Generate API Client Codes as per API Specs with Apidog
Tags: webdev, tutorial, beginners, frontend
Published: 2024-01-31 08:37:37

Writing API client code is not difficult for most experienced developers, but if there are many API endpoints, writing API client codes manually can be troublesome. Using tools like [Apidog](https://apidog.com/) to auto-generate the API client codes can be a good choice. 
[Get start with Apidog](http://www.apidog.com/)

Especially for the teams that are using the [API-first Approach](https://apidog.com/articles/what-is-api-first/), Using this tool to generate API client codes as per the existing API specs can save a lot of time and effort.

## The Benefits of Using Generation Tools

When integrating our application with APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), we typically need to write API client code to interact with those APIs. Instead of manual Writing, here are some of the major benefits of using API client code generation tools.

1. Saves Effort and Time: Manually coding takes significant effort and time to handle aspects like API requests, error handling, serialization, tests etc. Codegen tools automate majority of this repetitive code.
2. Avoid Errors: Humans make mistakes. Doing repetitive tasks increases chance of bugs. Tools generate code programmatically thereby minimizing errors.
3. Consistency: Tools generate standardized, uniform code following best practices. Manual code tends to get messy with inconsistent conventions. 
4. Handles Complexity: Tasks like serialization, API versioning, auth flows have complexity. Tools abstract this complexity into a clean usable interface.
5. Updates Handled Automatically: When API specs change, tools can auto-generate updated code seamlessly. Manual edits tend to miss details.
6. Language Choice: Tools can generate clients in multiple languages like TypeScript, Python, C# etc. Doing this manually takes massive effort.
7. Saves Learning Curve: Tools are easier to onboard and use rather than developers figuring out all the tooling and setup.

## API Client Codes Generation Feature of Apidog

Apidog is regarded as a great API documentation and testing tool that allows you to design and test your APIs easily, so if you need to create a new API, you can easily design your API spec by filling a table with its GUI without any learning curve. Once you get your API spec design done, you can use its code generation features to auto-generate the API client code according to this API spec with ease.

Alternatively, you can import any of your existing API spec (YAML/ JSON) files into [Apidog](http://www.apidog.com/). 


![import API specs into Apidog](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lau6sp8qpayd2xjllhwr.png)

Apidog supports various data formats, whatever you are using to define your API specs, you can directly import them into Apidog easily.

## 1-Click to Generate API Client Codes with Apidog

Now, let me show you how Apidog can generate API client codes effectively for you. Once you've created or imported APIs into Apidog, you can find them in your project and easily generate the API client code for each.

### Step1. Selecting API Endpoint

Open Apidog, and click the API endpoint you want to interact with, then you can see the detailed spec information in the right panel. To generate the API client codes for it, put the cursor on the "Generate Code" icon, then select "Generate Client Code" from the dropdown list.

![choose API endpoint to generate code](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/b4ucxwm6btvz1j0f4eaa.png)

### Step2. Selecting the Language and Library

From the new popup window, you can choose your programming language, and then select the corresponding API request library, you can get a correct and accurate client code.

As we can see, Apidog supports mainstream programming languages and API request libraries. No matter what programming languages and API request libraries you are using, Apidog could be helpful for you.

![choose the languages and libraries](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xpsg4cuneyan632208rh.png)

Now, you can copy and paste this code anywhere to integrate with this API. I hope you can enjoy the code generation feature of [Apidog](http://www.apidog.com/?utm_source=dev_to&utm_medium=IsmailKamil&utm_content=Mock-API-in-one-minute).

It's really a good tool. Apart from API client codes, you can even generate Client SDK for your APIs in different languages.

[Download Apidog here](http://www.apidog.com/)