Alfresco REST API Explorer now auto-updated and available as a Docker image

[angelborroy]

The Alfresco REST API Explorer has received several improvements aimed at making it easier for developers to discover Alfresco APIs and stay aligned with the latest platform releases.

This update introduces automated publishing, a Docker image for local deployments, and expanded API coverage.

API Explorer now automatically synced with the latest release

The API Explorer available at:

https://api-explorer.alfresco.com/api-explorer/

is now automatically generated and published from the source repositories. This ensures the explorer stays in sync with the latest Alfresco Content Services APIs.

With this change, future API updates will be automatically reflected in the explorer without requiring manual updates.

The public deployment provides a static API specification browser built with Swagger UI, allowing developers to inspect endpoints, parameters, and response structures.

The public explorer is intentionally not connected to a running repository. Its purpose is to browse the API definitions rather than execute API requests.

Docker image for local deployments

A new Docker image is available for developers who want to run the API Explorer inside their own environment.

This allows the explorer to be deployed alongside a local or private Alfresco repository.

Typical scenarios include:

• Running the explorer next to a local ACS installation
• Using the explorer in environments where the repository is not publicly accessible

docker run -p 8080:80 alfresco/rest-api-explorer

A Docker image was introduced to simplify deployment and distribution of the REST API Explorer.

AGS REST API now included

The explorer now also includes the Alfresco Governance Services (AGS) REST API.

The AGS Swagger definitions are pulled from the enterprise repository and published together with the ACS API definitions, providing a single place to explore both sets of APIs.

This integration is part of the automated publishing workflow used by the API Explorer. 

Summary

These improvements bring several benefits for developers:

• API Explorer automatically updated with the latest API definitions
• Docker image available for local deployments
• AGS APIs now included alongside ACS APIs

Together, these changes ensure the API Explorer remains an up-to-date reference for Alfresco developers.

Source Code

The source code for the Alfresco REST API Explorer is available in the Alfresco GitHub organization:

https://github.com/Alfresco/rest-api-explorer

This repository contains the project used to generate and publish the REST API Explorer described in this article. Developers can inspect how the API specifications are integrated, follow ongoing improvements, or contribute enhancements.

Building the Explorer for a Specific API Version

If you want to generate an explorer aligned with a specific Alfresco Content Services API version, you can build a Docker image directly from the repository using the corresponding Git tag.

First clone the repository and list the available tags:

git clone https://github.com/Alfresco/rest-api-explorer.git
cd rest-api-explorer
git tag -l

Then check out the desired version and restore the Docker build files from the main branch (some historical tags do not contain them):

git checkout <tag>
git checkout master -- Dockerfile .github/gh-pages

Finally, build the Docker image:

docker build -t alfresco-rest-api-explorer:custom .

This method packages the API definitions from a specific release while using the current Docker build configuration.