RESTful Data APIs Overview

The OpenSocial model also includes a set of RESTful data APIs that developers can leverage for server-to-server communication. These APIs allow social applications to run on desktops, mobile devices, and other channels that don't support JavaScript. There are three RESTful data APIs in OpenSocial:

The People and Friends data API allows client applications to view and update users' profiles and relationships. Your client application can request a list of a user's Friends and query the content in an existing Profile.

Here are some of the things you can do with the People and Friends data API:

• Get a structured version of a user's profile in an OpenSocial service.
• Get a list of a user's friends in an OpenSocial service.
• Follow friend connections to get detailed profiles in an OpenSocial service.

The Activities data API allows client applications to view and publish "actions" in the OpenSocial platform. Your client application can use the API to create new entries, edit or delete existing entries, and view lists of entries.

Here are some of the things you can do with the Activities data API:

• Publish information about user actions, such as indicating when a user uploads a video file to your site.
• Create a desktop application or plugin that allows users to see what their friends are doing in realtime.

The Persistence data API allows client applications to view and update key/value content for their applications. Your client application can edit or delete content for an existing application, user, or gadget instance, and query the content in an existing feed.

Here are some of the things you can do with the OpenSocial Persistence data API:

• Make data globally available to all of your application's gadgets and have it served by Google.
• Push custom content specific to your gadget's users from your own servers.
• Read data written by users to gadget data for later analysis.

Note: These APIs are still being designed and discussed in the OpenSocial community. One of the current proposals is based on AtomPub—early revisions of the documentation can be found in the People data API Reference Guide and the Persistence data API Reference Guide.