A system comprising: - persistent storage disposed within a remote network management platform, wherein the persistent storage is configured to store data on behalf of a managed network, and wherein one or more remote computing systems provide computing resources to the managed network; - a discovery application configured to perform operations comprising: - obtaining a service identifier that allows the discovery application access to a particular remote computing system of the one or more remote computing systems, wherein the service identifier is associated with the managed network; - obtaining a uniform resource locator, named URL, that addresses a function of an application programming interface, named API, provided by the particular remote computing system, wherein the function is configured to return attributes of computing resources specified by the URL; - generating, based on the service identifier, a system-specific portion of a request that invokes execution of the function of the API, wherein the system-specific portion of the request adheres to first rules adopted by the particular remote computing system for interacting with the API; - generating a system-invariant portion of the request, wherein the system-invariant portion of the request adheres to second rules adopted by each of the one or more remote computing systems for interacting with respective APIs thereof; - transmitting the request to the particular remote computing system; - receiving, from the particular remote computing system, a response to the request containing the attributes of the computing resources specified by the URL; and - storing, in the persistent storage, the attributes of the computing resources as one or more configuration items. - persistent storage disposed within a remote network management platform, wherein the persistent storage is configured to store data on behalf of a managed network, and wherein one or more remote computing systems provide computing resources to the managed network; - a discovery application configured to perform operations comprising: - obtaining a service identifier that allows the discovery application access to a particular remote computing system of the one or more remote computing systems, wherein the service identifier is associated with the managed network; - obtaining a uniform resource locator, named URL, that addresses a function of an application programming interface, named API, provided by the particular remote computing system, wherein the function is configured to return attributes of computing resources specified by the URL; - generating, based on the service identifier, a system-specific portion of a request that invokes execution of the function of the API, wherein the system-specific portion of the request adheres to first rules adopted by the particular remote computing system for interacting with the API; - generating a system-invariant portion of the request, wherein the system-invariant portion of the request adheres to second rules adopted by each of the one or more remote computing systems for interacting with respective APIs thereof; - transmitting the request to the particular remote computing system; - receiving, from the particular remote computing system, a response to the request containing the attributes of the computing resources specified by the URL; and - storing, in the persistent storage, the attributes of the computing resources as one or more configuration items. - obtaining a service identifier that allows the discovery application access to a particular remote computing system of the one or more remote computing systems, wherein the service identifier is associated with the managed network; - obtaining a uniform resource locator, named URL, that addresses a function of an application programming interface, named API, provided by the particular remote computing system, wherein the function is configured to return attributes of computing resources specified by the URL; - generating, based on the service identifier, a system-specific portion of a request that invokes execution of the function of the API, wherein the system-specific portion of the request adheres to first rules adopted by the particular remote computing system for interacting with the API; - generating a system-invariant portion of the request, wherein the system-invariant portion of the request adheres to second rules adopted by each of the one or more remote computing systems for interacting with respective APIs thereof; - transmitting the request to the particular remote computing system; - receiving, from the particular remote computing system, a response to the request containing the attributes of the computing resources specified by the URL; and - storing, in the persistent storage, the attributes of the computing resources as one or more configuration items.