# The API Platform Core Library

API Platform Core is an easy-to-use and powerful library to create hypermedia-driven REST APIs. It is a component of the API Platform framework. It can be used as a standalone or with the Symfony framework (recommended).

It embraces JSON for Linked Data (JSON-LD) and Hydra Core Vocabulary web standards but also supports HAL, Swagger/Open API, XML, JSON, CSV and YAML.

Build a working and fully featured CRUD API in minutes. Leverage the awesome features of the tool to develop complex and high-performance API-first projects.

If you are starting a new project, the easiest way to get API Platform up is to install the API Platform Distribution.

# Features

Here is the fully featured REST API you’ll get in minutes:

• Automatic CRUD
• Hypermedia (JSON-LD and HAL)
• Machine-readable documentation of the API in the Hydra and Swagger/Open API formats, guessed from PHPDoc, Serializer, Validator and Doctrine ORM / MongoDB ODM metadata
• Nice human-readable documentation built with Swagger UI (including a sandbox) and/or ReDoc
• Pagination
• A bunch of filters
• Ordering
• Validation using the Symfony Validator Component (with groups support)
• Advanced authentication and authorization rules
• Errors serialization (Hydra and the RFC 7807 are supported)
• Advanced serialization thanks to the Symfony Serializer Component (groups support, relation embedding, max depth…)
• Automatic routes registration
• Automatic entrypoint generation giving access to all resources
• User support
• JWT and OAuth support
• Files and \DateTime and serialization and deserialization

Everything is fully customizable through a powerful event system and strong OOP.

This bundle is extensively tested (unit and functional). The Fixtures/ directory contains a working app covering all features of the library.

# Screencasts

The easiest and funniest way to learn how to use API Platform is to watch the more than 60 screencasts available on SymfonyCasts!