What we'll cover

• Vision & goals
• Roadmap and background
• Outstanding challenges
• Epilogue: Dogfooding API-first
• Open discussion

Vision & goals

An unparallelled API-first platform

All data available:

• RESTfully
  • in any format ^{(JSON, HAL+JSON …)}
  • in multiple flavors ^{("HTTP purist", jsonapi.org …)}
• non-RESTfully
  • via GraphQL
  • via CouchDB protocol, for replication & syncing

… using any authentication mechanism ^{(Cookie, Basic Auth, OAuth2)}

Goals

Must have

• Make D8 REST usable ✅
• Make D8 REST best-in-class 🏋️
• Excellent documentation 🏋️

Should have

• JSON API 🏋
• UUID and revision
• GraphQL

Could have

• CouchDB support
• OAuth2 support

Why?

REST API

• Multiple formats
• Non-entity REST resources
• Very configurable

JSON API → stable in 8.3 contrib → core

• Opinionated spec ⇒ better tooling, less bikeshedding
• Collection support ⇒ custom REST export views
• Not configurable: any entity that Entity Access allows

GraphQL → stable in contrib

Great for UI components to fetch only necessary data!

Excellent documentation → stable in contrib

Starting is too painful ⇒ docs with interactive examples

REST API → best in class

Missing: translations, modifying config, file uploads.
Much is blocked on subsystems in Drupal 8.

JSON API → stable in 8.3 contrib → core

Missing: comprehensive test coverage, plus the above.

GraphQL → stable in contrib

Missing: active development.

Excellent documentation

Missing: active development, standardization.
Currently: rest_api_doc, Schemata, Docson, OpenAPI.

Next

Short term or long term? Depends on contributions!

UUIDs + revisions

“Entity” + REST: no revisions, uses IDs
→ RELAXed Web Services.

OAuth 2

JS & native app developers expect OAuth 2.

CouchDB support

Content replicability for deployment/offline-first
→ RELAXed Web Services.

People want need this!

We talked about this topic a lot this year.

Trainings

• API First Drupal 8 with React.js and Waterwheel

Coding and Development

• Masters of the Universe: Live-coding a React Application using Drupal Services
• Progressive Web Apps for Drupal - Reliable, Fast, Engaging.

Core Conversations

• API-First Initiative
• Decoupled from the Inside Out

Drupal Showcase

• Ain’t No Body: Not Your Mama’s Headless Drupal

Front End

• Decoupled Drupal and Angular 2
• EmberJS: A Fitting Face for a D8 Backend

Horizons

• A look into a possible Future for all of us: React, GraphQL and Drupal
• Advanced Web Services with JSON API
• Democratizing App Creation
• Drupal, Alexa, and Big Mouth Billy Bass Walk into a Bar
• Future of the CMS: Decoupled, multichannel, and content-as-a-service

12 sessions and 1 training!

Roadmap & background

Team

Wim Leers

Initiative coordinator, REST subcoord, JSON API

e0ipso

JSON API subcoordinator, OAuth2, Docson

dawehner

JSON API collaborator, REST collaborator

tedbow

REST collaborator, OpenAPI collaborator

damiankloip

Serialization maintainer, REST collaborator

• Core REST: further maturation
• JSON API: stable 🎉 RIGHT NOW 🎉

github.com/acquia/waterwheel.js
github.com/acquia/waterwheel.swift

Outstanding challenges

Image styles

for responsive images

Stay up-to-date

for high adaptability to the interconnected ecosystem

Improve DX further

Entity validation error responses, field aliasing …

Path alias-based routing

…

Open discussion

You are too quiet…

How much of this should we have in Drupal core?

What are the best places to start using this internally?

What features are you excited about? Why?

What authentication providers should we add?

Do we support decoupled admin interfaces?