Invoking a REST API in Amazon API Gateway

To call a deployed API, clients submit requests to the URL for the API Gateway component service for API execution, known as execute-api.

The base URL for REST APIs is in the following format:

https://{restapi_id}.execute-api.{region}.amazonaws.com/{stage_name}/

where {restapi_id} is the API identifier, {region} is the Region, and {stage_name} is the stage name of the API deployment.

Important

Before you can invoke an API, you must deploy it in API Gateway. To do that, follow the instructions in Deploying a REST API in Amazon API Gateway.

Topics

• Obtain an API's invoke URL in the API Gateway console
• Use the API Gateway console to test a REST API method
• Call REST API through generated SDKs
• How to invoke a private API

Obtain an API's invoke URL in the API Gateway console

Old REST API console

Note

We've redesigned the API Gateway console. On 30th October 2023, the old console will no longer be available.

You can find a REST API's root URL in the Stage Editor for the API in the API Gateway console. It's listed as the Invoke URL at the top. If the API's root resource exposes a GET method without requiring user authentication, you can call the method by clicking the Invoke URL link. You can also construct this root URL by combining the host and basePath fields of an exported OpenAPI definition file of the API.

New REST API console

You can find a REST API's root URL in the Stage pane on the API Gateway console. It's listed as the Invoke URL under Stage details. If the API's root resource exposes a GET method without requiring user authentication, you can call the method. Choose the copy icon to copy your API's invoke URL, and then enter your API's invoke URL in a web browser. You can also construct this root URL by combining the host and basePath fields of an exported OpenAPI definition file of the API.

If an API permits anonymous access, you can use any web browser to invoke any GET method calls by copying and pasting an appropriate invocation URL to the browser's address bar. For other methods or any authentication-required calls, the invocation are more involved because you must specify a payload or sign the requests. You can handle these in a script behind an HTML page or in a client application using one of the AWS SDKs.

For testing, you can use the API Gateway console to call an API by using the API Gateway's TestInvoke feature, which bypasses the Invoke URL and allows API testing before the API is deployed. Alternatively, you can use the Postman application to test a successfully deployed API, without writing a script or a client.

Note

Query string parameter values in an invocation URL cannot contain %%.