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An API, short for application programming interface, is a set of rules that lets one piece of software ask another for data or to do something, without knowing how the other works inside. A weather app asking a weather service for today's forecast is a typical example.
In short
Web APIs usually receive a request over the internet and return data in a standard format, most often JSON. They are how a store can show shipping rates from a carrier, a website can take payments, and two business systems can share customer records without anyone copying data by hand.
Who owns the data, how access is secured (keys and permissions), what limits apply to how often you can call it, who fixes problems, and what happens when the provider changes or removes a feature. Keep keys out of public code.
Our API integration page covers how systems are connected.
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