Experience Level
This core reference entry is suited for advanced-level builders.
In-depth articles
In-depth articles
To learn about this topic more in-depth, we recommend reading the suggested articles:
Introduction to APIs
This article series takes an in-depth look at what exactly an API is and how you can both set up an API in Bubble and connect to external APIs in different ways.
Article: Introduction to APIs
Video: Introduction to APIs
Article: What is a RESTful API?
Authenticating with the Bubble API
Authentication is the process of identifying who the client is in order to determine what they have access to.
Article series: The Bubble API and authentication
Authentication types
The Bubble API lets clients authenticate in different ways:
How to set up authentication in the external system
The Bubble uses the bearer token method to authenticate clients.
The Data API
The Data API lets you set up an API in your Bubble application that accepts incoming requests to search for, read, create, edit and delete entries in your database.
Article series: The Data API
The Workflow API
The Data API lets you set up an API in your Bubble application that accepts incoming requests to trigger workflows.
Article series: The Workflow API
The API Connector
The API Connector lets you connect to external RESTful APIs to trigger workflows or to use as a data source.
Article series: The API Connector
The API glossary
If you are new to APIs the terminology may feel a bit overwhelming. For that we have put together a glossary of the most widely used words and phrases to get you started:
Article: API glossary
Video lessons
Video lessons
Bubble Academy: Intro to APIs and the API Connector
Bubble Academy: How to set up Google API keys
Webinar: API Workflows
Webinar: The API Connector
This is the short-form technical reference entry of Bubble's API features. If you are looking for more in-depth and long-form articles on how the Bubble API works, you may be interested in checking the Bubble API manual.
Throughout reading the reference and manual, you may also find our API Glossary helpful.
The Bubble API
The Data API: give external apps and systems secure access to your database
The Data API allows other systems to search for, read, create, modify and delete data in your application’s database via a RESTful interface.
The workflow API: allows external applications to execute workflows in your app.
The API Connector
The API Connector: make outbound requests to external applications and systems
The API Connector is used to make outgoing connections to external applications and use it as a data source or trigger actions.