Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQ

1. What is an API? If this is really your question, you’re probably in the wrong place. But we’ll humor you. Kin Lane has a great answer for this question: An API -- Application Programming Interface -- at its most basic level, allows your product or service to talk to other products or services. In this way, an API allows you to open up data and functionality to other developers, to other businesses or even between departments and locations within your company. It is increasingly the way in which companies exchange data, services and complex resources, both internally, externally with partners, and openly with the public.
2. Who is the intended audience for Egnyte’s APIs? Egnyte’s APIs are intended for developers or customers who want to build apps that integrate with our platform.
3. How much does it cost to use the APIs? Nothing. Using Egnyte’s APIs is absolutely free. Develop responsibly!
4. My company is an Egnyte customer. Can we use the APIs internally? Of course! Many of our customers have used our APIs to integrate with existing apps or support custom workflows. If you’re interested in working with our APIs, you can request an API key here.
5. How can I contact Egnyte to discuss a potential partnership opportunity? You can send us an email at partners@egnyte.com.
6. I’m a developer. Why should I build on top of Egnyte’s APIs? Because we’re awesome! Not enough motivation? Here are a few other reasons you should build with Egnyte:
   1. We’ve got great technology built specifically for businesses.
   2. All of our customers are paying businesses. That means you’ll be tapping into a customer-base of 40,000+ businesses and millions of users.
   3. We’ll help you make money. Who doesn’t like money?!
   Check out our homepage to learn more about how Egnyte can help you build, market, and monetize your app.
7. How do I ask a question, report a bug, or provide feedback? Interact with other developers on the Egnyte Developers section of our Community. Otherwise, you can always reach us with any questions, comments, or concerns at api-support@egnyte.com.

Developer FAQ

1. What data formats do Egnyte’s APIs support? Egnyte’s APIs use JSON for requests and responses.
2. What APIs are available and what do they do? Please refer to our API Documentation page for an overview of the Egnyte APIs. We continue to add to this over time, so stay tuned.
3. Can I test your APIs without registering for a key? Yes! Feel free to take our APIs for a test drive using our interactive developer console.
4. How do I get an API key? You can request an API key by registering for a Mashery ID here. If you already have a Mashery account, use those credentials to sign into our Developer Portal here. Request a key, and we’ll contact you once it’s activated. (Note that you will also need an Egnyte account. You can register for a trial here if you don’t already have one.)
5. Help! I requested an API Key, but it doesn’t work! Once you receive an email from us, your API key should ready to use within 20 minutes. If your key still doesn’t work, send us a note at api-support@egnyte.com.
6. Do you have any sample code available? Absolutely! You can check out our sample code here.
7. Are API calls rate-limited? Yes. We apply the following rate-limits:

   API Key	1,000 API calls per day per token 2 API calls per second per token
   OAuth token endpoint (Public app flow)	100 token requests per hour
   OAuth token endpoint (Internal app flow)	10 calls per user per hour

   If your API call is throttled, you will see a response with a 403 HTTP status code with one of two possible values for the X-Mashery-Error-Code header field:

   Error	Description
   ERR_403_DEVELOPER_OVER_QPS	Exceeded per second throttle
   ERR_403_DEVELOPER_OVER_RATE	Exceeded daily quota

   The Retry-After header will be set to the number of seconds until the relevant throttle will next be reset.

   When throttled for the OAuth token request, you will see a response with a 429 HTTP status code. The Retry-After header will be set to the number of seconds until the throttle will next be reset. In general, you will not encounter this limit since you should be requesting a token only once per user and persisting it rather than requesting a token repeatedly.

8. How can I increase my quota? If you anticipate that your API call volume will exceed the above rate-limits when your app is in production, please contact us at api-support@egnyte.com. We are happy to discuss other arrangements on a case-by-case basis.
9. I see that there are two different OAuth flows. How do I know which one is right for my app? And what if I need to change it later? We have two different OAuth flows: one for applications that will be publicly available, and another for applications that will only be used internally. If you are developing an app for general use in the marketplace, choose the Public flow; if you are an Egnyte customer developing an app for internal use, go with the Internal flow.

   Note that you will not be able to change the OAuth flow for your app yourself once you set this in your profile. If you need to change your OAuth flow, contact us at api-support@egnyte.com.

10. Do I need to request an OAuth token every time I make an API call? No. Please don’t do this, or you’ll hit our OAuth token throttles. Instead of requesting a token repeatedly, just request a token once per user and hold onto it.
11. I built an app for public use, but it only works with my test account. How do I make my app available in production for all Egnyte accounts? Initially, your API key will only work for the test account you specified when registering your application. Once we have approved your app for production, this restriction will be lifted. You can drop us a line at api-support@egnyte.com if you’re ready to release your app into the wild.
    Our approval process is pretty simple:
    1. Demo your app for us or grant us access to a demo account for your app.
    2. Test your app’s workflow with Egnyte from the perspective of a normal end user, and let us know the time window for your testing and the Egnyte domain you’re using. We'll then review the logs to make sure there are no abnormalities.
    3. There is no step 3. If you followed steps 1 and 2, you should be good to go!

    Basically, we just need to make sure you’re not up to anything funky or mischievous.