The useful part of an API is the contract. The provider promises that if you ask in a specific format, you will get an answer in a specific format. Because the contract is stable, either side can be rebuilt from scratch without breaking the other. That is why your accounting software can keep talking to your bank even after the bank redesigns everything.
For a small business, APIs are the reason your tools are not islands. A booking form that writes to your calendar, a shop that hands orders to a courier, a payment provider that tells your website an invoice was settled: each of those is one system calling another's API rather than a human copying details between tabs.
Clerkzo works the same way behind the scenes. When your chat widget captures a lead, it can push that lead onward through a webhook so it lands directly in whatever system your team already lives in, instead of waiting in yet another inbox for someone to rekey it.
Related terms
Browse all 142 terms- REST APIA REST API is a widely used style of web API in which software interacts with data through ordinary web addresses and standard HTTP actions such as get, create, update and delete. It is the default way most modern web services expose their data.
- JSONJSON is a lightweight, plain-text format for organising data as labelled fields, lists and nested groups. It is the format most web services use to send information to each other because it is readable by people and trivially parsed by software.
- iframeAn iframe is an HTML element that embeds one web page inside another, in its own isolated box. Embedded videos, maps and payment forms usually arrive as iframes, and the content inside one is walled off from the page around it.
- Content delivery network (CDN)A content delivery network, or CDN, is a global network of servers that store copies of your website's files so each visitor receives them from a location physically near to them. The result is faster loading and less strain on your own server.