APIs.io is all about redefining what API search is. Since we created APIs.json and APIs.io back in 2014 numerous API catalogs, directories, and networks have either disappeared or gone dormant. API discovery is hard to do, takes a lot of resources, and doesn’t lend itself to monetization like web search did.

APIs.io is an exploration in how APIs can be profiled, indexed, and made available. The websites, developer portals, and individual APIs we’ve profiled all live on GitHub in a public organization. We are profiling APIs using the APIs.json discovery format, adding them to repositories, and then aggregating them into search nodes–all while be indexed and made available via a cloud API search engine, which is of course available via an API.

We are just getting started with the work needed to profile the APIs available in APIs.io. We have the structure all setup, we just need to do the work to profile APIs, but also automate the crawling, profiling, and refinement of APIs over time. We figure by 2025 we should be a real search engine and have enough APIs indexed that it offers some value to API producers and consumers.