REST-based services use HTTP verbs and JSON to communicate actions. As an example, an API may represent a "product". The following REST API calls may be performed:

  • GET https://api.company.com/product - get all products
  • GET https://api.company.com/product/{product_id} - get a specific product
  • POST https://api.company.com/product - create a new product

Because they use the HTTP protocol, authentication is usually performed via HTTP headers using the authorization header. The most common protocol used to authorize access to REST APIs is the OAuth 2.0 protocol.REST API overview