If your APIs are protected by an authentication mechanism, that requires a standard set of headers or parameters that need to be sent with every request, you can save these in a common data source to be reused with every request known as Authenticated APIs.
Navigate to Explorer → scroll down to Datasources → Click on the (+) sign → Click Authenticated API.
{% embed url="https://youtu.be/Uy7ZDviGbtM" %} How to create an Authenticated API? {% endembed %}
You’ll be redirected to the create datasource page as shown below:
You can configure the data source as follows:
By default, Appsmith supplies a running sequence for the data source created. You can click on the pencil icon next to it to edit the name of the data source.
{% hint style="info" %} It is advisable that you give a meaningful name to your Authenticated API datasource. {% endhint %}
Use this field to add the API URL you would like to access. For example, I would like to access the mock API of Appsmith, and for that, I’ll supply the URL as https://mock-api.appsmith.com``
You can add one or more header details that you would like to send along with the request to access the API you have integrated.
You can add one or more query parameters to the API you integrate with as part of the request.
When you want to ensure that the incoming requests originate from Appsmith, you can enable Send Appsmith Signature Header by selecting Yes. You’ll see a new field - Session Details Signature Key to supply the signature key.
You can define an authentication type for REST APIs by using the protocols available on Appsmith.
Appsmith safely encrypts all your authentication credentials and stores them securely. Appsmith also does not store any data returned from your data sources and acts only as a proxy layer to orchestrate the API / Query calls. Since Appsmith is an open-source framework, you can deploy it on-premise, and audit it to ensure none of your data leaves your VPC.
The smart JSON substitution feature allows Appsmith to dynamically perform type conversions on field values in a request body. The video below illustrates how to use this feature:
{% embed url="https://youtu.be/-Z3y-pdNhXc" %}