Learn how to build API for any website visually with clicks, fill-in-text capabilities. If you need an API for a website, you can build one yourself even if that website doesn’t provide an API. There are many free (with limited functionality) platforms to build an API over websites visually without coding. But it totally depends on what’s your use case for the API. Most API building platforms are limited to fetching and structuring data with some more minor features. If your use case involves interaction with the website then Robotic Tape can help you with that.
Robotic Tape is API building service that allows you to create an API visually without coding. The API here is much more capable than the competition as it uses machine learning and computer vision to understand and interact with the interface. As a result, it allows you to automate interactions on webpages including clicks, fill-in text, read, and navigation. You can use these four functions to automate various types of tasks, all within an API. You can run the automation anytime by calling the API and get results or feedback with the ‘read’ function. In the free-tier, you can make up to 1,000 API calls per month and extend the limited whenever needed by going with the paid-tier.
Also read: Create Static Website for API Documentation using Gatsby: Greenboard
Build API for Any Website Visually with Clicks, Fill-in Text Capabilities
To build API for any Website with Robotic Tapes, you’ve to create an account. The signup is simple only takes a minute to get to your account ready. Upon login, you get the dashboard where you get an option to “Create a new tape” to build an API. All your APIs are get listed here, you can access those anytime to make changes or delete.
Now, to build an API, create a new tape and add a name for it. When you do that, it takes to the visual API builder section where you get a window to open websites and automate interactions with Navigate, Click, Fill, and Read functions.
With the ‘Navigate’ function, you can enter a URL to visit a webpage where you want to automate. Simply enter the URL and give it a few seconds to load the page. When the web page loads, you can use the other functions and automate a task for the API.
You can automate the task for the API using the following functions:
- Navigate: to open a webpage
- Click: to click an element on the opened page i.e., buttons, text fields, links, etc
- Fill: to enter a custom text in the previously click text box.
- Read: to return a clicked text from the API call
Each task you create gets listed right to the webpage window. Do note that, you can not re-arrange the tasks (not yet at least) so follow the task carefully unless you have to start all over again with a new tape. After finished the tasks, click the tape name from the to return to the main tape page.
Your tape is saved and you can send the API request to test it out. When you do that, it shows you the API call feedback. Below to the tape image, you get options to edit and delete the tape. The edit option allows you to add more steps to the API. Robotic Tape also gives codes and syntax to integrate the API into the app, webpage, and to call from the command line.
Wrap Up
Robotic Tape allows you to build an API over a website that does offer an API. It gives you the flexibility to customize the API the way you want. You can automate a set of tasks and perform them by calling the API and all that without coding a thing. It can be really useful for DIY automation, rapid prototypes, and can bring a new level to the chatbots.
