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Generating OpenAPI Specification (OAS) documentation for your REST APIs

Generating OpenAPI Specification (OAS) documentation for your REST APIs

The generation process consists of 2 steps:

Generating the OpenAPI specification documentation
Validating your API specifications using a web API scanner

REST APIs have become the de facto standard for building web services, and one of the most popular ways to document them is with the OpenAPI Specification (OAS). The OAS is a language-agnostic, open-source framework for describing REST APIs. It's used by developers to describe the functionality of a REST API, and by consumers to generate documentation and code for interacting with the API.

One of the benefits of using the OAS is that it can be used to generate documentation for your API. This can be done with a tool like Swagger, which converts OAS definitions into human-readable documentation. Swagger can also be used to generate code for interacting with your API, making it a powerful tool for both developers and consumers of your API.

Step #1

To get started with generating OAS documentation for your API, you first need to define your API using the OAS. This can be done with the help of a tool like the OpenAPI Generator. The OpenAPI Generator is a tool that can be used to generate OAS definitions from existing code. It supports a wide range of programming languages, and can be used to generate both OAS 2.0 and OAS 3.0 definitions.

Here are some Workflow Integrations:

Gradle - Gradle Integration plugin offers a declarative DSL via extensions

Maven - Maven Integration plugin to support the OpenAPI generator project

Sbt-openapi-generator - sbt Integration plugin supports the OpenAPI generator project.

Bazel - Bazel Integration a repo was created to integrate the OpenAPI code generation CLI with Bazel.

Cake Addin - for code generation via the OpenAPI Generator (f.k.a. Swagger Codegen)

Once you have generated your OAS definition, you can then use a tool like Swagger to generate documentation for your API. Swagger provides a number of options for customizing the generated documentation, so you can make it as specific or as general as you like. You can also use Swagger to generate code for interacting with your API. This can be done with the Swagger Codegen tool, which can generate code in a number of different programming languages.

Step #2

Once you're done with the generation process you should move to the interesting step which is validating your API specifications.
This can be done using a online API web scanner over at https://www.blstsecurity.com
Generating OAS documentation for your API can be a powerful way to improve your API's usability. It can also be used to generate code for interacting with your API, making it a valuable tool for both developers and consumers of your API. Do not overlook the validation part of the process. Nowadays, this part is as easy as 1-2-3 and can be done in a matter of seconds using a simple online tool similar to the one BLST Security is offering for free.

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