Don't Be Afraid of the REST API — An Introduction for Non-Programmers

Not doing integrations every day? Here's the minimum set of concepts that will let you try out the Signi API — without programming.

How the API works

Communicating with an API is like ordering in a restaurant: you send a request (what you want and with what details) and you get a response. Both travel over the secure web (HTTPS), just like when you browse websites.

A few terms you'll come across in the documentation:

• Endpoint — the internet address of one specific service, e.g. https://api.signi.com/api/v1/contract/ for creating a document.
• GET / POST / DELETE — the type of request: GET reads, POST creates or sends data, DELETE deletes.
• JSON — the text format in which data is sent. Human-readable: { "email": "jan@email.cz" }.
• API key — the password for your workspace; it's sent with every request. See How to generate an API key.

What to try the API with

curl — a command available in the terminal of every computer (on both Mac and Windows). All the examples in this documentation are curl — just copy them, add your key, and run.

Postman — an application with a friendly interface where you click together requests instead of typing commands. You can clearly see the address, headers, request body, and response.

Where to start

Go through the Quickstart — in a few minutes you'll send your first document for signing and immediately see how requests and responses work together.

Want to go deeper? We recommend an introduction to REST API (in Czech) or everything curl (in English).