An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and protocols that allows two software applications to communicate with each other automatically, without human intervention. It's like a digital "plug" that allows connecting different systems.
Imagine a restaurant: the menu is the list of what you can order, and the waiter is the API. You (the external software) ask the waiter (API) for a dish, and he communicates with the kitchen (the central system) to bring you the result, without you needing to know how it's cooked.
Why is it crucial for automation?
Without APIs, data integration requires moving files manually (copy and paste Excel files), which is slow and error-prone. With an API, processes flow in real-time.
Example: when an operator's ERP records a fault, the API creates it as an incident in the maintenance contractor's CMMS without anyone retyping it, and the CMMS notifies the ERP when the work order changes status.
The Maptainer API
Maptainer has a public REST API documented in Swagger and ReDoc, which can be browsed without a key. Each integration uses its own API key, with scopes and an expiry date. It lets you:
- Read assets, work orders with their full record, incidents, and readings, with cursor pagination.
- Keep another system (an ERP, a corporate GIS, a dashboard) up to date with incremental sync.
- Create incidents from another system, for example an ERP or a remote management system, which Maptainer then handles with its SLA, work order, and closure.
- Receive, through outgoing webhooks, the creation and status changes of work orders and incidents.
- Take all your data with you through the full export in open formats.
Work orders can be read with their full record, but they cannot be created or modified from outside.