# REST APIs

## Alternatives

To simplify integration and enable interoperability with third-party systems, Snow Owl TS offers two  forms of accessing terminology resources via HTTP requests:

* An API compliant with the requirements listed in the FHIR R5 specification for terminology services: <https://hl7.org/fhir/R5/terminology-service.html>
* A native API that is customized to match Snow Owl's internal representation of its supported resources, and so can provide more options

The following pages provide additional information on each method of access:

{% content-ref url="rest-apis/fhir" %}
[fhir](https://docs.b2ihealthcare.com/snow-owl/rest-apis/fhir)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="rest-apis/native" %}
[native](https://docs.b2ihealthcare.com/snow-owl/rest-apis/native)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## Official Examples

A comprehensive set of examples is available in our Postman collection: <https://documenter.getpostman.com/view/16295366/2s93z3h6cP>

## Interactive documentation

Port 8080 and the context path `/snowowl` is assigned in the default installation for serving both APIs. Navigate to `http(s)://<host>:8080/snowowl/` to visit the built-in "interactive playground" which lists all available requests by category in the dropdown on the top left:

<figure><img src="https://3541456109-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FKhQVHx0grsgAobntKXZs%2Fuploads%2F5U1YBO159cIaUV2FWBbh%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=a9b51da5-4a54-4b30-9f1b-69c4962b6a21" alt=""><figcaption><p>API categories</p></figcaption></figure>

Once valid user credentials are entered on the "Authentication" page reachable from the sidebar, it becomes possible to send requests to the server and inspect the returned response body as well as any relevant headers:

<figure><img src="https://3541456109-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FKhQVHx0grsgAobntKXZs%2Fuploads%2Fcrl0humXOp6wA3flQNOd%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=0e4cd3f4-e0a5-4217-8469-cd4da768d21c" alt=""><figcaption><p>Authentication settings</p></figcaption></figure>

Select a request from the sidebar so that its documentation page appears in the main area. Each request is accompanied by a short description and the list of parameters it accepts. Fields marked with a <mark style="color:red;">\*</mark> symbol are required.&#x20;

Press the `Try` button after populating the input fields to execute the request:

<figure><img src="https://3541456109-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FKhQVHx0grsgAobntKXZs%2Fuploads%2FFnVe7U09WQtieqO4m7Wc%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=3b995cfe-3036-4d55-ae08-a839c8939614" alt=""><figcaption><p>Output of a handcrafted concept suggestion request</p></figcaption></figure>