Direct API access

Each of our cloud services exposes an API that can be leveraged for low-level integration with the service. Rackspace APIs, like OpenStack APIs, are Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs, meaning that they are logically structured, stateless, and scalable (among other properties).

In the Developer Center, you can learn about the API structure and being able to make direct, manual calls to the API is a powerful tool for understanding and managing the Rackspace cloud infrastructure.

The API Developer Guide for each service is published in our technical documentation collection.

Some of the most common ways to directly interact with APIs are:

• Command line tools, such as cURL

• Browser extensions, such as Postman for Chrome

• Utilities for specific operating systems, such as those listed in your app store or directory under REST client

For each service that offers a public API, Rackspace publishes at least two technical documents:

• API developer guide: reference material describing API requests and sample responses

• API getting started guide: tutorial material demonstrating simple interactions with the API

For most APIs, we also publish API release notes, announcing changes to the API.

These API documents primarily support readers who are already experienced with RESTful APIs in other contexts and are seeking details specifically about the Rackspace APIs. We don’t provide a beginner-level API tutorial, however, REST is widely used and introductory material is readily available. If you want to work with our APIs and this is your first experience with RESTful APIs, begin with Preparing to use APIs.