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  • Introduction to APIs
  • Getting started
  • The Bubble API manual
  • Other ways to learn:

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  1. User manual
  2. Integrations

API

Unlock the power of APIs in your Bubble application

Last updated 1 year ago

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Help us improve this article

This article is part of a significant update to the Bubble manual and your feedback is critical to our efforts to continuously enhance our written documentation. We would greatly appreciate if you could take a moment to let us know your thoughts on the quality of it. Thank you for your support!

One of Bubble's most powerful features is its ability to connect to other applications on the web. By using what's called an API connection, your application can fetch data and execute commands in external software systems and vice versa.

Introduction to APIs

The information in this section is not needed for you to set up incoming and outgoing API requests in Bubble, but by knowing the basics you may find it easier to understand external API documentation and Bubble's settings.

Bubble is a highly flexible platform. This means that while we offer robust API security features, we don't enforce their utilization. It is essential to possess an understanding of the fundamental principles of API management, such as and , in order to effectively secure one's implementation of the platform.

Getting started

If you are unfamiliar with how APIs work, we recommend starting with our introductory articles. The rest of the manual and reference entries will be easier to follow with an understanding of the basic principles:

While there are an abundance of different services you can connect to via an API, most of the follow the same basic architecture called REST.

The Bubble API manual

An incoming request means that an external system is initiating a connection with your Bubble application to read/manipulate data or start a workflow. This is handled by the Bubble API.

An outgoing request means that your application initiates a connection with an external system to work with data or execute an action. This is handled by the API Connector.

Incoming Connections (The Data API and API Workflows)

Incoming requests are calls that are initiated by an external system, such as another app. They are split into two different tools:

Outgoing Connections (The API Connector and plugins)

Outgoing connections mean that your Bubble application initiates a connection with an external system to work with data or execeute an action. This is handled by two different tools in Bubble:

API technical reference

Other ways to learn:

Video lessons

Tutorials

Webinars:

In we'll cover how APIs work in general. This is a fairly technical section that takes an in-depth look at the underlying structure and mechanics of a .

Throughout reading this guide you may find it useful to check our if there are terms and definitions you are unsure about.

In we cover the different API tools that Bubble offers. An API is either incoming or outgoing.

The Data API allows other applications to connect to your app's database to read, create, edit and delete data Article:

API Workflows allow other applications to execute workflows in your application remotely Article:

The API Connector allows you to establish an API Connection with any third-party app or system that adheres to the architecture. Article:

Plugins are extensions that can be installed in your Bubble application to serve different functions. Many plugins allow you to easily connect to different well-known APIs without having to set it up in the API Connector. Article:

If you are already familiar with how APIs work and want to see our technical reference, go here. Section:

this section
API Glossary
Introduction to APIs
What is a RESTful API?
API Glossary
this section
The Data API
API Workflows
RESTful
The API Connector
Plugins that connect to APIs
API reference docs
Intro to APIs and the API Connector
Setting up Google API keys
Bubble Webinar 2 - The API Connector
Bubble Webinar 4 - API Workflows
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APIs let you connect to other applications and vice versa.
Bubble API connections illustration