Guide
Glossary
API (application programming interface)
An API (application programming interface) is a published set of rules that lets one piece of software ask another for data, or ask it to do something, without a person copying information between screens. The system offering the API decides what can be read or changed and who may connect, usually through keys or an approved sign-in such as OAuth. Most business software has one: Xero, Xero Practice Manager and Actionstep all publish APIs. APIs are how integrations, automations and AI agents connect to a firm's systems, and how an application sends prompts to an AI model such as GPT or Claude and gets the response back.
Also called API, application programming interface, REST API
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Example
In an accounting firm
For example, an accounting firm wants a weekly WIP report without anyone exporting spreadsheets. An integration reads jobs and timesheets from the Xero Practice Manager API each Sunday night, combines them with invoice data from the Xero API, and refreshes the report in Power BI. Nobody re-keys figures, and the integration can only read the data its API permissions allow.
Guides that explain it in context
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