Automated API documentation

This document describes how to read API specification (RAML and OAS) to render automated documentation of the API.

This documentation is for ARC version 16 and up.

Advanced REST Client has embedded its sister project developed by MuleSoft: API Console. It is an API documentation tool that generates API documentation from the API model. You can learn more about API Console at api-console.io.

After opening an API specification you can choose to store the API in the internal database for future use. From the REST APIs menu, you can load previously saved API.

API Console has a different user interface compared to ARC's normal view. It focuses on the documentation part. From here you can learn how the API work but also consume the API through the "Try it" panel. In this editor, the request editor is pre-configured to ask for the request parameters required for the successful connection. Because the parameters are described in the API specification the request editor knows what kind of data to expect. This helps you to faster build the HTTP request and see the result.

You can choose the Explore option from the context menu to find APIs in Anypoint Exchange. It is an API catalog created by MuleSoft. If you have an account and you use our design tools, you can log in to your account to list your private assets.

When you click on the Download button the API specification is downloaded from Anypoint Exchange and processed by ARC to generate the graph model the API Console uses to generate the view.

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