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Create an API product

What happens

An API product bundles chosen resources from one or more APIs into a single thing that developers can subscribe to, for example a "Food Delivery" bundle. APIM stores the product as another row in AM_API, with API_TYPE = 'APIProduct'. For each chosen resource it makes a copy of the source API's resource row in AM_API_URL_MAPPING, and links the product to that copy through AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING.

Who: API creator (Publisher) · Tables written: AM_API, AM_API_DEFAULT_VERSION, AM_API_LC_EVENT, AM_API_URL_MAPPING (a copy per resource), AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING, registry artifact, then revisions as for any API · Tables read: AM_API_URL_MAPPING of the source APIs

The idea in one picture

This diagram shows a product borrowing a resource from an API by copying its row.

flowchart LR
    P[Product row in AM_API] --> M[AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING]
    M --> C[Copied resource row GET /menu]
    C -.->|"API_ID = source API"| S[PizzaShack row in AM_API]
  • The product gets its own copy of each chosen resource row. The copy still names the source API in API_ID, so the gateway knows which backend to call.
  • A developer subscribes to the product like any other API, so the subscription row uses the product's API_ID.

The flow at a glance

sequenceDiagram
    actor Creator as API creator
    participant Pub as Publisher
    participant DB as APIM DB
    Creator->>Pub: Create product with chosen resources
    Pub->>DB: insert AM_API (API_TYPE = APIProduct)
    Pub->>DB: insert AM_API_DEFAULT_VERSION + AM_API_LC_EVENT
    Pub->>DB: copy each resource into AM_API_URL_MAPPING
    Pub->>DB: insert AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING (one per resource)
    Pub-->>Creator: Product created (revision and deploy next)

Step by step

  1. Product row. A new row goes into AM_API with API_TYPE = 'APIProduct', its own API_ID and API_UUID, and a context. In the test, API_TIER and API_SUBTYPE were NULL. Products get version 1.0.0 and always have an AM_API_DEFAULT_VERSION row. A lifecycle event (NULL → CREATED) is logged too.

    API_ID API_UUID API_NAME API_VERSION CONTEXT API_TYPE STATUS
    1 b41b… PizzaShackAPI 1.0.0 /pizzashack/1.0.0 HTTP PUBLISHED
    3 fa97… FoodDelivery 1.0.0 /food/1.0.0 APIProduct CREATED

  2. Resource copies. For each chosen resource, APIM inserts a new row into AM_API_URL_MAPPING that copies the source resource:

    URL_MAPPING_ID API_ID HTTP_METHOD URL_PATTERN REVISION_UUID
    1 1 GET /menu (null: PizzaShack's own working copy)
    7 1 GET /menu 3 (the product's API_ID)

    REVISION_UUID is overloaded

    For product resource copies, REVISION_UUID holds the product's API_ID as text rather than a revision UUID. If you filter the working copy of an API with REVISION_UUID IS NULL, these product copies are excluded automatically, but they still carry the source API's API_ID.

  3. Resource links. One row per chosen resource goes into AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING:

    • API_ID → the product's AM_API.API_ID (FK, cascade).
    • URL_MAPPING_ID → the copied AM_API_URL_MAPPING row (FK, cascade).
    • REVISION_UUID → 'Current API' for the working copy, or the product's revision UUID.
    API_PRODUCT_MAPPING_ID API_ID (product) URL_MAPPING_ID REVISION_UUID
    1 3 7 (copy of GET /menu of API 1) Current API

  4. Scopes and tiers. The copied row carries the resource's THROTTLING_TIER and AUTH_SCHEME.

  5. Revision and deploy. Products are revisioned and deployed exactly like APIs (Deploy a revision). They are also published through the same lifecycle, which uses the AM_API_PRODUCT_STATE workflow type if approvals are on.

What gets cleaned up

Deleting the product removes: - its AM_API row, - its AM_API_DEFAULT_VERSION row, - its AM_API_LC_EVENT row, - its AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING row, - the copied AM_API_URL_MAPPING row, - the registry artifact.

The source API's own resource rows are untouched. APIM normally stops you deleting an API while a product still uses its resources. That check is in code, not in the database.

Try it

This query lists the resources inside each product and the API each resource comes from.

SELECT prod.API_NAME AS PRODUCT, src.API_NAME AS FROM_API, src.API_VERSION,
       u.HTTP_METHOD, u.URL_PATTERN
FROM AM_API prod
JOIN AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING pm ON pm.API_ID = prod.API_ID AND pm.REVISION_UUID = 'Current API'
JOIN AM_API_URL_MAPPING u ON u.URL_MAPPING_ID = pm.URL_MAPPING_ID
JOIN AM_API src ON src.API_ID = u.API_ID
WHERE prod.API_TYPE = 'APIProduct';

Different in 3.x

3.x also stores products as AM_API rows of type 'APIProduct', but AM_API_PRODUCT_MAPPING points directly at the source API's resource row (no copy) and has no REVISION_UUID. See 3.x: Create an API product.

Related domains: API products · API definition