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User:LesOrchard/BandwagonAPI

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Bandwagon API

Open Questions

  • How much detail about addons in collection responses is necessary? The less, the better, since building full addon records is expensive.
  • Product spec calls for ability to create collections for "auto-publishers" to sync with list of addons in browser. How is this distinguished from creating a collection in general, or is a distinction even necessary?


Implementation Notes

This API spec uses the REST pattern of including resource URLs in responses, rather than database IDs or other identifiers. This allows the server to control its own namespace - so please use the URLs found in href attributes to access the API, rather than constructing them on the client side from templates.

The only URL that should be hardcoded (or preferably kept in a user preference) in the client application is the URL to the service document. This will not only make it easier to switch between production, staging, and dev instances of the API, it will also make the client resilient to other more granular changes in the server URL space.

The URLs in response data may be supplied as relative paths, or relative with respect an URL indicated by an xml:base attribute.

For GET requests, be sure to retain the value of the Last-Modified header in responses and include it as If-Modified-Since in requests. This enables conditional GET and may result in 304 Not Modified responses that indicate the resource has not changed since the last fetch. This can save in both CPU consumption and bandwidth in preparing and sending the response data.

Authentication

All API access requires authentication.

AMOv3 cookie session ID

If a Cookie: header is sent with the value of an AMOv3 login session ID, that value will be validated first in authenticating the user.

Example header, with the AMOv3 cookie among other cookies: 

   Cookie: foo=bar; AMOv3=865ikpjmn6bqh897msr3o5hv12; baz=quux

The primary use-case for this means of authentication is in a browser extension with access to the user's cookie jar and the ability to extract the same cookie used for website login.

HTTP basic auth with email/pass

If no AMOv3 cookie header is found, or if it is invalid, an attempt to authenticate the user with HTTP basic auth will be made. The username is expected to be an email address registered with AMO and the correct password for that account must be supplied.

One use case for this authentication method is for simpler testing not entirely dependent on website login.

Authorization

In general, the client will not be given the URLs of resources to which the authenticated user does not have at least some access (ie. GET-only).

Attempts to manipulate resources to which the authenticated user does not have any permission do to so will receive a response with a 403 Forbidden status code.

Attempts to manipulate resources for which the user has some permission will receive responses with a 405 Method Not Allowed status code, and the Allow: header will list which methods are allowed.

Status Codes

Based on HTTP/1.1 Status Code Definitions.

  • 200 OK - Request OK, response body follows.
  • 201 Created - New resource created, response body follows with new content, watch for Location: header containing new resource URL
  • 202 Accepted - The request has been accepted for processing, but the processing has not been completed. Expect an empty response body.
  • 302 Found - The desired resource is more appropriately found at URL supplied by Location: header.
  • 303 See Other - The response reflecting results of this request is found at URL supplied by Location: header.
  • 304 Not Modified - The resource has not changed with respect to the given If-Modified-Since header in the request.
  • 401 Unauthorized - Authentication details not accepted.
  • 403 Forbidden - Authentication details accepted, but request not allowed.
  • 404 Not Found - Resource not found.
  • 405 Method Not Allowed - The method specified is not applicable to the resource.
  • 410 Gone - Usually the status of a successful DELETE request.
  • 415 Unsupported Media Type - Request type not supported - generally only application/x-www-form-urlencoded is accepted.
  • 500 Internal Server Error - Something unexpected went wrong.

Resources

The following is a catalog of the kinds of resources made available by the API. The URL paths used as headers are conceptual examples, not intended for literal use as templates in the client application.

/api/sharing/

This service document is the main entry point URL for the API. Polling it periodically, with proper attention to Last-Modified and If-Modified-Since headers, should offer a relatively efficient way to track collection subscriptions and what subscriptions are writable.

The service document given as a response to a GET request to the resource will supply URLs leading into the rest of the API.

Concrete examples of this URL might look something like the following: 

   http://localhost/~lorchard/addons/api.php?action=service_doc
   http://dev.addons.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/api/1.3/sharing
   https://preview.addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/api/1.3/sharing
   https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/api/1.3/sharing
GET - Fetch the service document
  • Response
    • Status: 200 OK
    • Content-Type: #Service Document
    • Response body varies according to authenticated user's context

/api/sharing/collections/

This resource represents the set of all shared collections. A concrete URL for this resource can be acquired from the #Service Document.

POST - Create a new collection
  • Request
    • Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
    • Parameters:
      • title - human readable title for the collection
      • is_public - whether the collection should be listed in the directory (1) or not (0)
  • Response
    • Status: 201 Created
    • Content-Type: empty body
    • Response body will be empty.
    • Location header points to the URL of new collection.

/api/sharing/collections/{uuid}

This resource represents a single collection of shared addons. A concrete URL for this kind of resource can be acquired from the #Service Document.

GET - Fetch contents of a collection
POST - Add or update an addon in a collection
  • Request
    • Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
    • Parameters:
      • guid - GUID of addon to add to list
      • notes - (optional) human readable notes about the addon
  • Response (on success)
    • Status: 303 See Other
    • Content-Type: empty body
    • Response body will be empty.
    • Location header points to the URL of collection, which will reflect the addition or update of the addon.
      • i.e. Location: /api/1.3/sharing/collections/5497c4b6-f2e9-11dd-b326-7f8fd4293122


/api/sharing/collections/{uuid}/addons/{addon guid}

This resource represents a single addon shared in a collection. A concrete URL for this kind of resource can be acquired from an #Addon Collection.

GET - Fetch details on an addon in a collection
DELETE - Remove an addon from a collection
  • Response (on success)
    • Status: 410 Gone

/api/sharing/email

This resource offers a general-purpose interface to notification functionality for sharing addons via email messages. A concrete URL for this of resource can be acquired from the #Service Document.

POST - Request an email sharing notification
  • Request
    • Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
    • Parameters:
      • to - comma-separated list of email addresses for notification
      • guid - GUID of addon to share
      • notes - human readable personal notes to be included in notification
  • Response (on success)
    • Content-Type: empty body
    • Status: 202 Accepted

Representations

Service Document

The service document is the main entry point, or "front door" to the API, providing links to other resources exposed by the API and offering an overview of what particular resources are made available to the authenticated user. 

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
   <sharing xmlns="http://addons.mozilla.org/" 
           xml:base="http://addons.mozilla.org/api/1.3/sharing/">
       <email href="email" />
       <collections href="collections">
           <collection 
               href="collections/98404f20-f2e0-11dd-9121-3307c31c9566" 
               title="My Laptop Addons"
               creator="lorchard@mozilla.com"
               writable="yes" subscribed="yes" 
               lastmodified="2009-01-04T00:10:00Z" />
           <collection 
               href="collections/9f534614-f2e5-11dd-a55a-2bd072fc4ff4"
               title="Joe's Blogging Addons"
               creator="joe@example.com"
               writable="no" subscribed="yes" 
               lastmodified="2009-01-04T00:10:00Z" />
           <collection 
               href="collections/9f534614-f2e5-11dd-a55a-2bd072fc4ff4"
               title="Invisible Addon Collection"
               creator="lorchard@mozilla.com"
               writable="yes" subscribed="no" 
               lastmodified="2009-01-04T00:10:00Z" />
       </collections>
   </sharing>

Addon Collection

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
   <collection xmlns="http://addons.mozilla.org/" 
           xml:base="http://addons.mozilla.org/api/1.3/sharing/">
           href="collections/98404f20-f2e0-11dd-9121-3307c31c9566" 
           title="My Laptop Addons"
           writable="yes" subscribed="yes" 
           lastmodified="2009-01-04T00:10:00Z">
       <addon href="collections/98404f20-f2e0-11dd-9121-3307c31c9566/addons/AE93811A-5C9A-4d34-8462-F7B864FC4696">
           <meta>
               <added>2009-01-04T00:00:12Z</added>
               <comments>Here are my nifty comments</comments>
           </meta>
           <name>StumbleUpon</name>
           <type id="1">Extension</type>
           <guid>{AE93811A-5C9A-4d34-8462-F7B864FC4696}</guid>
           <version>50706</version>
           <status id="4">Public</status>
           <authors>
               <author>StumbleUpon </author>
           </authors>      
           <summary>
               StumbleUpon discovers web sites based on your interests, learns
               what you like and brings you more.
           </summary>
           <description>
               With StumbleUpon you can also connect with friends and share
               your discoveries, meet people that have similar interests, and
               check out what other people are discovering.
           </description>
           <icon>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/addon_icon/138/1216845032</icon>
           <thumbnail>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/t/23099/1215517056</thumbnail>
           <rating>5</rating>
           <learnmore>https://addons.mozilla.org/addon/138</learnmore>
       </addon>
       <addon>
           <meta>
               <added>2009-01-02T00:00:12Z</added>
               <comments>You should really use this.</comments>
           </meta>
           <name>FoxyTunes</name>
           <type id="1">Extension</type>
           <guid>{463F6CA5-EE3C-4be1-B7E6-7FEE11953374}</guid>
           <version>50845</version>
           <status id="4">Public</status>
           <authors>
               <author>Alex Sirota</author>
               <author>Yahoo! Inc. </author>
           </authors>      
           <summary>
               Do you listen to Music while surfing the Web?^M^MFoxyTunes lets
               you control almost any media player and find lyrics, covers,
               videos, bios and much more with a click right from your
               browser.
           </summary>
           <description>
               Do you listen to Music while surfing the Web?FoxyTunes lets
               you control almost any media player and find lyrics, covers,
               videos, bios and much more with a click right from your
               browser.Supports WinAmp, iTunes, Yahoo Music Engine,
               Pandora, foobar2000, Windows Media Player, Xbox Media Center,
               Musicmatch, Quintessential, J. River, jetAudio, XMPlay,
               MediaMonkey, Media Player Classic, Sonique, wxMusik, Real
               Player, XMMS, Noatun, Juk, Amarok, Music Player Daemon,
               Rhythmbox and many other players.Just click on the orange
               note and select your player.CNET Editor's Rating: 5/5
               starsPC Magazine: Top 15 Firefox ExtensionsPC World: Top
               Download Picks 
           </description>
           <icon>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/addon_icon/219/1226633195</icon>
           <thumbnail>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/t/20256/1209472104</thumbnail>
           <rating>5</rating>
           <learnmore>https://addons.mozilla.org/addon/219</learnmore>
       </addon>
   </collection>

Addon

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
   <addon xml:base="http://addons.mozilla.org/api/1.3/sharing/"
       href="collections/98404f20-f2e0-11dd-9121-3307c31c9566/addons/AE93811A-5C9A-4d34-8462-F7B864FC4696">
       <meta>
           <added>2009-01-04T00:00:12Z</added>
           <comments>Here are my nifty comments</comments>
       </meta>
       <categories>
           <category id="1">Feeds, News & Blogging</category>
           <category id="13">Search Tools</category>
           <category id="22">Bookmarks</category>
           <category id="71">Social & Communication</category>
           <category id="92">Toolbars</category>
       </categories>
       <name>StumbleUpon</name>
       <type id="1">Extension</type>
       <guid>{AE93811A-5C9A-4d34-8462-F7B864FC4696}</guid>
       <version>50706</version>
       <status id="4">Public</status>
       <authors>
           <author>StumbleUpon </author>
       </authors>      
       <summary>
           StumbleUpon discovers web sites based on your interests, learns
           what you like and brings you more.
       </summary>
       <description>
           With StumbleUpon you can also connect with friends and share
           your discoveries, meet people that have similar interests, and
           check out what other people are discovering.
       </description>
       <icon>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/addon_icon/138/1216845032</icon>
       <compatible_applications>
           <application>
               <name>Firefox</name>
               <application_id>1</application_id>
               <min_version>1.0</min_version>
               <max_version>3.1a2pre</max_version>
               <appID>{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}</appID>
           </application>
           <application>
               <name>SeaMonkey</name>
               <application_id>59</application_id>
               <min_version>1.0</min_version>
               <max_version>2.0a1</max_version>
               <appID>{92650c4d-4b8e-4d2a-b7eb-24ecf4f6b63a}</appID>
           </application>
       </compatible_applications>      
       <all_compatible_os>
           <os>ALL</os>
       </all_compatible_os>
       <eula></eula>
       <thumbnail>https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/images/t/23099/1215517056</thumbnail>
       <rating>5</rating>
       <learnmore>https://addons.mozilla.org/addon/138</learnmore>
       <install hash="sha256:2e69bcd3db46521e83eb2d5fdf37724c2af33bb1742f86d0e2cbd938c9bcfae4" 
           os="ALL">https://addons.mozilla.org/downloads/file/34258/stumbleupon-3.26-fx+mz+sm.xpi</install>          
   </addon>
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