# How to get started with ESI APIs **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-get-started-with-esi-apis/85807 "2018-06-29T01:30:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Bigbootee](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/john_bigbootee/32/56358_2.png) [@John\_Bigbootee](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/John_Bigbootee)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-get-started-with-esi-apis/85807/1 "2018-06-29T01:30:49Z")
I have done a little programming in the past, so I am not a total noob to it. That being said, I would like to leverage my interest and experience to do more in Eve. I would like to get started with ESI APIs but to be honest, there is a huge gap between “3rd Party Developer” blog and actually getting my hands dirty with 1s and 0s. Is there a way I can learn the basics of ESI APIs? What I mean by basics is, “Do I need an ISD to write this stuff?”, “How do I string commands together into an ‘app’?”, “I want to do what sites like ‘[evemarketer.com](http://evemarketer.com)’ are doing, but personalize it for myself”, and so on. I made the mistake of asking this stuff in Eve Help Chat and I got the usual response… “Oh we don’t use APIs anymore… They have been discontinued” (facepalm) Any help or guidance would be appreciated. John Bigbootee ---
**Author:** ![ISD\_Sakimura](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/isd_sakimura/32/382213_2.png) [@ISD\_Sakimura](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/ISD_Sakimura)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-get-started-with-esi-apis/85807/2 "2018-06-29T02:12:50Z")
To be fair, think most who hear/see API think of it wrong, API means “Application Programming Interface”. In terms of EVE: it’s a way for a Developer’s app to interact with EVE’s Database. EVE Swagger Interface (ESI) is an API, just like the old XML API and CREST is, the main differences between EVE’s former and now current API is the data-format that it returns. The XML API would return data in a XML-file which if opened with a _text editor_ would be fairly easy to read. Can’t remember much about CREST so you will have to look up the documentation. ESI returns data in the JSON-format which is significantly different than XML. In order to use ESI for your app or web you will have to register it on [https://developers.eveonline.com/applications](https://developers.eveonline.com/applications), without that you will not be able to pull data from EVE’s database. Once you have it registered it’s just a matter of making the correct _functions_ for requesting data and tell it how the returns should be handled. I also only know the very basic of programming myself so unfortunately I’m not much help to you. Been trying to learn bits of pieces here and there when I have some free time. I can do HTML, CSS and also know a little about making functions 🤔 I wish you good luck in your endeavor, and may a beacon light your path to success 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![Chainsaw\_Plankton](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/chainsaw_plankton/32/256180_2.png) [@Chainsaw\_Plankton](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Chainsaw_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-get-started-with-esi-apis/85807/3 "2018-06-29T02:46:06Z")
try over here: [https://forums.eveonline.com/c/technology-research/third-party-developers](https://forums.eveonline.com/c/technology-research/third-party-developers) ---
**Author:** ![Whitehound](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/whitehound/32/59604_2.png) [@Whitehound](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Whitehound)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 4:55am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-get-started-with-esi-apis/85807/4 "2018-06-29T04:55:53Z")
One can start playing around with it here: [https://esi.tech.ccp.is/ui/](https://esi.tech.ccp.is/ui/) You can test inputs and responses with it and without programming anything. It shows each query also as a cURL statement and will give you an idea how it works. From there can you then decide which programming language to use for it. Here are some more links you should take a look at: [https://forums.eveonline.com/c/technology-research/third-party-developers](https://forums.eveonline.com/c/technology-research/third-party-developers) [https://developers.eveonline.com/resource/license-agreement](https://developers.eveonline.com/resource/license-agreement) [https://developers.eveonline.com/blog](https://developers.eveonline.com/blog) [https://developers.eveonline.com/resource/resources](https://developers.eveonline.com/resource/resources) [https://developers.eveonline.com/applications](https://developers.eveonline.com/applications) [https://developers.eveonline.com/blog/article/swagger-codegen](https://developers.eveonline.com/blog/article/swagger-codegen) [https://developers.eveonline.com/blog/article/sso-to-authenticated-calls](https://developers.eveonline.com/blog/article/sso-to-authenticated-calls) ---
**Author:** ![Obil\_Que](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/obil_que/32/171329_2.png) [@Obil\_Que](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Obil_Que)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-get-started-with-esi-apis/85807/5 "2018-06-29T13:27:36Z")
There are also excellent resources on the Tweetfleet slack. #esi channel, #devfleet, and #sso with CCP dev participation as well as many of the third party developers > **[Tweetfleet Slack Invites - Fuzzwork Enterprises](https://www.fuzzwork.co.uk/tweetfleet-slack-invites/)** > > Due to the terms of service of Slack, we can’t automate the creation of new accounts. So, to make things easy for everyone involved, I’ve put this page together. If you log in with your Eve account (top right), then return to this page, you’ll find a... ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/original/3X/4/1/41ec4921cbaca7a6f9ea556e7cc20018461eae5e.png) [@system](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/how-to-get-started-with-esi-apis/85807/6 "2018-09-27T13:27:37Z")
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