New Domino REST APIs Are Now Available

We’re pleased to announce that the Domino REST APIs are now generally available for download by Domino Complete Collaboration (CCB) and Domino CEO Communications customers on active support in their Domino v12.0.2 “Danube” environment.

Known during development and beta testing as Project Keep, these contemporary REST APIs increase the number of REST APIs available to Domino deployments from nine to over 100, allowing you to extend your Domino applications with the development tools of your choice. You can broaden the audience for your Domino development without sacrificing Domino’s security or ease of deployment. And with this new REST API access to Domino servers and databases, you can securely make Domino servers available for pro-code development. Developers can expose Domino data in the form of standardized Open-API-based methods while maintaining control of which data will be made available for view or update.

How can it be used?

To give just a few examples of how the REST APIs can be used, you can apply them to:

• Web applications: Display job openings stored in a Domino database on the company website, validating allowable postings without requiring Java or JavaScript skills.
• Mobile Applications: Use Volt MX to create a front-end mobile app for the travel approval system run on Domino. Employees can enter their travel requests, and when managers authenticate, they will see and can complete the workflow approval.
• Application Integration: Integrate contracts and other customer data stored in Domino with SalesForce CRM, giving sales representatives a single view of all necessary information.

What is it? 

The Domino REST APIs allow for pro-code development through secure access to HCL Domino servers and databases, allowing you to use the programming language and framework of your choice — while maintaining the reliability and deployability of your Domino data and applications. They run alongside the server and allow you to expose — securely and easily — your Domino data in the form of standardized Open-API-based methods. Using a browser-based admin UI, application owners can define which data will be made available for view or update on a REST API. The APIs extend the Domino principles of reader/author document access definitions into the world of Internet protocols.

The Domino REST APIs also includes the Swagger UI, an API explorer that allows the visualization and interaction with APIs without having any of the actual implementation logic in place. The APIs are automatically generated from an OpenAPI (formerly Swagger) specification with visual documentation, making it easier to implement the back-end code later.

What’s special about the new Domino REST APIs?

• Secure by default, with fine granular controls per form, field, and user basis
• Implements latest open standards
• HTTP/2-ready, for server-to-server or client-to-server communication
• API-first design with full interactive documentation
• Low barrier to entry, as it runs on a Domino server and/or your Notes client
• Admin UI and Postman samples included
• State-of-the-art JWT access token integrated with your existing IdP infrastructure

What can be accessed via the Domino REST APIs?

You can access content like views, documents, and fields as well as agents and ACL settings. And, of course, featuring DQL queries to quickly access the data you are looking for.

Built-in declarative security ensures the API will only allow access to fields the caller is authorized to see or update. This can effectively prevent computed fields from being overwritten and limits participants in a workflow to updating their fields only.

Where to find it

The Domino REST APIs are now available as a prepacked, ready-to-use Docker container to Domino Complete Collaboration (CCB) and Domino CEO Communications customers on active support. The download is now available in the “HCL Domino” product line category on our License and Download Portal. Please visit the documentation here to learn more and to set up your test environment. Note: The REST APIs only work with Domino v12.0.2 “Danube” and higher. (Hint: If you haven’t upgraded yet, now’s the time!)