APIihin

APIihin is an open-source platform designed to streamline the creation, testing, and documentation of application programming interfaces. It provides an integrated environment for designing APIs, generating client and server code, validating conformance to API contracts, and publishing documentation. It supports multiple API paradigms, including REST, GraphQL, and gRPC, and is language-agnostic, allowing teams to use their preferred tech stacks.

APIihin began as a community project in 2019, with contributors from several developer groups. The project aimed to reduce tool fragmentation by offering a unified workflow for API definitions, mock services, and automated tests. It gained broader adoption after releasing a web-based editor and a command-line interface, and has since reached multiple major milestones emphasizing OpenAPI and GraphQL compatibility.

Key features include an API design editor with validation rules, automatic generation of server stubs and client SDKs, a mock server to simulate endpoints, and built-in contract testing to verify API behavior against defined specifications. It offers versioned environments, role-based access control, and a plugin system for extending functionality. Export options cover OpenAPI, Swagger, and GraphQL schemas, with CI/CD integration support.

Usage and reception: Organizations use APIihin to manage API lifecycles from design to deployment. The platform is praised for reducing context switching and aligning frontend and backend teams. Some users report a learning curve, potential performance considerations with very large APIs, and a reliance on community-maintained plugins for certain integrations.

APIihin is maintained by a community-led ecosystem with occasional corporate sponsorship and active discussion in its forums and release notes.