Introducing Azure API Apps

Jeffrey Fritz

March 24th, 20150 0

As part of the Azure SDK 2.5.1 release, a new feature called Azure API Apps were included. This new feature raises the capabilities of ASP.NET Web API, extending it with Swagger metadata while providing a simple to manage interface in the Azure Portal. Extend your API with authentication and no code changes, or generate an SDK for your API with a few clicks. A full definition of API Apps and their capabilities is available in the online Azure documentation. Video coverage of the API Apps announcement with Scott Guthrie is available online:

Let’s take a quick look at some concepts, with links to more information.

API Apps live in an App Gateway. This gateway manages add-on functionality such as authentication and update policies for the API. A gateway resides on a single host.

Gateways are contained within a standard Azure Resource Group.
API Apps can use connectors to access SaaS (software as a service) platforms such as Office 365 and Salesforce.
When you create an Azure API App in Visual Studio, you can review the Swagger metadata for your app by navigating a web browser to the default web location of /swagger/docs/v1 in your compiled and running project.

Given the following ASP.NET API Controllers:

The following swagger format is output:

We have a complete tutorial online demonstrating how to get started defining your first API, publishing the API so that others can re-deploy it, and finally deploy the API so that you can consume it.

There is a lot of coverage of the introduction of our new Web App platform, you can learn more at the following links:

If you have an active Azure subscription, navigate over to the Azure Portal and try the new API Apps. If you are new to Azure and don’t yet have a subscription, you can try Azure App Service for free with no credit card and no commitment needed.