| NEW: Use “Cache Prefreshing” in API Gateway for Extremely Time-Pressured API Calls |
Get the scale your global APIs need.
API gateways — which routinely perform important API governance functions — can be difficult to scale and are often restricted to a single data center or region. To meet these challenges, Akamai API Gateway offloads API governance functions to the Edge. This converts every one of Akamai’s globally distributed edge servers into an API gateway to maximize the scalability and reliability of your API authentication, authorization, and quota management policies.
Here are five of Akamai API Gateway's key capabilities for API developers:
GraphQL caching
GraphQL is a query language for APIs that allows developers to fetch only the data needed with a single round-trip to the server. However, there is no native caching capability in the GraphQL spec. API Gateway provides an edge capability to cache GraphQL responses so you can reduce fetches to the databases and microservices below the GraphQL server.
Scalable access control
Ensure the right users access your APIs at the edge instead of at origin. API Gateway lets you authenticate with API keys or authorize requests at the edge with JSON Web Tokens (JWT).
User quota enforcement
API Gateway lets you offload quota enforcement to the Edge by setting request quotas at the user or application level, enforce lifetime call volume by key, enable tiered access, and helps enforce business SLAs.
DevOps-ready
Create your API definition or import your OpenAPI 3.0 or RAML API definitions to get going quickly. Automate your API deployment by seamlessly snapping into your existing DevOps workflow using Akamai's rich set of administrative APIs.
Supercharged APIs
Unlock your API’s full potential when you couple it with other Akamai solutions. For example, you can protect your APIs from malicious traffic with Akamai’s Kona Site Defender, and add caching and protocol optimizations with Akamai Ion.
Here's additional information about best practices and answers to common questions around Akamai API Gateway.
| Getting Started | API Caching | Swagger / RAML |
|---|---|---|
- Use “Cache Prefreshing” in API Gateway for Extremely Time-Pressured API Calls | - Getting Started with Swagger - Use Jenkins To Keep Your API Gateway Definitions Automatically Updated |
| User Quota Enforcement | Graph QL |
| - API Pain and GraphQL Relief - GraphQL Query Parsing and Caching at the Edge - How-To: Cache GraphQL Responses to Increase Offload and Reduce Costs |
| JSON Web Tokens | Command-Line Interface (CLI) | API Security |
| - How-To: Replacing HMAC Secrets with RSA Keys to Validate Tokens |
Deploying your APIs on Akamai can be done in five easy steps:
Add API Gateway to your contract
Use Marketplace in Luna to add API Gateway to an existing delivery product. After two clicks, you're done. API Gateway will be on your contract within an hour.Add the API Gateway behavior in Property Manager
API Gateway runs atop Akamai's delivery products, unlocking all the benefits of routing and acceleration. Add the API Gateway behavior at the top level of your delivery configuration, and push it to production.Import a Swagger or RAML file
If you're writing Swagger or RAML definition documents for your API, point Akamai to your definition file. API Gateway will instantaneously identify everything about your API and how it's constructed - no manual configuration of endpoints and resources needed.Push your API to the network
Configure API Gateway with the settings you need and push your configuration out to our network. That’s it! You can start making requests to see the power of the Akamai Intelligent Platform.CNAME your API to Akamai
Make a DNS change to ensure that Akamai edge servers are answering requests for your API domain name. API Gateway does the heavy lifting by locating the edge server closest to the API client.