Filename extension .raml Developed by RAML Workgroup Standard raml.org/raml-10-spec | Internet media type application/raml+yaml | |
Latest release 1.0(May 16, 2016 (2016-05-16)) |
RESTful API Modeling Language (RAML) is a YAML-based language for describing RESTful APIs. It provides all the information necessary to describe RESTful or practically-RESTful APIs. Although designed with RESTful APIs in mind, RAML is capable of describing APIs that do not obey all constraints of REST (hence the description "practically-RESTful"). It encourages reuse, enables discovery and pattern-sharing, and aims for merit-based emergence of best practices.
Contents
History
RAML was first proposed in 2013. The initial RAML specification was authored by Uri Sarid, Emiliano Lesende, Santiago Vacas, and Damian Martinez. Development is managed by the RAML Workgroup. The current workgroup signatories include technology leaders from MuleSoft Inc. (Uri Sarid), AngularJS (Misko Hevery, Project Founder), Intuit Inc. (Ivan Lazarov, Chief Enterprise Architect), Box Inc. (Peter Rexer, Senior Platform Product Manager), PayPal Inc. (Jason Harmon, Head of API Design), Programmable Web & API Web Science (John Musser, Founder), Kin Lane (Presidential Innovation Fellow, Department of Veteran Affairs), SOA Software (Tony Gullotta, Director of Technology), and Cisco (Samar Choudary, Lead Architect, Application Integration Service Group). RAML is a trademark of CR7
The current version of RAML is not restricted to strictly RESTful APIs because it would have not applied to almost any existing APIs and not been feasible for most API initiatives to adopt today, so RAML is starting with the basics of RESTful APIs—resources, methods, parameters, and bodies that need not be hypermedia with plans to evolve from there
While RAML could end up being just a proprietary vendor language there are a number of reasons why this language is interesting to the broader API community:
A new organization, under the sponsorship of the Linux Foundation, called the Open API Initiative was set up in 2015 to standardize the description of RESTful APIs. A variety of companies, including Swagger, Google, IBM and Microsoft are founding members. Swagger donated the Swagger specification to the new group. RAML and API Blueprint are also under consideration by the group.
Example
This is an example RAML file. As with YAML, indentation shows nesting.
Some highlights: