Awesome API 
A curated list of awesome resources for design and implement RESTful APIs.
Design
Overview
REST allows us to create services and applications that can be used by any device or client who understands HTTP.
- Best Practices for Designing a Pragmatic RESTful API [spanish version].
- Ideal REST API Design.
- Heroku API Reference.
- API Terms Glossary.
- HTTP API Design – Guide extracted from work on the Heroku Platform API.
- Learn REST: A RESTful Tutorial.
- RAPIS: A REST API Standard for the 21th century.
- IBM Watson REST API Guidelines.
- Microsoft REST API Guidelines.
Status Code
When you are using a REST design you have to provide the HTTP status code that are the more appropriated to respond to the request.
Authentication
- Auth Boss – Learn about different authentication methodologies on the web.
- Authentication Cheat Sheet.
- The Problem With API Authentication in Express.
- Web Authentication Methods Explained.
JWT
JSON Web Token (JWT) is a compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties.
- 10 Things You Should Know about Tokens.
- Cookies vs Tokens.
- JWT Draft in IETF.
- JWT.io.
- Using JSON Web Tokens as API Keys.
- Why Meteor doesn't use session cookies.
- JWTinspector.io.
Authorization
OAuth
An open protocol to allow secure authorization in a simple and standard method from web, mobile and desktop applications
Security
- Helmet, help secure Express/Connect apps with various HTTP headers.
- Node Security Project.
- Node.js Security Checklist.
Format
- HAL – Simple format that gives a consistent and easy way to hyperlink between resources in your API (see: HATEOAS).
- Hydra – Vocabulary for Hypermedia-Driven Web APIs (W3C).
- JSend – Simple specification that lays down some rules for how JSON responses from web servers should be formatted.
- JSON API – Standard for building APIs in JSON.
- JSON-LD – Standard for describing Linked Data and hypermedia relations in JSON (W3C).
- OData – Open protocol to allow the creation and consumption of queryable and interoperable RESTful APIs. Quite complex.
- RAML – Simple and succinct way to describe RESTful API.
- Schema.org – Collection of schemas describing common data models.
Discover
Need a API for your projects?
Curated list
- Awesome APIs Directory – A public list of APIs from round the web.
- public apis – A collective list of public JSON APIs for use in web development.
Directory
Testing
Querying
- httpie – Command line HTTP client, far more dev-friendly than
curl. - HttpMaster – GUI tool for testing REST APIs and services. Windows OS only.
- jq – Command line JSON processor, to use in combination with a command-line HTTP client like cURL.
- Insomina – A Fancy HTTP REST Client.
- resty – Little command line REST client that you can use in pipelines (bash or zsh).
Mocking
- FakeRest – Patch XMLHttpRequest to fake a REST API client-side.
- JSON Placeholder – Free online REST service that you can use whenever you need some fake data.
- json-server – Get a full fake REST API with zero coding in less than 30 seconds.
- Mocky.io – Free online service to create fake HTTP responses.
- Swagger API Mock – Mock RESTful API based on swagger schema
Documentation
One of the most important part of your API is have a good documentation and updated with the code.
Free
Services
Logging
Modeling and SaaS
Based in DDD (Domain Driven Development). Generates automatically API's in different languages.
- API Plug – Hassle-free API Generation.
- Apiary – Collaborative design, instant API mock, generated documentation, integrated code samples, debugging and automated testing.
- wrapAPI, Build an API on top of any website.
- import.io, turn web pages into Data.
- RAML, RESTful API Modeling Language.
- Runscope – Automated API Monitoring & Testing.
- swagger.io.
Libraries
Used it to improve your workflow
- hello.js – A client-side Javascript SDK for authenticating with OAuth2.
- nock – HTTP Server mocking for Node.js
- node-ratelimiter – Rate limiter for Node.js backed by Redis.
- node-uuid – Simple and fast generation of UUIDS.
- Supertest – Super-agent driven library for testing HTTP servers.
- Unirest – Lightweight HTTP Request Client Libraries.
Frameworks
Designed specifically for building RESTful API's Quickly.
Gateways
Manage API infrastructure concerns such as authentication/authorization, rate limiting, scaling, analytics, etc.