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API Topology

Topology gives you a complete view of your API landscape. Every API — produced or consumed, internal or external — is mapped, tracked, and connected.

The topology view shows your entire API inventory:

DimensionWhat It Tracks
API catalogueEvery API in your tenant — name, version, owner, lifecycle stage
DependenciesWhich APIs call which other APIs (aggregator pattern)
Lifecycle stageProspect → Active → Deprecated → Retired
ExposureInternal, Partner, Public — who can see and subscribe
GatewayWhich gateway instance serves each API
Business functionWhich organisational capability each API serves

When a produced API depends on a consumed API, Apiway tracks the relationship:

  • Blast radius — If API X changes, which downstream APIs are affected?
  • Cost attribution — The consumed API’s cost rolls up to the produced API’s margin
  • SLA alignment — If a dependency has a worse SLA than the produced API, it’s flagged
  • Zero trust enforcement — Dependencies are verified at runtime via the gateway’s DependencyCheckStage

Every API moves through defined stages:

StageMeaning
ProspectUploaded, undergoing review — not yet deployed
ActiveDeployed and serving traffic
DeprecatedStill serving but scheduled for retirement
RetiredDeactivated, no longer available

The topology view shows the distribution across stages — how many APIs are active, how many are ageing, and which are candidates for retirement.

APIs that exist in code but aren’t registered in the topology are “shadow APIs” — they bypass governance, metering, and security. Apiway’s compliance service detects endpoints that don’t match any registered API specification and flags them for review.

External APIs you consume are part of your topology too. When you onboard an external API through the consumer pipeline, it appears in the topology alongside your produced APIs — with its own metering, compliance, and budget controls.

This gives you a single view of your entire API landscape: what you build, what you consume, and how they connect.