RequestBody and Responses schema property names must be compliant with the PascalCase naming convention
Headers request:
This section indicates which headers are allowed in the definition and which are mandatory. Some paths can be excluded from this validation. The rule to be configured is as follows:
- OAR033 – HttpHeaders – There are mandatory request headers and others that are not allowed
Format responses:
It is important to have a unique object definition for all apis and it is a parameter to be entered in the validation in the style guide. The format is added in json format. The rule to be configured is as follows:
- OAR029 – StandardResponse – Response schema must be compliant with the standard
Paging
Paging is important in every organization and the parameters to be introduced within the organization must be defined.
Status
Normally the /status is a health endpoint that is put in the apis and it is good to indicate it in the definition.
- OAR030 – StatusEndpoint – Status endpoint must be declared
href
In the more advanced style guides not only the formatting is validated but also how the openapi are created. This option allows you to validate that the examples, components, schemas are defined in the components section.
- OAR088 – RefParam – The $ref of a parameter must end with a corresponding suffix
- OAR089 – RefRequestBody – The $ref of a request body must end with a corresponding suffix
- OAR090 – RefResponse – The $ref of a response must end with a corresponding suffix
- OAR091 – ParamOnlyRef – Parameters must contain only references ($ref)
- OAR092 – RequestBodyOnlyRef – RequestBody must contain only references ($ref)
- OAR093 – ResponseOnlyRef – Responses must contain only references ($ref)
Special parameters
It is good praxis to add special parameters to make the api more flexible like $select, $expand… but not all companies have it. With this check you can enable all of them together. The following rules are enabled:
- OAR019 – SelectParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
- OAR020 – ExpandParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
- OAR021 – ExcludeParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
- OAR022 – OrderbyParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
- OAR023 – TotalParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
- OAR024 – StartParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
- OAR025 – LimitParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
- OAR028 – FilterParameter – the chosen parameter must be defined in this operation
A new option has been added in the organization settings to secure mock calls through an apikey.
An option has been added to secure the call to the microcks mock endpoints.
Blocking stages have been enabled. For the moment, it is only available for the sonar style guide. In order to define a minimum letter, it must be set within the APIOPs cycle within the environment and the minimum letter must be selected:
A checkbox is added at the organization level to enable or disable the mocking server to be added automatically:
If we configure this option all the openapi will be generated with a new server with the microcks url:
The option to deploy in Wso2 has been enabled by configuring the api.yaml for the Wso2 version.
Once the stage is enabled, inside the stage itself we can configure this file.
The api.yaml file for the environment is shown below.
If we deploy the API, it can be seen in Wso2.
Removing sonar credentials from the repository
For security reasons, the sonar credentials are removed from the sonar.properties file.
- Fixed a bug where sonar rules were duplicated when creating a new style guide.
- Fixed a bug that generated failures when updating an api from the editor.
- Modified to show the test scoring.
- Fixed a bug that caused an error in the dates when uploading a new API or modifying an existing one. The update is no longer empty.
- Fixed a bug where the creation and modification date was displayed on February 16, 2023.
- Fixed a bug where two “undefined” were shown in commit messages. It is also solved that it is registered who has launched the execution.
- Fixed a bug that allowed to create branches with tilde in the name.
- Fixed a bug that didn’t allow to delete a local branch.
- Fixed a bug that didn’t allow to delete global branches.
- Fixed a bug that did not generate the resolved folder.
Release notes - August 2024 (version 2.0)
In the new version it is possible to obtain information directly from the execution of the CI/CD stages. This option will be available by clicking on the icon (cross or ok) available in each stage.
The information is shown below:
From now on, there is a new option to display the CI/CD execution history directly from APIQuality. This option will be available in the context menu available in the execution.
From now on it will be possible to change both the name of the api and the name of the repository file directly from the interface. All you have to do is click on edit in the API display screen:
And it will be changed automatically in the repository
The environments (branches) that are created at the organization level will be available for all APIs, being able to define personal branches in each API.
Only administrators and api architect will be able to define branches for all apis.
For openapi using external files, a new functionality has been created to generate the openapi with the external references. This functionality can be configured by the organization administrator in settings.
or it can be done only on the file we are importing:
or it can be created as another stage:
The user name has been added in the commits so that it is possible to see who has made the changes. Until now it was the generic APIQuality user that was displayed without specifying who the APIQuality user was.
For enterprise licenses a new front end has been enabled where they can login with SAML and connect their corporate login.
Below is a list of small improvements:
- Sort domain field when uploading a new API.
- Permissions have been given to the api design to be able to see the models.
The following is a list of bugs in the version:
- It is modified so that it does not show as editor the creator of the api.
- A bug is solved in which when creating a new branch it could take the name of the old file that had been previously deleted.
Learn more about APIQuality
FAQs
Do you have any doubt about how APIQuality works? These are the most frequent questions and answers (FAQs) that our clients ask to us.
APIQuality is a platform that facilitates the development, testing and deployment of APIs. It is designed to help you implement the API-First methodology in an efficient and automated way. Basically, it makes working with APIs much easier and safer.
With APIQuality, you can:
- Create prototypes automatically: We generate models of your APIs from definitions.
- Perform continuous testing: We run automatic tests to make sure your APIs work correctly.
- Generate test data: We create dummy data to test your APIs in different scenarios.
- Simulate errors: We test how your APIs respond to failures to improve their robustness.
- Deploy and monitor: We manage your APIs and monitor their performance in real time.
Using APIQuality offers you multiple advantages:
- Automation: We reduce manual work in the development and testing of APIs.
- Security: We detect and fix vulnerabilities automatically.
- Integration: We work with popular tools such as Gitlab and Postman.
- Flexibility: We support technologies such as C# .net and Java Springboot.
In APIQuality we have several plans according to your needs:
- Free Plan: Free, allows you to manage up to 5 APIs.
- Business: from 29€ per month, to manage up to 30 APIs. Each extra developer costs 5€.
- Enterprise: price on request, with no limit on the number of APIs.
- Dev Portal: price and conditions on request.
Each plan is designed to suit different levels of use and business needs.
At APIQuality we perform real-time security scans to detect and fix vulnerabilities. It also provides detailed statistics and helps you define security standards for your APIs, ensuring that they comply with industry best practices.
To offer you the best, APIQuality integrates several open-source tools such as:
- OpenAPI2Postman: To generate tests and validations.
- doSonarAPI: To validate API definitions according to corporate standards.
- API Generator: To create archetypes of microservices connected to databases.
If you need help, you can contact our APIQuality support team by sending an email to contacta@apiquality.io or by calling +34 917 64 79 82. You can also use the contact form on their website for any inquiries.
In hybrid versions, sonarlint can be used to test directly locally.
If you put in the comment the name of the stages, the configured stages will be executed in APIQquality.
Yes, you can create a custom stage that uses the operations you have inside your CI/CD.
In this case the hybrid version uses a vpn to be able to connect to the local parts. For the hybrid version it can only be used in the enterprise license.
No, but we will soon have a version that will allow you to change the order.
Currently GitlabCI and Bibucket can be used and Github and AzureDevops are being worked on. If you use another system, it can be easily used using webhooks from your CI/CD system to GitlabCI.
You must understand that the system used is APIOps, which means that the processes are executed in the CI/CD and sometimes it may take some time to assign an execution job.
Currently there are only two versions, SaaS and Hybrid version. If you have other needs, do not hesitate to propose it to the product team.
In this case, you should talk to the APIs governance team or the people in charge of defining the style guide, to find out if they have any parameterization errors.
Yes, but Microcks comes by default inside the tool.
In the SaaS version this is not possible, but you can develop different configurations directly within openapi, depending on the openapi extensions.
This is not possible in the SaaS version, it can only be done in the hybrid version.
By now, API Quality can use Mulesoft, WSO2 3.2, WSO 4.1, Kong 2.X, Azure API Management, Apigee X, AWS API Gateway.
APIQuality is offering API Rating for both definition, quality, mocking and definition-based security. Work is in progress to add our metrics.
The default APIOPs concept is in GitlabCI in SaaS. But that doesn’t mean you can’t plug in your own CI/CD continuous integration system.
Not for the moment.
For the generation of microservices we use APIgen ASP.NET and APIgen Java Springboot, where do these generators come from?
These generators have been developed by different companies under the umbrella of the APIAddicts foundation. You can see the projects at:
Why choose APIQuality?
A tool that will significantly benefit both your business and your technical team.
Business benefits
Save up to 70% more time while building better products
Strengthen your business security
Increase the productivity of your team by 82%
Boost the consumption and use of your APIs
Accelerate project delivery
Technical benefits
Bring your entire API First cycle together in one tool
Controls and fixes definition errors and vulnerabilities
Automate your tests
Generate your mocks to streamline your internal development processes
Track your APIs in real time
Try APIQuality now!
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