swagger.js

swagger.js is a javascript client for use with swaggering APIs. It's written in CoffeeScript and tested with Jasmine.

Find out more about the swagger project at swagger.wordnik.com, and follow us on Twitter at @swagger_doc.

Usage

Point swagger.js at a resource discovery file like api.wordnik.com/v4/resources.json and it builds itself at runtime.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://raw.github.com/wordnik/swagger.js/master/lib/swagger.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
  $(function() { 
    window.wordnik = new SwaggerApi({
      discoveryUrl: "http://api.wordnik.com/v4/resources.json",
      apiKey: "MY_API_KEY",
      success: function() {
        console.log('Shall we dance?');
      }
    });
  });
</script>

How it Works

1. Fork the repo.
2. Clone it.
3. Open spec.html in your browser.
4. Follow along in the Javascript console.

Initialization

wordnik = new SwaggerApi({
  api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', // Don't have a Wordnik API key? Get one at developer.wordnik.com
  verbose: true,
  success: function() { console.log("Your client is ready to swagger."); }
});

When initializing a swagger.js SwaggerApi class, the default discoveryUrl is http://api.wordnik.com/v4/resources.json, so we skipped it above.

After executing the above code you should see the success message in your console.

Object Hierarchy

Now you have access to an object called wordnik. This object is what swagger.js builds at runtime when you point it at a discoveryUrl. Try exploring it in the console:

wordnik
wordnik.resources
wordnik.resources.word.operations
wordnik.resources.word.operations.getDefinition

Quick Reference

You also get some console help() methods for quick reference. Some examples:

// Apis
wordnik.help()

// Resources
wordnik.resource.word.help()

// Operations
wordnik.resources.word.operations.getExamples.help()

Making Requests

There are two ways to make a request:

// shorthand form
wordnik.word.getDefinitions(args, callback);

// longhand form
wordnik.resources.word.operations.getDefinitions.do(args, callback);

// example usage
wordnik.word.getDefinitions({word: 'bliss'}, function(definitions) {
  console.log(definitions);
})

Request Headers

You can include your own headers in the args object:

args = {word: 'swole', limit:5}
args.headers = {magic: 'potion'}
callback = function(examples) { console.log(examples); }
wordnik.word.getExamples(args, callback);

If you want to initialize the Request without actually firing off a network request you can set a header called mock with any value.

Request Body

For GETs and POSTs, you can include the request body in the args object:

args = {}
args.body = {name: "gizmo", description: "A thing that does stuff."}
callback = function(thing) { console.log(thing); }
myApi.things.createThing(args, callback);

API Key and Secret

If your SwaggerApi initialization hash includes api_secret, it will be used to generate a timestamped encrypted token:

secure_api = new SwaggerApi({
  discoveryUrl: 'YOUR_SECURE_API_URL',
  api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
  api_secret: 'YOUR_SECRET'
});

This will include three query parameters in each API request:

• api_key - YOUR_API_KEY
• timestamp - the current UTC time in milliseconds
• api_token - the SHA1 hash of YOUR_SECRET concatenated with the timestamp

This prevents man-in-the-middle attacks, because the server can reject timestamps in the past.

You can customize the names of these parameters with apiKeyName, apiTimestampName, and apiTokenName.

To use the encrypted secret feature, your application will need to include the sha1.js library from the CryptoJS project. A rollup is also provided in the lib directory of the swagger.js project.

Debugging / cURL

Set verbose to true when initializing your client to see cURL equivalents of your requests in the browser console, complete with headers:

wordnik = new SwaggerApi({
  api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
  verbose: true,
  success: function() {
    args = {
      word: 'dog'
      headers: {fubar: 'maybe'}
    }
    wordnik.word.getDefinitions.do(args, function(definitions){
      console.log(definitions[0].word);
      for (var i = 0; i < definitions.length; i++) {
        var definition = definitions[i];
        console.log(definition.partOfSpeech + ": " + definition.text);
      }
    });
  }
});

// Console output:
// curl --header "fubar: maybe" http://api.wordnik.com/v4/word.json/dog/definitions?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
// dog
// noun: A domesticated carnivorous mammal (Canis familiaris) related to the foxes and wolves and raised in a wide variety of breeds.
// noun: Any of various carnivorous mammals of the family Canidae, such as the dingo.
// noun: A male animal of the family Canidae, especially of the fox or a domesticated breed.
// etc...

Development

Please fork the code and help us improve swagger.js. Send us a pull request and we'll mail you a wordnik T-shirt!

Swagger.js is written in CoffeeScript, so you'll need Node.js and the CoffeeScript compiler. For more detailed installation instructions, see coffeescript.org/#installation.

open http://nodejs.org/#download 
npm install -g coffee-script

# The 'dev' cake task will:
# 1. Open source files in your $EDITOR
# 2. Open and run the Jasmine specs in your browser.
# 3. Watch for changes to CoffeeScript files and auto-compile them to Javascript.
cake dev

# List all cake tasks:
cake

License

Copyright 2011-2012 Wordnik, Inc.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.