API Governance with MuleSoft Anypoint Platform (Part 1/4)
This post is the first of a four-part series to provide an overview of MuleSoft API Governance with Anypoint Platform. It explains API governance and what exists with out-of-the-box functionality. Future posts will explain advanced topics such as applying rulesets and different methods of creating and testing custom API Governance with Anypoint Platform.
What is API Governance with MuleSoft Anypoint Platform?
API governance with MuleSoft refers to the management of APIs created using MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform, ensuring that they comply with the organization’s standards and policies and are used consistently, securely, and efficiently.
API governance typically involves defining standards for API design, documentation, security, testing, versioning, and life cycle management. These standards are then enforced through a set of policies, guidelines, and best practices that help ensure the APIs’ quality, reliability, and security. API governance is a critical aspect of modern digital transformation initiatives and is essential for ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of an organization’s API program.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform now supports “rulesets” that help ensure API consistency and conformance (and hence, governance). There are several pre-defined rulesets provided by MuleSoft that can be enforced against your MuleSoft REST or Async APIs that have been defined in Design Center and Exchange. You can also define custom rulesets (covered in a future post).
Let’s dig into what rulesets exist and where these rulesets exist.
Existing rulesets and API Governance workflow
AMF (API Modeling Framework) is a key component of API governance in MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform. It is a framework that enables the design, modelling, and validation of APIs using a standardized, machine-readable format. The out-of-the-box rulesets (defined with AMF) that are provided by Anypoint Platform are shown below:
Organizations can quickly implement best practices and policies for API governance without requiring extensive customization or development by using these out-of-the-box API governance rulesets. These rulesets can also be customized and extended to meet the organization’s specific needs.
Summary
By implementing API governance with MuleSoft, organizations can ensure that their APIs are used in a consistent and efficient manner, reducing the risk of errors and security breaches and enabling faster and more efficient development of new applications and services. We have seen what rulesets exist out of the box and where to see what is being enforced by these rulesets.
Part two of this blog series details the API governance workflow and how to apply rulesets to APIs.
