Keeping and updating API Definitions locally

Last updated: Jun 27, 2024 2 minutes read.

This tutorial is aimed at API developers who prefer to manage their API definitions on their local file system during development. It explains how to use the publish or update commands of Tyk Sync to upload local API Definitions to the Tyk Dashboard. The expected outcome is a streamlined process for maintaining and updating API definitions locally and ensuring they are reflected in the Tyk Dashboard.

Step 1. Prepare your API Definition

Create your API definition file and save it locally. For example, save it as api1.json in a directory structure of your choice.

Step 2: Create a .tyk.json index file

In the root directory of your API definitions, create a .tyk.json file to list all API definition files that Tyk Sync should process.

Example .tyk.json:

{
  "type": "apidef",
  "files": [
    { 
        "file": "api1.json" 
    }
  ]
}

Step 3: Install Tyk Sync via Docker

If you haven’t installed Tyk Sync, you can do so via Docker:

docker pull tykio/tyk-sync:v1.5.0

Step 4: Publish API Definitions to Tyk

Use the publish command to upload your local API definitions to Tyk. Use Docker bind mounts to access your local files.

docker run -v /path/to/your/directory:/app/data tykio/tyk-sync:v1.5.0 publish \
  --path /app/data \
  --dashboard [DASHBOARD_URL] \
  --secret [SECRET]

Step 5: Update API Definitions to Tyk

Similarly, to update existing API definitions, use the update command.

docker run -v /path/to/your/directory:/app/data tykio/tyk-sync:v1.5.0 update \
  --path /app/data \
  --dashboard [DASHBOARD_URL] \
  --secret [SECRET]