Forum Discussion

David_Bond's avatar
David_Bond
Icon for Professor rankProfessor
21 days ago
Solved

API v4

As per the REST API Change Log, API V4 exists and is REALLY powerful and efficient. We make a lot of heavy requests to the LogicMonitor API and want us (and the poor LogicMonitor servers) to benefi...
  • Sarah_Terry's avatar
    Sarah_Terry
    13 days ago

    befuddled​ As Jake mentioned, APIv4 was designed solely to support UIv4. The format is unfortunately not intended for end user consumption. This & the flexibility allotted to our developers in having it solely support the UI (vs also being relied on by end users) is why it's not been published.

    That being said, we are absolutely committed to exposing new innovation via API, and are working towards an API first strategy with all new features to facilitate this. The API version we publish for new features will be APIv3, however. 

    David_Bond​ the specific examples are super helpful. We are actively working on publishing the usage page API (into the v3 version), and we can take a look at the query efficiency in v3 vs v4 to see what might be able to be done to make querying more efficient for end users using the API. If your use case is trying to get bulk data out of LM, we also have a data publisher feature that may be worth a separate discussion, as it is much more scalable than the API. 

jake_nahm's avatar
jake_nahm
Icon for Product Manager rankProduct Manager
16 days ago

Hi David_Bond​ ,

A few points to emphasize. The reasons APIv4 is unsupported are because:

  • APIv4 was built solely to power UIv4 -- so its not intended to be consumed / used by an end user
  • APIv4 is likely to change from release to release
  • LogicMonitor has invested significantly in APIv3 to ensure this is the version optimal for end user use

Would you be able to elaborate on what you're able to accomplish on API v4, as it relates to efficiency and other gains? Happy to hop on a call to discuss further.

David_Bond's avatar
David_Bond
Icon for Professor rankProfessor
14 days ago

Multiple reasons for wanting APIv4 access, but I'll set out a few:

  • Query efficiency: The HUGE power of LogicMonitor as a monitoring platform is it's API.  It makes it ideally suited for MSP automation.  If we can efficiently configure LogicMonitor, we can add LOTS of resources very quickly and efficiently (e.g. when migrating customers from SolarWinds).  Further, we can get the monitored data back out very efficiently, setting effective filters is essential for query performance.  Querying the list of instances is currently VERY slow because we have to do tree walking, for example.  We can see (in Browser tools) that APIv4 is a MUCH more query-oriented approach - highly commendable, but MSPs and system integrators such as ourselves ALSO want this power!
  • APIv4-exclusive endpoints: We can see that the Usage data is APIv4 only.  In APIv3, for the longest time, endpoints being undocumented didn't matter, as we could easily reverse engineer.  As yes, the undocumented endpoints would change, and yes, we had to adapt/cope with that change!  We have been doing so for 15 years, the result of which is that many large MSPs are now highly automated and integrated.  Frankly, this makes LogicMonitor much "stickier" and reduces churn.  Now it seems, the only way to report on usage data in external tools is to (gulp) screenshot LogicMonitor(!)
  • Innovation: Advances in the API encourages innovation from technology ecosystem partners such as ourselves.  This is NOT how Apple writes apps.  They publish the API and the result is a highly profitable Apple app marketplace.  By hiding APIv4 away exclusively for LogicMonitor-internal use, this innovation around LogicMonitor is neutered.

 

So what's the IMMEDIATE need for us?  Well serveral of our MSP customers want branded customer-facing reports on data now only available behind APIv4.  Let's take Account Usage as the simple example.  Please either a) let us know how to access that via APIv3 or b) open up APIv4!

  • jake_nahm's avatar
    jake_nahm
    Icon for Product Manager rankProduct Manager
    14 days ago

    Hi David.

    We appreciate the positive sentiment toward LogicMonitor and our APIs. We are planning to support API v3 endpoint access for usage related data, which is on our roadmap. 

    As stated earlier, and our focus remains in investing into API v3 as our flagship API. 

    • befuddled's avatar
      befuddled
      Icon for Neophyte rankNeophyte
      14 days ago

      Jake,
      That is a typical LogicMonitor response.

      It comes across as "We value your call. Please continue to hold". 

      It doesn't address any of David's completely valid points, which I couldn't agree more with. The query inefficiency in API v3 is a major roadblock for my company, along with the inability to reverse engineer in the new UI. 

      ..and to quote Mr. Bond "By hiding APIv4 away exclusively for LogicMonitor-internal use, this innovation around LogicMonitor is neutered."

      This, along with a few other things, is why I have stopped recommending LogicMonitor as a solution for MSPs.

      • Sarah_Terry's avatar
        Sarah_Terry
        Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
        13 days ago

        befuddled​ As Jake mentioned, APIv4 was designed solely to support UIv4. The format is unfortunately not intended for end user consumption. This & the flexibility allotted to our developers in having it solely support the UI (vs also being relied on by end users) is why it's not been published.

        That being said, we are absolutely committed to exposing new innovation via API, and are working towards an API first strategy with all new features to facilitate this. The API version we publish for new features will be APIv3, however. 

        David_Bond​ the specific examples are super helpful. We are actively working on publishing the usage page API (into the v3 version), and we can take a look at the query efficiency in v3 vs v4 to see what might be able to be done to make querying more efficient for end users using the API. If your use case is trying to get bulk data out of LM, we also have a data publisher feature that may be worth a separate discussion, as it is much more scalable than the API.