Generating an API client for your language from our OpenAPI specification

The short answer: a client generator reads our OpenAPI specification and writes the code that calls the API in your language, with one function per operation. It saves work when you use many operations. The best known is OpenAPI Generator, which produces clients for PHP, Python, TypeScript, Java, C#, Go and many more.

With OpenAPI Generator

1	Download the specification into your project folder, named openapi.json.

2	Get the generator ready: the npm command-line version needs Java installed; alternatively, it runs in Docker with nothing else to install.

3	Generate the client in the language you want, with one of these commands:

4	Configure the generated client with the API address and the Bearer key, read from the RLX_API_KEY variable, as in the documentation examples.

npx @openapitools/openapi-generator-cli generate -i openapi.json -g python -o client-python
npx @openapitools/openapi-generator-cli generate -i openapi.json -g php -o client-php
docker run --rm -v "${PWD}:/local" openapitools/openapi-generator-cli generate -i /local/openapi.json -g typescript-fetch -o /local/client-ts

Language	Value for -g
PHP	php
Python	python
TypeScript or JavaScript	typescript-fetch or javascript
Java	java
C#	csharp
Go	go

Before you trust the generated code

The generator knows the shape of the API, not its rules. It does not know it should send Idempotency-Key on purchases and payments, wait for Retry-After after a 429, or that lists come in pages. That is in the API rules and you need to add it.

1	Use a recent version of the generator. Support for OpenAPI 3.1 is newer than for 3.0 and improves from release to release.

2	Test everything with a sandbox_ key before moving to prod_.

3	Generate again when the specification changes, and do not edit the generated files by hand: your changes are lost on the next run.

Generate or write by hand?

Situation	What pays off
You use two or three operations	Write it by hand, from the documentation examples: less code, fewer dependencies.
You use many operations, across several areas	Generate the client and add your own layer on top with the API rules.
A team is working on the integration	Generate it, so everyone uses the same names and types.

Just want to try things without code? The Playground and API clients make the same requests: see Postman.

Start by downloading the specification.

Download the specification

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