.. _using-stars-api: Using the STARS API =================== The STARS API is a dedicated, RESTful API for accessing STARS submission data. There are a few important things to know before using the STARS API which are explained below. .. _getting_access: Getting Access -------------- AASHE requires that all programs using the API authenticate with an **API key** and **username**. To request an API Key please contact the STARS team at stars@aashe.org. API Access will only be provided to STARS Participants and AASHE Members at this time. Currently all data is READ-ONLY, so all users will have the same access level. As future versions of the API develop we will provide controlled write access to pre-submission STARS data as granted by each institution. For now only GET requests are accepted. .. _data_model: Data Model and Structure ------------------------ The three APIs: :ref:`credits_api_endpoints`, :ref:`institutions_api_endpoints`, and :ref:`submissions_api_endpoints` use resources that model the underlying STARS data. Credits ^^^^^^^ Resources in :ref:`credits_api_endpoints` mimic the Technical Manual * CreditSet - Versions of STARS * Category * Subcategory * Credit * Documentation Field Institutions ^^^^^^^^^^^^ :ref:`institutions_api_endpoints` only has Institution Resources, but the resource contains information about the institution including the URI of their STARS Report Resource in :ref:`submissions_api_endpoints`. .. _submissions_data_model: Submissions ^^^^^^^^^^^ Resources in :ref:`submissions_api_endpoints` tie directly to Credit Sets in :ref:`credits_api_endpoints`. * Submission Set - A STARS Report * Category Submission * Subcategory Submission * Credit * Field RESTful Interface ----------------- The STARS API was designed to be as flexible as possible. This is why we chose to release it as a RESTful interface. Each query of the API is simply an HTTP request (so far only GET) to a URI where you can work with STARS data, for example:: /api/0.1/credits/credisets/ will give you a list of all the versions of STARS. See :ref:`credits_api_endpoints` for specifics.