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APIs at MIT
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IS&T provides a number of web services for accessing enterprise data or integrating with our central systems. Application developers can integrate with or consume data from these systems using a standard protocol for doing so, instead of using a custom, application-specific protocol (Moira, MITID DB) or raw SQL (Data Warehouse, RolesDB).
MITs APIs consist of both modern, RESTful APIs, and legacy APIs which are built on older protocols (such as SOAP).
MIT Mobile APIs
The MIT Mobile APIs is a collection of RESTful JSON interfaces to some of MIT’s services and data. The goal of this project is to create simple interfaces for as many MIT services as possible, and to link related data across APIs wherever possible. Its primary clients are the MIT Mobile iPhone and Android apps, but it’s available to everyone.
View the MIT Mobile APIs Complete Documentation
| API | Description |
|---|---|
| Building Services | The Building Services API submits maintenance requests to the Department of Facilities’ TXTDOF service, which turns requests into work orders. Useful for reporting broken bubblers at the gym. |
| Calendars | The Calendars API provides information about events and special dates at MIT. It includes data from the MIT Events Calendar and the Registrar. |
| Dining | The Dining API provides menus, hours, locations, and other information on dining and food services at MIT. It’s an echo of the content on
http://dining.mit.edu/
mixed with XML feeds from http://www.cafebonappetit.com/ |
| Emergency Info | The Emergency Info API provides the latest announcement from emergency.mit.net. Useful for knowing if today’s a snow day or if there’s an important issue on campus. The API also provides a list of important MIT phone numbers. |
| Libraries | The Libraries API provides up to date location and hours info for MIT Libraries, feedback and contact forms for students to reach MIT Libraries staff, and a way to manage a user’s Barton account. |
| Links | The Links API provides a moderated list of links to sites at MIT thought to be useful to mobile users. |
| Maps | The Maps API provides geographic information about MIT, including map image tiles, a directory of significant locations on campus, and a service for validating room numbers. |
| News | The News API provides access to stories and other content from the MIT News Office. |
| People | The People API is a wrapper around MIT LDAP — specifically ldap.mit.edu. It provides interfaces for finding members of the MIT community by name, username, email address, or phone number. |
| Shuttles | The Shuttles API provides information about public transportation servicing the MIT community. Most of the content for the Shuttles module is provided by a collection of XML feeds from NextBus. Some of the content comes from static files stored in this project. That static information includes things like route descriptions and better names for routes and stops. |
| TechCASH | The TechCASH API is a secure interface into the Card Services database. It provides TechCASH, Pharos printing, and meal plan balances and transaction histories to Touchstone-authenticated users. |
| Tours | The Tours module provides information about self-guided tours available on the MIT campus. |
Other MIT REST APIs
These are other APIs that are not maintained as a part of the MIT Mobile APIs, but are linked to useful MIT resources.
| API | Description |
|---|---|
| Knowledge Base API | The Knowledge Base offers a REST API for easy integration with other services. Version 1 of this API exposes page content and labels. |
| OpenID Connect API | MIT's OpenID Connect pilot service allows enabled sites and applications at MIT and around the world to log you in with your MIT account without needing to handle your password or other sensitive credentials. |
| Request Tracker API | The REST Interface gives you access to your RT Database. |
Legacy APIs
These web services provide standard, SOAP-based APIs to several major campus systems. Since these are Legacy APIs, and many of them require authentication, they may not be as well documented as the newer REST APIs. To learn more about these protocols/gain authenticated access, contact ops-help@mit.edu with any questions.
| API | Description |
|---|---|
| COURSEWS | Provides unauthenticated access to course data from the Data Warehouse |
| MIT Events Calendar API | Provides access to the MIT Events Calendar |
| GEOWS | Geographical Data service based off of www.geonames.org. |
| MITIDWS | Web services API to the MITID database. |
| MOIRAWS | Web services API to the Moira database (list membership data only) |
| ROLESWS | Web services API to the Roles database. |
| UAWS | "User Authorizations" - A simpler web services API providing read-only access to Roles data. |
Consuming MIT APIs
A common way to interact with APIs involves using "cURL", a command line interface for sending web requests. Read more about this in the article here:
Using cURL to Interact with APIs
Also see
CSV file with WiFi Access Point Data: http://livinglab.mit.edu/hack-mit/
