OpenAPI Specification
Version 3.0.3
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 RFC2119 RFC8174 when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.
This document is licensed under The Apache License, Version 2.0.
Introduction
The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) defines a standard, language-agnostic interface to RESTful APIs which allows both humans and computers to discover and understand the capabilities of the service without access to source code, documentation, or through network traffic inspection. When properly defined, a consumer can understand and interact with the remote service with a minimal amount of implementation logic.
An OpenAPI definition can then be used by documentation generation tools to display the API, code generation tools to generate servers and clients in various programming languages, testing tools, and many other use cases.
Table of Contents
Definitions
OpenAPI Document
A document (or set of documents) that defines or describes an API. An OpenAPI definition uses and conforms to the OpenAPI Specification.
Path Templating
Path templating refers to the usage of template expressions, delimited by curly braces ({}), to mark a section of a URL path as replaceable using path parameters.
Each template expression in the path MUST correspond to a path parameter that is included in the Path Item itself and/or in each of the Path Item's Operations.
Media type definitions are spread across several resources.
The media type definitions SHOULD be in compliance with RFC6838.
Some examples of possible media type definitions:
text/plain; charset=utf-8
application/json
application/vnd.github+json
application/vnd.github.v3+json
application/vnd.github.v3.raw+json
application/vnd.github.v3.text+json
application/vnd.github.v3.html+json
application/vnd.github.v3.full+json
application/vnd.github.v3.diff
application/vnd.github.v3.patch
HTTP Status Codes
The HTTP Status Codes are used to indicate the status of the executed operation.
The available status codes are defined by RFC7231 and registered status codes are listed in the IANA Status Code Registry.
Specification
Versions
The OpenAPI Specification is versioned using Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 (semver) and follows the semver specification.
The major
.minor
portion of the semver (for example 3.0
) SHALL designate the OAS feature set. Typically, .patch
versions address errors in this document, not the feature set. Tooling which supports OAS 3.0 SHOULD be compatible with all OAS 3.0.* versions. The patch version SHOULD NOT be considered by tooling, making no distinction between 3.0.0
and 3.0.1
for example.
Each new minor version of the OpenAPI Specification SHALL allow any OpenAPI document that is valid against any previous minor version of the Specification, within the same major version, to be updated to the new Specification version with equivalent semantics. Such an update MUST only require changing the openapi
property to the new minor version.
For example, a valid OpenAPI 3.0.2 document, upon changing its openapi
property to 3.1.0
, SHALL be a valid OpenAPI 3.1.0 document, semantically equivalent to the original OpenAPI 3.0.2 document. New minor versions of the OpenAPI Specification MUST be written to ensure this form of backward compatibility.
An OpenAPI document compatible with OAS 3.*.* contains a required openapi
field which designates the semantic version of the OAS that it uses. (OAS 2.0 documents contain a top-level version field named swagger
and value "2.0"
.)
An OpenAPI document that conforms to the OpenAPI Specification is itself a JSON object, which may be represented either in JSON or YAML format.
For example, if a field has an array value, the JSON array representation will be used:
{
"field": [ 1, 2, 3 ]
}
All field names in the specification are case sensitive.
This includes all fields that are used as keys in a map, except where explicitly noted that keys are case insensitive.
The schema exposes two types of fields: Fixed fields, which have a declared name, and Patterned fields, which declare a regex pattern for the field name.
Patterned fields MUST have unique names within the containing object.
In order to preserve the ability to round-trip between YAML and JSON formats, YAML version 1.2 is RECOMMENDED along with some additional constraints:
Note: While APIs may be defined by OpenAPI documents in either YAML or JSON format, the API request and response bodies and other content are not required to be JSON or YAML.
Document Structure
An OpenAPI document MAY be made up of a single document or be divided into multiple, connected parts at the discretion of the user. In the latter case, $ref
fields MUST be used in the specification to reference those parts as follows from the JSON Schema definitions.
It is RECOMMENDED that the root OpenAPI document be named: openapi.json
or openapi.yaml
.
Data Types
Primitive data types in the OAS are based on the types supported by the JSON Schema Specification Wright Draft 00.
Note that integer
as a type is also supported and is defined as a JSON number without a fraction or exponent part.
null
is not supported as a type (see nullable
for an alternative solution).
Models are defined using the Schema Object, which is an extended subset of JSON Schema Specification Wright Draft 00.
Primitives have an optional modifier property: format
.
OAS uses several known formats to define in fine detail the data type being used.
However, to support documentation needs, the format
property is an open string
-valued property, and can have any value.
Formats such as "email"
, "uuid"
, and so on, MAY be used even though undefined by this specification.
Types that are not accompanied by a format
property follow the type definition in the JSON Schema. Tools that do not recognize a specific format
MAY default back to the type
alone, as if the format
is not specified.
The formats defined by the OAS are:
type |
format |
Comments |
integer |
int32 |
signed 32 bits |
integer |
int64 |
signed 64 bits (a.k.a long) |
number |
float |
|
number |
double |
|
string |
|
|
string |
byte |
base64 encoded characters |
string |
binary |
any sequence of octets |
boolean |
|
|
string |
date |
As defined by full-date - RFC3339 |
string |
date-time |
As defined by date-time - RFC3339 |
string |
password |
A hint to UIs to obscure input. |
Rich Text Formatting
Throughout the specification description
fields are noted as supporting CommonMark markdown formatting.
Where OpenAPI tooling renders rich text it MUST support, at a minimum, markdown syntax as described by CommonMark 0.27. Tooling MAY choose to ignore some CommonMark features to address security concerns.
Relative References in URLs
Unless specified otherwise, all properties that are URLs MAY be relative references as defined by RFC3986.
Relative references are resolved using the URLs defined in the Server Object
as a Base URI.
Relative references used in $ref
are processed as per JSON Reference, using the URL of the current document as the base URI. See also the Reference Object.
Schema
In the following description, if a field is not explicitly REQUIRED or described with a MUST or SHALL, it can be considered OPTIONAL.
OpenAPI Object
This is the root document object of the OpenAPI document.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
openapi |
string |
REQUIRED. This string MUST be the semantic version number of the OpenAPI Specification version that the OpenAPI document uses. The openapi field SHOULD be used by tooling specifications and clients to interpret the OpenAPI document. This is not related to the API info.version string. |
info |
Info Object |
REQUIRED. Provides metadata about the API. The metadata MAY be used by tooling as required. |
servers |
[Server Object] |
An array of Server Objects, which provide connectivity information to a target server. If the servers property is not provided, or is an empty array, the default value would be a Server Object with a url value of / . |
paths |
Paths Object |
REQUIRED. The available paths and operations for the API. |
components |
Components Object |
An element to hold various schemas for the specification. |
security |
[Security Requirement Object] |
A declaration of which security mechanisms can be used across the API. The list of values includes alternative security requirement objects that can be used. Only one of the security requirement objects need to be satisfied to authorize a request. Individual operations can override this definition. To make security optional, an empty security requirement ({} ) can be included in the array. |
tags |
[Tag Object] |
A list of tags used by the specification with additional metadata. The order of the tags can be used to reflect on their order by the parsing tools. Not all tags that are used by the Operation Object must be declared. The tags that are not declared MAY be organized randomly or based on the tools' logic. Each tag name in the list MUST be unique. |
externalDocs |
External Documentation Object |
Additional external documentation. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Info Object
The object provides metadata about the API.
The metadata MAY be used by the clients if needed, and MAY be presented in editing or documentation generation tools for convenience.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
title |
string |
REQUIRED. The title of the API. |
description |
string |
A short description of the API. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
termsOfService |
string |
A URL to the Terms of Service for the API. MUST be in the format of a URL. |
contact |
Contact Object |
The contact information for the exposed API. |
license |
License Object |
The license information for the exposed API. |
version |
string |
REQUIRED. The version of the OpenAPI document (which is distinct from the OpenAPI Specification version or the API implementation version). |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Info Object Example
{
"title": "Sample Pet Store App",
"description": "This is a sample server for a pet store.",
"termsOfService": "http://example.com/terms/",
"contact": {
"name": "API Support",
"url": "http://www.example.com/support",
"email": "[email protected]"
},
"license": {
"name": "Apache 2.0",
"url": "https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html"
},
"version": "1.0.1"
}
title: Sample Pet Store App
description: This is a sample server for a pet store.
termsOfService: http://example.com/terms/
contact:
name: API Support
url: http://www.example.com/support
email: [email protected]
license:
name: Apache 2.0
url: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
version: 1.0.1
Contact information for the exposed API.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
name |
string |
The identifying name of the contact person/organization. |
url |
string |
The URL pointing to the contact information. MUST be in the format of a URL. |
email |
string |
The email address of the contact person/organization. MUST be in the format of an email address. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
{
"name": "API Support",
"url": "http://www.example.com/support",
"email": "[email protected]"
}
name: API Support
url: http://www.example.com/support
email: [email protected]
License Object
License information for the exposed API.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
name |
string |
REQUIRED. The license name used for the API. |
url |
string |
A URL to the license used for the API. MUST be in the format of a URL. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
License Object Example
{
"name": "Apache 2.0",
"url": "https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html"
}
name: Apache 2.0
url: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
Server Object
An object representing a Server.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
url |
string |
REQUIRED. A URL to the target host. This URL supports Server Variables and MAY be relative, to indicate that the host location is relative to the location where the OpenAPI document is being served. Variable substitutions will be made when a variable is named in { brackets} . |
description |
string |
An optional string describing the host designated by the URL. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
variables |
Map[string , Server Variable Object] |
A map between a variable name and its value. The value is used for substitution in the server's URL template. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Server Object Example
A single server would be described as:
{
"url": "https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1",
"description": "Development server"
}
url: https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1
description: Development server
The following shows how multiple servers can be described, for example, at the OpenAPI Object's servers
:
{
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1",
"description": "Development server"
},
{
"url": "https://staging.gigantic-server.com/v1",
"description": "Staging server"
},
{
"url": "https://api.gigantic-server.com/v1",
"description": "Production server"
}
]
}
servers:
- url: https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1
description: Development server
- url: https://staging.gigantic-server.com/v1
description: Staging server
- url: https://api.gigantic-server.com/v1
description: Production server
The following shows how variables can be used for a server configuration:
{
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://{username}.gigantic-server.com:{port}/{basePath}",
"description": "The production API server",
"variables": {
"username": {
"default": "demo",
"description": "this value is assigned by the service provider, in this example `gigantic-server.com`"
},
"port": {
"enum": [
"8443",
"443"
],
"default": "8443"
},
"basePath": {
"default": "v2"
}
}
}
]
}
servers:
- url: https://{username}.gigantic-server.com:{port}/{basePath}
description: The production API server
variables:
username:
# note! no enum here means it is an open value
default: demo
description: this value is assigned by the service provider, in this example `gigantic-server.com`
port:
enum:
- '8443'
- '443'
default: '8443'
basePath:
# open meaning there is the opportunity to use special base paths as assigned by the provider, default is `v2`
default: v2
Server Variable Object
An object representing a Server Variable for server URL template substitution.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
enum |
[string ] |
An enumeration of string values to be used if the substitution options are from a limited set. The array SHOULD NOT be empty. |
default |
string |
REQUIRED. The default value to use for substitution, which SHALL be sent if an alternate value is not supplied. Note this behavior is different than the Schema Object's treatment of default values, because in those cases parameter values are optional. If the enum is defined, the value SHOULD exist in the enum's values. |
description |
string |
An optional description for the server variable. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Components Object
Holds a set of reusable objects for different aspects of the OAS.
All objects defined within the components object will have no effect on the API unless they are explicitly referenced from properties outside the components object.
Fixed Fields
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
All the fixed fields declared above are objects that MUST use keys that match the regular expression: ^[a-zA-Z0-9\.\-_]+$
.
Field Name Examples:
User
User_1
User_Name
user-name
my.org.User
Components Object Example
"components": {
"schemas": {
"GeneralError": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"code": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int32"
},
"message": {
"type": "string"
}
}
},
"Category": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int64"
},
"name": {
"type": "string"
}
}
},
"Tag": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int64"
},
"name": {
"type": "string"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": {
"skipParam": {
"name": "skip",
"in": "query",
"description": "number of items to skip",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int32"
}
},
"limitParam": {
"name": "limit",
"in": "query",
"description": "max records to return",
"required": true,
"schema" : {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int32"
}
}
},
"responses": {
"NotFound": {
"description": "Entity not found."
},
"IllegalInput": {
"description": "Illegal input for operation."
},
"GeneralError": {
"description": "General Error",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/GeneralError"
}
}
}
}
},
"securitySchemes": {
"api_key": {
"type": "apiKey",
"name": "api_key",
"in": "header"
},
"petstore_auth": {
"type": "oauth2",
"flows": {
"implicit": {
"authorizationUrl": "http://example.org/api/oauth/dialog",
"scopes": {
"write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
"read:pets": "read your pets"
}
}
}
}
}
}
components:
schemas:
GeneralError:
type: object
properties:
code:
type: integer
format: int32
message:
type: string
Category:
type: object
properties:
id:
type: integer
format: int64
name:
type: string
Tag:
type: object
properties:
id:
type: integer
format: int64
name:
type: string
parameters:
skipParam:
name: skip
in: query
description: number of items to skip
required: true
schema:
type: integer
format: int32
limitParam:
name: limit
in: query
description: max records to return
required: true
schema:
type: integer
format: int32
responses:
NotFound:
description: Entity not found.
IllegalInput:
description: Illegal input for operation.
GeneralError:
description: General Error
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/GeneralError'
securitySchemes:
api_key:
type: apiKey
name: api_key
in: header
petstore_auth:
type: oauth2
flows:
implicit:
authorizationUrl: http://example.org/api/oauth/dialog
scopes:
write:pets: modify pets in your account
read:pets: read your pets
Paths Object
Holds the relative paths to the individual endpoints and their operations.
The path is appended to the URL from the Server Object
in order to construct the full URL. The Paths MAY be empty, due to ACL constraints.
Patterned Fields
Field Pattern |
Type |
Description |
/{path} |
Path Item Object |
A relative path to an individual endpoint. The field name MUST begin with a forward slash (/ ). The path is appended (no relative URL resolution) to the expanded URL from the Server Object 's url field in order to construct the full URL. Path templating is allowed. When matching URLs, concrete (non-templated) paths would be matched before their templated counterparts. Templated paths with the same hierarchy but different templated names MUST NOT exist as they are identical. In case of ambiguous matching, it's up to the tooling to decide which one to use. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Path Templating Matching
Assuming the following paths, the concrete definition, /pets/mine
, will be matched first if used:
/pets/{petId}
/pets/mine
The following paths are considered identical and invalid:
/pets/{petId}
/pets/{name}
The following may lead to ambiguous resolution:
/{entity}/me
/books/{id}
Paths Object Example
{
"/pets": {
"get": {
"description": "Returns all pets from the system that the user has access to",
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "A list of pets.",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/pet"
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
/pets:
get:
description: Returns all pets from the system that the user has access to
responses:
'200':
description: A list of pets.
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/pet'
Path Item Object
Describes the operations available on a single path.
A Path Item MAY be empty, due to ACL constraints.
The path itself is still exposed to the documentation viewer but they will not know which operations and parameters are available.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
$ref |
string |
Allows for an external definition of this path item. The referenced structure MUST be in the format of a Path Item Object. In case a Path Item Object field appears both in the defined object and the referenced object, the behavior is undefined. |
summary |
string |
An optional, string summary, intended to apply to all operations in this path. |
description |
string |
An optional, string description, intended to apply to all operations in this path. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
get |
Operation Object |
A definition of a GET operation on this path. |
put |
Operation Object |
A definition of a PUT operation on this path. |
post |
Operation Object |
A definition of a POST operation on this path. |
delete |
Operation Object |
A definition of a DELETE operation on this path. |
options |
Operation Object |
A definition of a OPTIONS operation on this path. |
head |
Operation Object |
A definition of a HEAD operation on this path. |
patch |
Operation Object |
A definition of a PATCH operation on this path. |
trace |
Operation Object |
A definition of a TRACE operation on this path. |
servers |
[Server Object] |
An alternative server array to service all operations in this path. |
parameters |
[Parameter Object | Reference Object] |
A list of parameters that are applicable for all the operations described under this path. These parameters can be overridden at the operation level, but cannot be removed there. The list MUST NOT include duplicated parameters. A unique parameter is defined by a combination of a name and location. The list can use the Reference Object to link to parameters that are defined at the OpenAPI Object's components/parameters. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Path Item Object Example
{
"get": {
"description": "Returns pets based on ID",
"summary": "Find pets by ID",
"operationId": "getPetsById",
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "pet response",
"content": {
"*/*": {
"schema": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
}
}
}
}
},
"default": {
"description": "error payload",
"content": {
"text/html": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorModel"
}
}
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "id",
"in": "path",
"description": "ID of pet to use",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"style": "simple"
}
]
}
get:
description: Returns pets based on ID
summary: Find pets by ID
operationId: getPetsById
responses:
'200':
description: pet response
content:
'*/*' :
schema:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
default:
description: error payload
content:
'text/html':
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorModel'
parameters:
- name: id
in: path
description: ID of pet to use
required: true
schema:
type: array
items:
type: string
style: simple
Operation Object
Describes a single API operation on a path.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
tags |
[string ] |
A list of tags for API documentation control. Tags can be used for logical grouping of operations by resources or any other qualifier. |
summary |
string |
A short summary of what the operation does. |
description |
string |
A verbose explanation of the operation behavior. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
externalDocs |
External Documentation Object |
Additional external documentation for this operation. |
operationId |
string |
Unique string used to identify the operation. The id MUST be unique among all operations described in the API. The operationId value is case-sensitive. Tools and libraries MAY use the operationId to uniquely identify an operation, therefore, it is RECOMMENDED to follow common programming naming conventions. |
parameters |
[Parameter Object | Reference Object] |
A list of parameters that are applicable for this operation. If a parameter is already defined at the Path Item, the new definition will override it but can never remove it. The list MUST NOT include duplicated parameters. A unique parameter is defined by a combination of a name and location. The list can use the Reference Object to link to parameters that are defined at the OpenAPI Object's components/parameters. |
requestBody |
Request Body Object | Reference Object |
The request body applicable for this operation. The requestBody is only supported in HTTP methods where the HTTP 1.1 specification RFC7231 has explicitly defined semantics for request bodies. In other cases where the HTTP spec is vague, requestBody SHALL be ignored by consumers. |
responses |
Responses Object |
REQUIRED. The list of possible responses as they are returned from executing this operation. |
callbacks |
Map[string , Callback Object | Reference Object] |
A map of possible out-of band callbacks related to the parent operation. The key is a unique identifier for the Callback Object. Each value in the map is a Callback Object that describes a request that may be initiated by the API provider and the expected responses. |
deprecated |
boolean |
Declares this operation to be deprecated. Consumers SHOULD refrain from usage of the declared operation. Default value is false . |
security |
[Security Requirement Object] |
A declaration of which security mechanisms can be used for this operation. The list of values includes alternative security requirement objects that can be used. Only one of the security requirement objects need to be satisfied to authorize a request. To make security optional, an empty security requirement ({} ) can be included in the array. This definition overrides any declared top-level security . To remove a top-level security declaration, an empty array can be used. |
servers |
[Server Object] |
An alternative server array to service this operation. If an alternative server object is specified at the Path Item Object or Root level, it will be overridden by this value. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Operation Object Example
{
"tags": [
"pet"
],
"summary": "Updates a pet in the store with form data",
"operationId": "updatePetWithForm",
"parameters": [
{
"name": "petId",
"in": "path",
"description": "ID of pet that needs to be updated",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
}
}
],
"requestBody": {
"content": {
"application/x-www-form-urlencoded": {
"schema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"name": {
"description": "Updated name of the pet",
"type": "string"
},
"status": {
"description": "Updated status of the pet",
"type": "string"
}
},
"required": ["status"]
}
}
}
},
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "Pet updated.",
"content": {
"application/json": {},
"application/xml": {}
}
},
"405": {
"description": "Method Not Allowed",
"content": {
"application/json": {},
"application/xml": {}
}
}
},
"security": [
{
"petstore_auth": [
"write:pets",
"read:pets"
]
}
]
}
tags:
- pet
summary: Updates a pet in the store with form data
operationId: updatePetWithForm
parameters:
- name: petId
in: path
description: ID of pet that needs to be updated
required: true
schema:
type: string
requestBody:
content:
'application/x-www-form-urlencoded':
schema:
properties:
name:
description: Updated name of the pet
type: string
status:
description: Updated status of the pet
type: string
required:
- status
responses:
'200':
description: Pet updated.
content:
'application/json': {}
'application/xml': {}
'405':
description: Method Not Allowed
content:
'application/json': {}
'application/xml': {}
security:
- petstore_auth:
- write:pets
- read:pets
External Documentation Object
Allows referencing an external resource for extended documentation.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
description |
string |
A short description of the target documentation. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
url |
string |
REQUIRED. The URL for the target documentation. Value MUST be in the format of a URL. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
External Documentation Object Example
{
"description": "Find more info here",
"url": "https://example.com"
}
description: Find more info here
url: https://example.com
Parameter Object
Describes a single operation parameter.
A unique parameter is defined by a combination of a name and location.
Parameter Locations
There are four possible parameter locations specified by the in
field:
- path - Used together with Path Templating, where the parameter value is actually part of the operation's URL. This does not include the host or base path of the API. For example, in
/items/{itemId}
, the path parameter is itemId
.
- query - Parameters that are appended to the URL. For example, in
/items?id=###
, the query parameter is id
.
- header - Custom headers that are expected as part of the request. Note that RFC7230 states header names are case insensitive.
- cookie - Used to pass a specific cookie value to the API.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
name |
string |
REQUIRED. The name of the parameter. Parameter names are case sensitive. - If
in is "path" , the name field MUST correspond to a template expression occurring within the path field in the Paths Object. See Path Templating for further information. - If
in is "header" and the name field is "Accept" , "Content-Type" or "Authorization" , the parameter definition SHALL be ignored. - For all other cases, the
name corresponds to the parameter name used by the in property.
|
in |
string |
REQUIRED. The location of the parameter. Possible values are "query" , "header" , "path" or "cookie" . |
description |
string |
A brief description of the parameter. This could contain examples of use. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
required |
boolean |
Determines whether this parameter is mandatory. If the parameter location is "path" , this property is REQUIRED and its value MUST be true . Otherwise, the property MAY be included and its default value is false . |
deprecated |
boolean |
Specifies that a parameter is deprecated and SHOULD be transitioned out of usage. Default value is false . |
allowEmptyValue |
boolean |
Sets the ability to pass empty-valued parameters. This is valid only for query parameters and allows sending a parameter with an empty value. Default value is false . If style is used, and if behavior is n/a (cannot be serialized), the value of allowEmptyValue SHALL be ignored. Use of this property is NOT RECOMMENDED, as it is likely to be removed in a later revision. |
The rules for serialization of the parameter are specified in one of two ways.
For simpler scenarios, a schema
and style
can describe the structure and syntax of the parameter.
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
style |
string |
Describes how the parameter value will be serialized depending on the type of the parameter value. Default values (based on value of in ): for query - form ; for path - simple ; for header - simple ; for cookie - form . |
explode |
boolean |
When this is true, parameter values of type array or object generate separate parameters for each value of the array or key-value pair of the map. For other types of parameters this property has no effect. When style is form , the default value is true . For all other styles, the default value is false . |
allowReserved |
boolean |
Determines whether the parameter value SHOULD allow reserved characters, as defined by RFC3986 :/?#[]@!$&'()*+,;= to be included without percent-encoding. This property only applies to parameters with an in value of query . The default value is false . |
schema |
Schema Object | Reference Object |
The schema defining the type used for the parameter. |
example |
Any |
Example of the parameter's potential value. The example SHOULD match the specified schema and encoding properties if present. The example field is mutually exclusive of the examples field. Furthermore, if referencing a schema that contains an example, the example value SHALL override the example provided by the schema. To represent examples of media types that cannot naturally be represented in JSON or YAML, a string value can contain the example with escaping where necessary. |
examples |
Map[ string , Example Object | Reference Object] |
Examples of the parameter's potential value. Each example SHOULD contain a value in the correct format as specified in the parameter encoding. The examples field is mutually exclusive of the example field. Furthermore, if referencing a schema that contains an example, the examples value SHALL override the example provided by the schema. |
For more complex scenarios, the content
property can define the media type and schema of the parameter.
A parameter MUST contain either a schema
property, or a content
property, but not both.
When example
or examples
are provided in conjunction with the schema
object, the example MUST follow the prescribed serialization strategy for the parameter.
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
content |
Map[string , Media Type Object] |
A map containing the representations for the parameter. The key is the media type and the value describes it. The map MUST only contain one entry. |
Style Values
In order to support common ways of serializing simple parameters, a set of style
values are defined.
style |
type |
in |
Comments |
matrix |
primitive , array , object |
path |
Path-style parameters defined by RFC6570 |
label |
primitive , array , object |
path |
Label style parameters defined by RFC6570 |
form |
primitive , array , object |
query , cookie |
Form style parameters defined by RFC6570. This option replaces collectionFormat with a csv (when explode is false) or multi (when explode is true) value from OpenAPI 2.0. |
simple |
array |
path , header |
Simple style parameters defined by RFC6570. This option replaces collectionFormat with a csv value from OpenAPI 2.0. |
spaceDelimited |
array |
query |
Space separated array values. This option replaces collectionFormat equal to ssv from OpenAPI 2.0. |
pipeDelimited |
array |
query |
Pipe separated array values. This option replaces collectionFormat equal to pipes from OpenAPI 2.0. |
deepObject |
object |
query |
Provides a simple way of rendering nested objects using form parameters. |
Style Examples
Assume a parameter named color
has one of the following values:
string -> "blue"
array -> ["blue","black","brown"]
object -> { "R": 100, "G": 200, "B": 150 }
The following table shows examples of rendering differences for each value.
style |
explode |
empty |
string |
array |
object |
matrix |
false |
;color |
;color=blue |
;color=blue,black,brown |
;color=R,100,G,200,B,150 |
matrix |
true |
;color |
;color=blue |
;color=blue;color=black;color=brown |
;R=100;G=200;B=150 |
label |
false |
. |
.blue |
.blue.black.brown |
.R.100.G.200.B.150 |
label |
true |
. |
.blue |
.blue.black.brown |
.R=100.G=200.B=150 |
form |
false |
color= |
color=blue |
color=blue,black,brown |
color=R,100,G,200,B,150 |
form |
true |
color= |
color=blue |
color=blue&color=black&color=brown |
R=100&G=200&B=150 |
simple |
false |
n/a |
blue |
blue,black,brown |
R,100,G,200,B,150 |
simple |
true |
n/a |
blue |
blue,black,brown |
R=100,G=200,B=150 |
spaceDelimited |
false |
n/a |
n/a |
blue%20black%20brown |
R%20100%20G%20200%20B%20150 |
pipeDelimited |
false |
n/a |
n/a |
blue|black|brown |
R|100|G|200|B|150 |
deepObject |
true |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
color[R]=100&color[G]=200&color[B]=150 |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Parameter Object Examples
A header parameter with an array of 64 bit integer numbers:
{
"name": "token",
"in": "header",
"description": "token to be passed as a header",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int64"
}
},
"style": "simple"
}
name: token
in: header
description: token to be passed as a header
required: true
schema:
type: array
items:
type: integer
format: int64
style: simple
A path parameter of a string value:
{
"name": "username",
"in": "path",
"description": "username to fetch",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
}
}
name: username
in: path
description: username to fetch
required: true
schema:
type: string
An optional query parameter of a string value, allowing multiple values by repeating the query parameter:
{
"name": "id",
"in": "query",
"description": "ID of the object to fetch",
"required": false,
"schema": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"style": "form",
"explode": true
}
name: id
in: query
description: ID of the object to fetch
required: false
schema:
type: array
items:
type: string
style: form
explode: true
A free-form query parameter, allowing undefined parameters of a specific type:
{
"in": "query",
"name": "freeForm",
"schema": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": {
"type": "integer"
},
},
"style": "form"
}
in: query
name: freeForm
schema:
type: object
additionalProperties:
type: integer
style: form
A complex parameter using content
to define serialization:
{
"in": "query",
"name": "coordinates",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"type": "object",
"required": [
"lat",
"long"
],
"properties": {
"lat": {
"type": "number"
},
"long": {
"type": "number"
}
}
}
}
}
}
in: query
name: coordinates
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
required:
- lat
- long
properties:
lat:
type: number
long:
type: number
Request Body Object
Describes a single request body.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
description |
string |
A brief description of the request body. This could contain examples of use. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
content |
Map[string , Media Type Object] |
REQUIRED. The content of the request body. The key is a media type or media type range and the value describes it. For requests that match multiple keys, only the most specific key is applicable. e.g. text/plain overrides text/* |
required |
boolean |
Determines if the request body is required in the request. Defaults to false . |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Request Body Examples
A request body with a referenced model definition.
{
"description": "user to add to the system",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/User"
},
"examples": {
"user" : {
"summary": "User Example",
"externalValue": "http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.json"
}
}
},
"application/xml": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/User"
},
"examples": {
"user" : {
"summary": "User example in XML",
"externalValue": "http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.xml"
}
}
},
"text/plain": {
"examples": {
"user" : {
"summary": "User example in Plain text",
"externalValue": "http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.txt"
}
}
},
"*/*": {
"examples": {
"user" : {
"summary": "User example in other format",
"externalValue": "http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.whatever"
}
}
}
}
}
description: user to add to the system
content:
'application/json':
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
examples:
user:
summary: User Example
externalValue: 'http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.json'
'application/xml':
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
examples:
user:
summary: User Example in XML
externalValue: 'http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.xml'
'text/plain':
examples:
user:
summary: User example in text plain format
externalValue: 'http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.txt'
'*/*':
examples:
user:
summary: User example in other format
externalValue: 'http://foo.bar/examples/user-example.whatever'
A body parameter that is an array of string values:
{
"description": "user to add to the system",
"content": {
"text/plain": {
"schema": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
}
}
}
}
description: user to add to the system
required: true
content:
text/plain:
schema:
type: array
items:
type: string
Each Media Type Object provides schema and examples for the media type identified by its key.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
schema |
Schema Object | Reference Object |
The schema defining the content of the request, response, or parameter. |
example |
Any |
Example of the media type. The example object SHOULD be in the correct format as specified by the media type. The example field is mutually exclusive of the examples field. Furthermore, if referencing a schema which contains an example, the example value SHALL override the example provided by the schema. |
examples |
Map[ string , Example Object | Reference Object] |
Examples of the media type. Each example object SHOULD match the media type and specified schema if present. The examples field is mutually exclusive of the example field. Furthermore, if referencing a schema which contains an example, the examples value SHALL override the example provided by the schema. |
encoding |
Map[string , Encoding Object] |
A map between a property name and its encoding information. The key, being the property name, MUST exist in the schema as a property. The encoding object SHALL only apply to requestBody objects when the media type is multipart or application/x-www-form-urlencoded . |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
{
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
},
"examples": {
"cat" : {
"summary": "An example of a cat",
"value":
{
"name": "Fluffy",
"petType": "Cat",
"color": "White",
"gender": "male",
"breed": "Persian"
}
},
"dog": {
"summary": "An example of a dog with a cat's name",
"value" : {
"name": "Puma",
"petType": "Dog",
"color": "Black",
"gender": "Female",
"breed": "Mixed"
},
"frog": {
"$ref": "#/components/examples/frog-example"
}
}
}
}
}
application/json:
schema:
$ref: "#/components/schemas/Pet"
examples:
cat:
summary: An example of a cat
value:
name: Fluffy
petType: Cat
color: White
gender: male
breed: Persian
dog:
summary: An example of a dog with a cat's name
value:
name: Puma
petType: Dog
color: Black
gender: Female
breed: Mixed
frog:
$ref: "#/components/examples/frog-example"
Considerations for File Uploads
In contrast with the 2.0 specification, file
input/output content in OpenAPI is described with the same semantics as any other schema type. Specifically:
# content transferred with base64 encoding
schema:
type: string
format: base64
# content transferred in binary (octet-stream):
schema:
type: string
format: binary
These examples apply to either input payloads of file uploads or response payloads.
A requestBody
for submitting a file in a POST
operation may look like the following example:
requestBody:
content:
application/octet-stream:
schema:
# a binary file of any type
type: string
format: binary
In addition, specific media types MAY be specified:
# multiple, specific media types may be specified:
requestBody:
content:
# a binary file of type png or jpeg
'image/jpeg':
schema:
type: string
format: binary
'image/png':
schema:
type: string
format: binary
To upload multiple files, a multipart
media type MUST be used:
requestBody:
content:
multipart/form-data:
schema:
properties:
# The property name 'file' will be used for all files.
file:
type: array
items:
type: string
format: binary
To submit content using form url encoding via RFC1866, the following
definition may be used:
requestBody:
content:
application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
schema:
type: object
properties:
id:
type: string
format: uuid
address:
# complex types are stringified to support RFC 1866
type: object
properties: {}
In this example, the contents in the requestBody
MUST be stringified per RFC1866 when passed to the server. In addition, the address
field complex object will be stringified.
When passing complex objects in the application/x-www-form-urlencoded
content type, the default serialization strategy of such properties is described in the Encoding Object
's style
property as form
.
Special Considerations for multipart
Content
It is common to use multipart/form-data
as a Content-Type
when transferring request bodies to operations. In contrast to 2.0, a schema
is REQUIRED to define the input parameters to the operation when using multipart
content. This supports complex structures as well as supporting mechanisms for multiple file uploads.
When passing in multipart
types, boundaries MAY be used to separate sections of the content being transferred — thus, the following default Content-Type
s are defined for multipart
:
- If the property is a primitive, or an array of primitive values, the default Content-Type is
text/plain
- If the property is complex, or an array of complex values, the default Content-Type is
application/json
- If the property is a
type: string
with format: binary
or format: base64
(aka a file object), the default Content-Type is application/octet-stream
Examples:
requestBody:
content:
multipart/form-data:
schema:
type: object
properties:
id:
type: string
format: uuid
address:
# default Content-Type for objects is `application/json`
type: object
properties: {}
profileImage:
# default Content-Type for string/binary is `application/octet-stream`
type: string
format: binary
children:
# default Content-Type for arrays is based on the `inner` type (text/plain here)
type: array
items:
type: string
addresses:
# default Content-Type for arrays is based on the `inner` type (object shown, so `application/json` in this example)
type: array
items:
type: '#/components/schemas/Address'
An encoding
attribute is introduced to give you control over the serialization of parts of multipart
request bodies. This attribute is only applicable to multipart
and application/x-www-form-urlencoded
request bodies.
Encoding Object
A single encoding definition applied to a single schema property.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
contentType |
string |
The Content-Type for encoding a specific property. Default value depends on the property type: for string with format being binary – application/octet-stream ; for other primitive types – text/plain ; for object - application/json ; for array – the default is defined based on the inner type. The value can be a specific media type (e.g. application/json ), a wildcard media type (e.g. image/* ), or a comma-separated list of the two types. |
headers |
Map[string , Header Object | Reference Object] |
A map allowing additional information to be provided as headers, for example Content-Disposition . Content-Type is described separately and SHALL be ignored in this section. This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not a multipart . |
style |
string |
Describes how a specific property value will be serialized depending on its type. See Parameter Object for details on the style property. The behavior follows the same values as query parameters, including default values. This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not application/x-www-form-urlencoded . |
explode |
boolean |
When this is true, property values of type array or object generate separate parameters for each value of the array, or key-value-pair of the map. For other types of properties this property has no effect. When style is form , the default value is true . For all other styles, the default value is false . This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not application/x-www-form-urlencoded . |
allowReserved |
boolean |
Determines whether the parameter value SHOULD allow reserved characters, as defined by RFC3986 :/?#[]@!$&'()*+,;= to be included without percent-encoding. The default value is false . This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not application/x-www-form-urlencoded . |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Encoding Object Example
requestBody:
content:
multipart/mixed:
schema:
type: object
properties:
id:
# default is text/plain
type: string
format: uuid
address:
# default is application/json
type: object
properties: {}
historyMetadata:
# need to declare XML format!
description: metadata in XML format
type: object
properties: {}
profileImage:
# default is application/octet-stream, need to declare an image type only!
type: string
format: binary
encoding:
historyMetadata:
# require XML Content-Type in utf-8 encoding
contentType: application/xml; charset=utf-8
profileImage:
# only accept png/jpeg
contentType: image/png, image/jpeg
headers:
X-Rate-Limit-Limit:
description: The number of allowed requests in the current period
schema:
type: integer
Responses Object
A container for the expected responses of an operation.
The container maps a HTTP response code to the expected response.
The documentation is not necessarily expected to cover all possible HTTP response codes because they may not be known in advance.
However, documentation is expected to cover a successful operation response and any known errors.
The default
MAY be used as a default response object for all HTTP codes
that are not covered individually by the specification.
The Responses Object
MUST contain at least one response code, and it
SHOULD be the response for a successful operation call.
Fixed Fields
Patterned Fields
Field Pattern |
Type |
Description |
HTTP Status Code |
Response Object | Reference Object |
Any HTTP status code can be used as the property name, but only one property per code, to describe the expected response for that HTTP status code. A Reference Object can link to a response that is defined in the OpenAPI Object's components/responses section. This field MUST be enclosed in quotation marks (for example, "200") for compatibility between JSON and YAML. To define a range of response codes, this field MAY contain the uppercase wildcard character X . For example, 2XX represents all response codes between [200-299] . Only the following range definitions are allowed: 1XX , 2XX , 3XX , 4XX , and 5XX . If a response is defined using an explicit code, the explicit code definition takes precedence over the range definition for that code. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Responses Object Example
A 200 response for a successful operation and a default response for others (implying an error):
{
"200": {
"description": "a pet to be returned",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
}
}
}
},
"default": {
"description": "Unexpected error",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorModel"
}
}
}
}
}
'200':
description: a pet to be returned
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
default:
description: Unexpected error
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorModel'
Response Object
Describes a single response from an API Operation, including design-time, static
links
to operations based on the response.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
description |
string |
REQUIRED. A short description of the response. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
headers |
Map[string , Header Object | Reference Object] |
Maps a header name to its definition. RFC7230 states header names are case insensitive. If a response header is defined with the name "Content-Type" , it SHALL be ignored. |
content |
Map[string , Media Type Object] |
A map containing descriptions of potential response payloads. The key is a media type or media type range and the value describes it. For responses that match multiple keys, only the most specific key is applicable. e.g. text/plain overrides text/* |
links |
Map[string , Link Object | Reference Object] |
A map of operations links that can be followed from the response. The key of the map is a short name for the link, following the naming constraints of the names for Component Objects. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Response Object Examples
Response of an array of a complex type:
{
"description": "A complex object array response",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/VeryComplexType"
}
}
}
}
}
description: A complex object array response
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/VeryComplexType'
Response with a string type:
{
"description": "A simple string response",
"content": {
"text/plain": {
"schema": {
"type": "string"
}
}
}
}
description: A simple string response
content:
text/plain:
schema:
type: string
Plain text response with headers:
{
"description": "A simple string response",
"content": {
"text/plain": {
"schema": {
"type": "string",
"example": "whoa!"
}
}
},
"headers": {
"X-Rate-Limit-Limit": {
"description": "The number of allowed requests in the current period",
"schema": {
"type": "integer"
}
},
"X-Rate-Limit-Remaining": {
"description": "The number of remaining requests in the current period",
"schema": {
"type": "integer"
}
},
"X-Rate-Limit-Reset": {
"description": "The number of seconds left in the current period",
"schema": {
"type": "integer"
}
}
}
}
description: A simple string response
content:
text/plain:
schema:
type: string
example: 'whoa!'
headers:
X-Rate-Limit-Limit:
description: The number of allowed requests in the current period
schema:
type: integer
X-Rate-Limit-Remaining:
description: The number of remaining requests in the current period
schema:
type: integer
X-Rate-Limit-Reset:
description: The number of seconds left in the current period
schema:
type: integer
Response with no return value:
{
"description": "object created"
}
description: object created
Callback Object
A map of possible out-of band callbacks related to the parent operation.
Each value in the map is a Path Item Object that describes a set of requests that may be initiated by the API provider and the expected responses.
The key value used to identify the path item object is an expression, evaluated at runtime, that identifies a URL to use for the callback operation.
Patterned Fields
Field Pattern |
Type |
Description |
{expression} |
Path Item Object |
A Path Item Object used to define a callback request and expected responses. A complete example is available. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Key Expression
The key that identifies the Path Item Object is a runtime expression that can be evaluated in the context of a runtime HTTP request/response to identify the URL to be used for the callback request.
A simple example might be $request.body#/url
.
However, using a runtime expression the complete HTTP message can be accessed.
This includes accessing any part of a body that a JSON Pointer RFC6901 can reference.
For example, given the following HTTP request:
POST /subscribe/myevent?queryUrl=http://clientdomain.com/stillrunning HTTP/1.1
Host: example.org
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 187
{
"failedUrl" : "http://clientdomain.com/failed",
"successUrls" : [
"http://clientdomain.com/fast",
"http://clientdomain.com/medium",
"http://clientdomain.com/slow"
]
}
201 Created
Location: http://example.org/subscription/1
The following examples show how the various expressions evaluate, assuming the callback operation has a path parameter named eventType
and a query parameter named queryUrl
.
Callback Object Examples
The following example uses the user provided queryUrl
query string parameter to define the callback URL. This is an example of how to use a callback object to describe a WebHook callback that goes with the subscription operation to enable registering for the WebHook.
myCallback:
'{$request.query.queryUrl}':
post:
requestBody:
description: Callback payload
content:
'application/json':
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/SomePayload'
responses:
'200':
description: callback successfully processed
The following example shows a callback where the server is hard-coded, but the query string parameters are populated from the id
and email
property in the request body.
transactionCallback:
'http://notificationServer.com?transactionId={$request.body#/id}&email={$request.body#/email}':
post:
requestBody:
description: Callback payload
content:
'application/json':
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/SomePayload'
responses:
'200':
description: callback successfully processed
Example Object
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
summary |
string |
Short description for the example. |
description |
string |
Long description for the example. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
value |
Any |
Embedded literal example. The value field and externalValue field are mutually exclusive. To represent examples of media types that cannot naturally represented in JSON or YAML, use a string value to contain the example, escaping where necessary. |
externalValue |
string |
A URL that points to the literal example. This provides the capability to reference examples that cannot easily be included in JSON or YAML documents. The value field and externalValue field are mutually exclusive. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
In all cases, the example value is expected to be compatible with the type schema
of its associated value. Tooling implementations MAY choose to
validate compatibility automatically, and reject the example value(s) if incompatible.
Example Object Examples
In a request body:
requestBody:
content:
'application/json':
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Address'
examples:
foo:
summary: A foo example
value: {"foo": "bar"}
bar:
summary: A bar example
value: {"bar": "baz"}
'application/xml':
examples:
xmlExample:
summary: This is an example in XML
externalValue: 'http://example.org/examples/address-example.xml'
'text/plain':
examples:
textExample:
summary: This is a text example
externalValue: 'http://foo.bar/examples/address-example.txt'
In a parameter:
parameters:
- name: 'zipCode'
in: 'query'
schema:
type: 'string'
format: 'zip-code'
examples:
zip-example:
$ref: '#/components/examples/zip-example'
In a response:
responses:
'200':
description: your car appointment has been booked
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/SuccessResponse'
examples:
confirmation-success:
$ref: '#/components/examples/confirmation-success'
Link Object
The Link object
represents a possible design-time link for a response.
The presence of a link does not guarantee the caller's ability to successfully invoke it, rather it provides a known relationship and traversal mechanism between responses and other operations.
Unlike dynamic links (i.e. links provided in the response payload), the OAS linking mechanism does not require link information in the runtime response.
For computing links, and providing instructions to execute them, a runtime expression is used for accessing values in an operation and using them as parameters while invoking the linked operation.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
operationRef |
string |
A relative or absolute URI reference to an OAS operation. This field is mutually exclusive of the operationId field, and MUST point to an Operation Object. Relative operationRef values MAY be used to locate an existing Operation Object in the OpenAPI definition. |
operationId |
string |
The name of an existing, resolvable OAS operation, as defined with a unique operationId . This field is mutually exclusive of the operationRef field. |
parameters |
Map[string , Any | {expression}] |
A map representing parameters to pass to an operation as specified with operationId or identified via operationRef . The key is the parameter name to be used, whereas the value can be a constant or an expression to be evaluated and passed to the linked operation. The parameter name can be qualified using the parameter location [{in}.]{name} for operations that use the same parameter name in different locations (e.g. path.id). |
requestBody |
Any | {expression} |
A literal value or {expression} to use as a request body when calling the target operation. |
description |
string |
A description of the link. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
server |
Server Object |
A server object to be used by the target operation. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
A linked operation MUST be identified using either an operationRef
or operationId
.
In the case of an operationId
, it MUST be unique and resolved in the scope of the OAS document.
Because of the potential for name clashes, the operationRef
syntax is preferred
for specifications with external references.
Examples
Computing a link from a request operation where the $request.path.id
is used to pass a request parameter to the linked operation.
paths:
/users/{id}:
parameters:
- name: id
in: path
required: true
description: the user identifier, as userId
schema:
type: string
get:
responses:
'200':
description: the user being returned
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
properties:
uuid: # the unique user id
type: string
format: uuid
links:
address:
# the target link operationId
operationId: getUserAddress
parameters:
# get the `id` field from the request path parameter named `id`
userId: $request.path.id
# the path item of the linked operation
/users/{userid}/address:
parameters:
- name: userid
in: path
required: true
description: the user identifier, as userId
schema:
type: string
# linked operation
get:
operationId: getUserAddress
responses:
'200':
description: the user's address
When a runtime expression fails to evaluate, no parameter value is passed to the target operation.
Values from the response body can be used to drive a linked operation.
links:
address:
operationId: getUserAddressByUUID
parameters:
# get the `uuid` field from the `uuid` field in the response body
userUuid: $response.body#/uuid
Clients follow all links at their discretion.
Neither permissions, nor the capability to make a successful call to that link, is guaranteed
solely by the existence of a relationship.
OperationRef Examples
As references to operationId
MAY NOT be possible (the operationId
is an optional
field in an Operation Object), references MAY also be made through a relative operationRef
:
links:
UserRepositories:
# returns array of '#/components/schemas/repository'
operationRef: '#/paths/~12.0~1repositories~1{username}/get'
parameters:
username: $response.body#/username
or an absolute operationRef
:
links:
UserRepositories:
# returns array of '#/components/schemas/repository'
operationRef: 'https://na2.gigantic-server.com/#/paths/~12.0~1repositories~1{username}/get'
parameters:
username: $response.body#/username
Note that in the use of operationRef
, the escaped forward-slash is necessary when
using JSON references.
Runtime Expressions
Runtime expressions allow defining values based on information that will only be available within the HTTP message in an actual API call.
This mechanism is used by Link Objects and Callback Objects.
The runtime expression is defined by the following ABNF syntax
expression = ( "$url" / "$method" / "$statusCode" / "$request." source / "$response." source )
source = ( header-reference / query-reference / path-reference / body-reference )
header-reference = "header." token
query-reference = "query." name
path-reference = "path." name
body-reference = "body" ["#" json-pointer ]
json-pointer = *( "/" reference-token )
reference-token = *( unescaped / escaped )
unescaped = %x00-2E / %x30-7D / %x7F-10FFFF
; %x2F ('/') and %x7E ('~') are excluded from 'unescaped'
escaped = "~" ( "0" / "1" )
; representing '~' and '/', respectively
name = *( CHAR )
token = 1*tchar
tchar = "!" / "#" / "$" / "%" / "&" / "'" / "*" / "+" / "-" / "." /
"^" / "_" / "`" / "|" / "~" / DIGIT / ALPHA
Here, json-pointer
is taken from RFC 6901, char
from RFC 7159 and token
from RFC 7230.
The name
identifier is case-sensitive, whereas token
is not.
The table below provides examples of runtime expressions and examples of their use in a value:
Examples
Source Location |
example expression |
notes |
HTTP Method |
$method |
The allowable values for the $method will be those for the HTTP operation. |
Requested media type |
$request.header.accept |
|
Request parameter |
$request.path.id |
Request parameters MUST be declared in the parameters section of the parent operation or they cannot be evaluated. This includes request headers. |
Request body property |
$request.body#/user/uuid |
In operations which accept payloads, references may be made to portions of the requestBody or the entire body. |
Request URL |
$url |
|
Response value |
$response.body#/status |
In operations which return payloads, references may be made to portions of the response body or the entire body. |
Response header |
$response.header.Server |
Single header values only are available |
Runtime expressions preserve the type of the referenced value.
Expressions can be embedded into string values by surrounding the expression with {}
curly braces.
The Header Object follows the structure of the Parameter Object with the following changes:
name
MUST NOT be specified, it is given in the corresponding headers
map.
in
MUST NOT be specified, it is implicitly in header
.
- All traits that are affected by the location MUST be applicable to a location of
header
(for example, style
).
A simple header of type integer
:
{
"description": "The number of allowed requests in the current period",
"schema": {
"type": "integer"
}
}
description: The number of allowed requests in the current period
schema:
type: integer
Tag Object
Adds metadata to a single tag that is used by the Operation Object.
It is not mandatory to have a Tag Object per tag defined in the Operation Object instances.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
name |
string |
REQUIRED. The name of the tag. |
description |
string |
A short description for the tag. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
externalDocs |
External Documentation Object |
Additional external documentation for this tag. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Tag Object Example
{
"name": "pet",
"description": "Pets operations"
}
name: pet
description: Pets operations
Reference Object
A simple object to allow referencing other components in the specification, internally and externally.
The Reference Object is defined by JSON Reference and follows the same structure, behavior and rules.
For this specification, reference resolution is accomplished as defined by the JSON Reference specification and not by the JSON Schema specification.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
$ref |
string |
REQUIRED. The reference string. |
This object cannot be extended with additional properties and any properties added SHALL be ignored.
Reference Object Example
{
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
}
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
Relative Schema Document Example
{
"$ref": "Pet.json"
}
$ref: Pet.yaml
Relative Documents With Embedded Schema Example
{
"$ref": "definitions.json#/Pet"
}
$ref: definitions.yaml#/Pet
Schema Object
The Schema Object allows the definition of input and output data types.
These types can be objects, but also primitives and arrays.
This object is an extended subset of the JSON Schema Specification Wright Draft 00.
For more information about the properties, see JSON Schema Core and JSON Schema Validation.
Unless stated otherwise, the property definitions follow the JSON Schema.
Properties
The following properties are taken directly from the JSON Schema definition and follow the same specifications:
- title
- multipleOf
- maximum
- exclusiveMaximum
- minimum
- exclusiveMinimum
- maxLength
- minLength
- pattern (This string SHOULD be a valid regular expression, according to the Ecma-262 Edition 5.1 regular expression dialect)
- maxItems
- minItems
- uniqueItems
- maxProperties
- minProperties
- required
- enum
The following properties are taken from the JSON Schema definition but their definitions were adjusted to the OpenAPI Specification.
- type - Value MUST be a string. Multiple types via an array are not supported.
- allOf - Inline or referenced schema MUST be of a Schema Object and not a standard JSON Schema.
- oneOf - Inline or referenced schema MUST be of a Schema Object and not a standard JSON Schema.
- anyOf - Inline or referenced schema MUST be of a Schema Object and not a standard JSON Schema.
- not - Inline or referenced schema MUST be of a Schema Object and not a standard JSON Schema.
- items - Value MUST be an object and not an array. Inline or referenced schema MUST be of a Schema Object and not a standard JSON Schema.
items
MUST be present if the type
is array
.
- properties - Property definitions MUST be a Schema Object and not a standard JSON Schema (inline or referenced).
- additionalProperties - Value can be boolean or object. Inline or referenced schema MUST be of a Schema Object and not a standard JSON Schema. Consistent with JSON Schema,
additionalProperties
defaults to true
.
- description - CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
- format - See Data Type Formats for further details. While relying on JSON Schema's defined formats, the OAS offers a few additional predefined formats.
- default - The default value represents what would be assumed by the consumer of the input as the value of the schema if one is not provided. Unlike JSON Schema, the value MUST conform to the defined type for the Schema Object defined at the same level. For example, if
type
is string
, then default
can be "foo"
but cannot be 1
.
Alternatively, any time a Schema Object can be used, a Reference Object can be used in its place. This allows referencing definitions instead of defining them inline.
Additional properties defined by the JSON Schema specification that are not mentioned here are strictly unsupported.
Other than the JSON Schema subset fields, the following fields MAY be used for further schema documentation:
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
nullable |
boolean |
A true value adds "null" to the allowed type specified by the type keyword, only if type is explicitly defined within the same Schema Object. Other Schema Object constraints retain their defined behavior, and therefore may disallow the use of null as a value. A false value leaves the specified or default type unmodified. The default value is false . |
discriminator |
Discriminator Object |
Adds support for polymorphism. The discriminator is an object name that is used to differentiate between other schemas which may satisfy the payload description. See Composition and Inheritance for more details. |
readOnly |
boolean |
Relevant only for Schema "properties" definitions. Declares the property as "read only". This means that it MAY be sent as part of a response but SHOULD NOT be sent as part of the request. If the property is marked as readOnly being true and is in the required list, the required will take effect on the response only. A property MUST NOT be marked as both readOnly and writeOnly being true . Default value is false . |
writeOnly |
boolean |
Relevant only for Schema "properties" definitions. Declares the property as "write only". Therefore, it MAY be sent as part of a request but SHOULD NOT be sent as part of the response. If the property is marked as writeOnly being true and is in the required list, the required will take effect on the request only. A property MUST NOT be marked as both readOnly and writeOnly being true . Default value is false . |
xml |
XML Object |
This MAY be used only on properties schemas. It has no effect on root schemas. Adds additional metadata to describe the XML representation of this property. |
externalDocs |
External Documentation Object |
Additional external documentation for this schema. |
example |
Any |
A free-form property to include an example of an instance for this schema. To represent examples that cannot be naturally represented in JSON or YAML, a string value can be used to contain the example with escaping where necessary. |
deprecated |
boolean |
Specifies that a schema is deprecated and SHOULD be transitioned out of usage. Default value is false . |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Composition and Inheritance (Polymorphism)
The OpenAPI Specification allows combining and extending model definitions using the allOf
property of JSON Schema, in effect offering model composition.
allOf
takes an array of object definitions that are validated independently but together compose a single object.
While composition offers model extensibility, it does not imply a hierarchy between the models.
To support polymorphism, the OpenAPI Specification adds the discriminator
field.
When used, the discriminator
will be the name of the property that decides which schema definition validates the structure of the model.
As such, the discriminator
field MUST be a required field.
There are two ways to define the value of a discriminator for an inheriting instance.
- Use the schema name.
- Override the schema name by overriding the property with a new value. If a new value exists, this takes precedence over the schema name.
As such, inline schema definitions, which do not have a given id, cannot be used in polymorphism.
XML Modeling
The xml property allows extra definitions when translating the JSON definition to XML.
The XML Object contains additional information about the available options.
Schema Object Examples
Primitive Sample
{
"type": "string",
"format": "email"
}
type: string
format: email
Simple Model
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"name"
],
"properties": {
"name": {
"type": "string"
},
"address": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Address"
},
"age": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int32",
"minimum": 0
}
}
}
type: object
required:
- name
properties:
name:
type: string
address:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Address'
age:
type: integer
format: int32
minimum: 0
Model with Map/Dictionary Properties
For a simple string to string mapping:
{
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": {
"type": "string"
}
}
type: object
additionalProperties:
type: string
For a string to model mapping:
{
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/ComplexModel"
}
}
type: object
additionalProperties:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ComplexModel'
Model with Example
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int64"
},
"name": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"required": [
"name"
],
"example": {
"name": "Puma",
"id": 1
}
}
type: object
properties:
id:
type: integer
format: int64
name:
type: string
required:
- name
example:
name: Puma
id: 1
Models with Composition
{
"components": {
"schemas": {
"ErrorModel": {
"type": "object",
"required": [
"message",
"code"
],
"properties": {
"message": {
"type": "string"
},
"code": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 100,
"maximum": 600
}
}
},
"ExtendedErrorModel": {
"allOf": [
{
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorModel"
},
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"rootCause"
],
"properties": {
"rootCause": {
"type": "string"
}
}
}
]
}
}
}
}
components:
schemas:
ErrorModel:
type: object
required:
- message
- code
properties:
message:
type: string
code:
type: integer
minimum: 100
maximum: 600
ExtendedErrorModel:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorModel'
- type: object
required:
- rootCause
properties:
rootCause:
type: string
Models with Polymorphism Support
{
"components": {
"schemas": {
"Pet": {
"type": "object",
"discriminator": {
"propertyName": "petType"
},
"properties": {
"name": {
"type": "string"
},
"petType": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"required": [
"name",
"petType"
]
},
"Cat": {
"description": "A representation of a cat. Note that `Cat` will be used as the discriminator value.",
"allOf": [
{
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
},
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"huntingSkill": {
"type": "string",
"description": "The measured skill for hunting",
"default": "lazy",
"enum": [
"clueless",
"lazy",
"adventurous",
"aggressive"
]
}
},
"required": [
"huntingSkill"
]
}
]
},
"Dog": {
"description": "A representation of a dog. Note that `Dog` will be used as the discriminator value.",
"allOf": [
{
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
},
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"packSize": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int32",
"description": "the size of the pack the dog is from",
"default": 0,
"minimum": 0
}
},
"required": [
"packSize"
]
}
]
}
}
}
}
components:
schemas:
Pet:
type: object
discriminator:
propertyName: petType
properties:
name:
type: string
petType:
type: string
required:
- name
- petType
Cat: ## "Cat" will be used as the discriminator value
description: A representation of a cat
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
- type: object
properties:
huntingSkill:
type: string
description: The measured skill for hunting
enum:
- clueless
- lazy
- adventurous
- aggressive
required:
- huntingSkill
Dog: ## "Dog" will be used as the discriminator value
description: A representation of a dog
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
- type: object
properties:
packSize:
type: integer
format: int32
description: the size of the pack the dog is from
default: 0
minimum: 0
required:
- packSize
Discriminator Object
When request bodies or response payloads may be one of a number of different schemas, a discriminator
object can be used to aid in serialization, deserialization, and validation. The discriminator is a specific object in a schema which is used to inform the consumer of the specification of an alternative schema based on the value associated with it.
When using the discriminator, inline schemas will not be considered.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
propertyName |
string |
REQUIRED. The name of the property in the payload that will hold the discriminator value. |
mapping |
Map[string , string ] |
An object to hold mappings between payload values and schema names or references. |
The discriminator object is legal only when using one of the composite keywords oneOf
, anyOf
, allOf
.
In OAS 3.0, a response payload MAY be described to be exactly one of any number of types:
MyResponseType:
oneOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Cat'
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Lizard'
which means the payload MUST, by validation, match exactly one of the schemas described by Cat
, Dog
, or Lizard
. In this case, a discriminator MAY act as a "hint" to shortcut validation and selection of the matching schema which may be a costly operation, depending on the complexity of the schema. We can then describe exactly which field tells us which schema to use:
MyResponseType:
oneOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Cat'
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Lizard'
discriminator:
propertyName: petType
The expectation now is that a property with name petType
MUST be present in the response payload, and the value will correspond to the name of a schema defined in the OAS document. Thus the response payload:
{
"id": 12345,
"petType": "Cat"
}
Will indicate that the Cat
schema be used in conjunction with this payload.
In scenarios where the value of the discriminator field does not match the schema name or implicit mapping is not possible, an optional mapping
definition MAY be used:
MyResponseType:
oneOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Cat'
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Lizard'
- $ref: 'https://gigantic-server.com/schemas/Monster/schema.json'
discriminator:
propertyName: petType
mapping:
dog: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
monster: 'https://gigantic-server.com/schemas/Monster/schema.json'
Here the discriminator value of dog
will map to the schema #/components/schemas/Dog
, rather than the default (implicit) value of Dog
. If the discriminator value does not match an implicit or explicit mapping, no schema can be determined and validation SHOULD fail. Mapping keys MUST be string values, but tooling MAY convert response values to strings for comparison.
When used in conjunction with the anyOf
construct, the use of the discriminator can avoid ambiguity where multiple schemas may satisfy a single payload.
In both the oneOf
and anyOf
use cases, all possible schemas MUST be listed explicitly. To avoid redundancy, the discriminator MAY be added to a parent schema definition, and all schemas comprising the parent schema in an allOf
construct may be used as an alternate schema.
For example:
components:
schemas:
Pet:
type: object
required:
- petType
properties:
petType:
type: string
discriminator:
propertyName: petType
mapping:
dog: Dog
Cat:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
- type: object
# all other properties specific to a `Cat`
properties:
name:
type: string
Dog:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
- type: object
# all other properties specific to a `Dog`
properties:
bark:
type: string
Lizard:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
- type: object
# all other properties specific to a `Lizard`
properties:
lovesRocks:
type: boolean
a payload like this:
{
"petType": "Cat",
"name": "misty"
}
will indicate that the Cat
schema be used. Likewise this schema:
{
"petType": "dog",
"bark": "soft"
}
will map to Dog
because of the definition in the mappings
element.
XML Object
A metadata object that allows for more fine-tuned XML model definitions.
When using arrays, XML element names are not inferred (for singular/plural forms) and the name
property SHOULD be used to add that information.
See examples for expected behavior.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
name |
string |
Replaces the name of the element/attribute used for the described schema property. When defined within items , it will affect the name of the individual XML elements within the list. When defined alongside type being array (outside the items ), it will affect the wrapping element and only if wrapped is true . If wrapped is false , it will be ignored. |
namespace |
string |
The URI of the namespace definition. Value MUST be in the form of an absolute URI. |
prefix |
string |
The prefix to be used for the name. |
attribute |
boolean |
Declares whether the property definition translates to an attribute instead of an element. Default value is false . |
wrapped |
boolean |
MAY be used only for an array definition. Signifies whether the array is wrapped (for example, <books><book/><book/></books> ) or unwrapped (<book/><book/> ). Default value is false . The definition takes effect only when defined alongside type being array (outside the items ). |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
XML Object Examples
The examples of the XML object definitions are included inside a property definition of a Schema Object with a sample of the XML representation of it.
No XML Element
Basic string property:
{
"animals": {
"type": "string"
}
}
animals:
type: string
<animals>...</animals>
Basic string array property (wrapped
is false
by default):
{
"animals": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
}
}
animals:
type: array
items:
type: string
<animals>...</animals>
<animals>...</animals>
<animals>...</animals>
XML Name Replacement
{
"animals": {
"type": "string",
"xml": {
"name": "animal"
}
}
}
animals:
type: string
xml:
name: animal
<animal>...</animal>
XML Attribute, Prefix and Namespace
In this example, a full model definition is shown.
{
"Person": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "integer",
"format": "int32",
"xml": {
"attribute": true
}
},
"name": {
"type": "string",
"xml": {
"namespace": "http://example.com/schema/sample",
"prefix": "sample"
}
}
}
}
}
Person:
type: object
properties:
id:
type: integer
format: int32
xml:
attribute: true
name:
type: string
xml:
namespace: http://example.com/schema/sample
prefix: sample
<Person id="123">
<sample:name xmlns:sample="http://example.com/schema/sample">example</sample:name>
</Person>
XML Arrays
Changing the element names:
{
"animals": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string",
"xml": {
"name": "animal"
}
}
}
}
animals:
type: array
items:
type: string
xml:
name: animal
<animal>value</animal>
<animal>value</animal>
The external name
property has no effect on the XML:
{
"animals": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string",
"xml": {
"name": "animal"
}
},
"xml": {
"name": "aliens"
}
}
}
animals:
type: array
items:
type: string
xml:
name: animal
xml:
name: aliens
<animal>value</animal>
<animal>value</animal>
Even when the array is wrapped, if a name is not explicitly defined, the same name will be used both internally and externally:
{
"animals": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"xml": {
"wrapped": true
}
}
}
animals:
type: array
items:
type: string
xml:
wrapped: true
<animals>
<animals>value</animals>
<animals>value</animals>
</animals>
To overcome the naming problem in the example above, the following definition can be used:
{
"animals": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string",
"xml": {
"name": "animal"
}
},
"xml": {
"wrapped": true
}
}
}
animals:
type: array
items:
type: string
xml:
name: animal
xml:
wrapped: true
<animals>
<animal>value</animal>
<animal>value</animal>
</animals>
Affecting both internal and external names:
{
"animals": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string",
"xml": {
"name": "animal"
}
},
"xml": {
"name": "aliens",
"wrapped": true
}
}
}
animals:
type: array
items:
type: string
xml:
name: animal
xml:
name: aliens
wrapped: true
<aliens>
<animal>value</animal>
<animal>value</animal>
</aliens>
If we change the external element but not the internal ones:
{
"animals": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"xml": {
"name": "aliens",
"wrapped": true
}
}
}
animals:
type: array
items:
type: string
xml:
name: aliens
wrapped: true
<aliens>
<aliens>value</aliens>
<aliens>value</aliens>
</aliens>
Security Scheme Object
Defines a security scheme that can be used by the operations.
Supported schemes are HTTP authentication, an API key (either as a header, a cookie parameter or as a query parameter), OAuth2's common flows (implicit, password, client credentials and authorization code) as defined in RFC6749, and OpenID Connect Discovery.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Applies To |
Description |
type |
string |
Any |
REQUIRED. The type of the security scheme. Valid values are "apiKey" , "http" , "oauth2" , "openIdConnect" . |
description |
string |
Any |
A short description for security scheme. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. |
name |
string |
apiKey |
REQUIRED. The name of the header, query or cookie parameter to be used. |
in |
string |
apiKey |
REQUIRED. The location of the API key. Valid values are "query" , "header" or "cookie" . |
scheme |
string |
http |
REQUIRED. The name of the HTTP Authorization scheme to be used in the Authorization header as defined in RFC7235. The values used SHOULD be registered in the IANA Authentication Scheme registry. |
bearerFormat |
string |
http ("bearer" ) |
A hint to the client to identify how the bearer token is formatted. Bearer tokens are usually generated by an authorization server, so this information is primarily for documentation purposes. |
flows |
OAuth Flows Object |
oauth2 |
REQUIRED. An object containing configuration information for the flow types supported. |
openIdConnectUrl |
string |
openIdConnect |
REQUIRED. OpenId Connect URL to discover OAuth2 configuration values. This MUST be in the form of a URL. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
Security Scheme Object Example
Basic Authentication Sample
{
"type": "http",
"scheme": "basic"
}
type: http
scheme: basic
API Key Sample
{
"type": "apiKey",
"name": "api_key",
"in": "header"
}
type: apiKey
name: api_key
in: header
JWT Bearer Sample
{
"type": "http",
"scheme": "bearer",
"bearerFormat": "JWT",
}
type: http
scheme: bearer
bearerFormat: JWT
Implicit OAuth2 Sample
{
"type": "oauth2",
"flows": {
"implicit": {
"authorizationUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog",
"scopes": {
"write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
"read:pets": "read your pets"
}
}
}
}
type: oauth2
flows:
implicit:
authorizationUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog
scopes:
write:pets: modify pets in your account
read:pets: read your pets
OAuth Flows Object
Allows configuration of the supported OAuth Flows.
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Description |
implicit |
OAuth Flow Object |
Configuration for the OAuth Implicit flow |
password |
OAuth Flow Object |
Configuration for the OAuth Resource Owner Password flow |
clientCredentials |
OAuth Flow Object |
Configuration for the OAuth Client Credentials flow. Previously called application in OpenAPI 2.0. |
authorizationCode |
OAuth Flow Object |
Configuration for the OAuth Authorization Code flow. Previously called accessCode in OpenAPI 2.0. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
OAuth Flow Object
Configuration details for a supported OAuth Flow
Fixed Fields
Field Name |
Type |
Applies To |
Description |
authorizationUrl |
string |
oauth2 ("implicit" , "authorizationCode" ) |
REQUIRED. The authorization URL to be used for this flow. This MUST be in the form of a URL. |
tokenUrl |
string |
oauth2 ("password" , "clientCredentials" , "authorizationCode" ) |
REQUIRED. The token URL to be used for this flow. This MUST be in the form of a URL. |
refreshUrl |
string |
oauth2 |
The URL to be used for obtaining refresh tokens. This MUST be in the form of a URL. |
scopes |
Map[string , string ] |
oauth2 |
REQUIRED. The available scopes for the OAuth2 security scheme. A map between the scope name and a short description for it. The map MAY be empty. |
This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.
OAuth Flow Object Examples
{
"type": "oauth2",
"flows": {
"implicit": {
"authorizationUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog",
"scopes": {
"write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
"read:pets": "read your pets"
}
},
"authorizationCode": {
"authorizationUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog",
"tokenUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/token",
"scopes": {
"write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
"read:pets": "read your pets"
}
}
}
}
type: oauth2
flows:
implicit:
authorizationUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog
scopes:
write:pets: modify pets in your account
read:pets: read your pets
authorizationCode:
authorizationUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog
tokenUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/token
scopes:
write:pets: modify pets in your account
read:pets: read your pets
Security Requirement Object
Lists the required security schemes to execute this operation.
The name used for each property MUST correspond to a security scheme declared in the Security Schemes under the Components Object.
Security Requirement Objects that contain multiple schemes require that all schemes MUST be satisfied for a request to be authorized.
This enables support for scenarios where multiple query parameters or HTTP headers are required to convey security information.
When a list of Security Requirement Objects is defined on the OpenAPI Object or Operation Object, only one of the Security Requirement Objects in the list needs to be satisfied to authorize the request.
Patterned Fields
Field Pattern |
Type |
Description |
{name} |
[string ] |
Each name MUST correspond to a security scheme which is declared in the Security Schemes under the Components Object. If the security scheme is of type "oauth2" or "openIdConnect" , then the value is a list of scope names required for the execution, and the list MAY be empty if authorization does not require a specified scope. For other security scheme types, the array MUST be empty. |
Security Requirement Object Examples
Non-OAuth2 Security Requirement
{
"api_key": []
}
api_key: []
OAuth2 Security Requirement
{
"petstore_auth": [
"write:pets",
"read:pets"
]
}
petstore_auth:
- write:pets
- read:pets
Optional OAuth2 Security
Optional OAuth2 security as would be defined in an OpenAPI Object or an Operation Object:
{
"security": [
{},
{
"petstore_auth": [
"write:pets",
"read:pets"
]
}
]
}
security:
- {}
- petstore_auth:
- write:pets
- read:pets
Specification Extensions
While the OpenAPI Specification tries to accommodate most use cases, additional data can be added to extend the specification at certain points.
The extensions properties are implemented as patterned fields that are always prefixed by "x-"
.
Field Pattern |
Type |
Description |
^x- |
Any |
Allows extensions to the OpenAPI Schema. The field name MUST begin with x- , for example, x-internal-id . The value can be null , a primitive, an array or an object. Can have any valid JSON format value. |
The extensions may or may not be supported by the available tooling, but those may be extended as well to add requested support (if tools are internal or open-sourced).
Security Filtering
Some objects in the OpenAPI Specification MAY be declared and remain empty, or be completely removed, even though they are inherently the core of the API documentation.
The reasoning is to allow an additional layer of access control over the documentation.
While not part of the specification itself, certain libraries MAY choose to allow access to parts of the documentation based on some form of authentication/authorization.
Two examples of this:
- The Paths Object MAY be empty. It may be counterintuitive, but this may tell the viewer that they got to the right place, but can't access any documentation. They'd still have access to the Info Object which may contain additional information regarding authentication.
- The Path Item Object MAY be empty. In this case, the viewer will be aware that the path exists, but will not be able to see any of its operations or parameters. This is different from hiding the path itself from the Paths Object, because the user will be aware of its existence. This allows the documentation provider to finely control what the viewer can see.
Appendix A: Revision History
Version |
Date |
Notes |
3.0.3 |
2020-02-20 |
Patch release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.3 |
3.0.2 |
2018-10-08 |
Patch release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.2 |
3.0.1 |
2017-12-06 |
Patch release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.1 |
3.0.0 |
2017-07-26 |
Release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.0 |
3.0.0-rc2 |
2017-06-16 |
rc2 of the 3.0 specification |
3.0.0-rc1 |
2017-04-27 |
rc1 of the 3.0 specification |
3.0.0-rc0 |
2017-02-28 |
Implementer's Draft of the 3.0 specification |
2.0 |
2015-12-31 |
Donation of Swagger 2.0 to the OpenAPI Initiative |
2.0 |
2014-09-08 |
Release of Swagger 2.0 |
1.2 |
2014-03-14 |
Initial release of the formal document. |
1.1 |
2012-08-22 |
Release of Swagger 1.1 |
1.0 |
2011-08-10 |
First release of the Swagger Specification |