Bugzilla:BzAPI

These pages document the tip of the HTTP REST API for Bugzilla proxy software ("BzAPI"). Please file bugs (in either code or documentation) in the BzAPI component in bugzilla.mozilla.org.

This page contains general information and preliminaries. Read it first. Then, you can find more detailed information:

• API Methods
  • Parameters for the Search method
• Objects sent and received
  • The Configuration object
• Tips, tricks and code samples

Versions

Older pages in this wiki document released versions of BzAPI.

Version 0.1 (4th October 2009)

• Bugzilla:REST_API
• Bugzilla:REST_API:Objects
• Bugzilla:REST_API:Search

Version 0.2 (11th November 2009)

• Bugzilla:REST_API
• Bugzilla:REST_API:Objects
• Bugzilla:REST_API:Objects:Configuration
• Bugzilla:REST_API:Search

Version 0.3 (24th November 2009)

• Overview and API methods
  • Parameters for the Search method
• Objects sent and received
  • The Configuration object
• Tips, tricks and code samples

Version 0.4 (16th December 2009)

• Overview
• API Methods
  • Parameters for the Search method
• Objects sent and received
  • The Configuration object
• Tips, tricks and code samples

Servers

Installations of the API are available pointed at two Bugzilla servers - the main Mozilla one and the testing server. You can also use a specific version of the API, or just "the latest stable version".

Main Mozilla server (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/):

https://api-dev.bugzilla.mozilla.org/0.5/
https://api-dev.bugzilla.mozilla.org/latest/

Staging server (https://bugzilla-stage-tip.mozilla.org/):

https://api-dev.bugzilla.mozilla.org/stage/0.5/
https://api-dev.bugzilla.mozilla.org/stage/latest/

If you want to always use the same version, use URLs with a version number in. However, old ones are not guaranteed to persist. If you want to live on the (stable) edge, use URLs with "latest" in.

Authors of API-using tools are strongly encouraged to join the mozilla.tools mailing list to be kept up to date on changes and new releases.

Browsing the API

If the Accept: header of a request is set to text/html (as it is by an ordinary web browser) then the API will return YAML-HTML, which the browser can display. In other words, you can play with the API using just your browser and see results in a human-readable form. Here is an example. This is a good way to try out the various GET calls, even if you can't use it for POST or PUT. For that, the Firefox "RESTClient" addon is very useful.

Authentication

The API and the proxy support anonymous access as much as the target Bugzilla does. If you want to authenticate, pass:

username=fred@bedrock.com&password=ilovewilma

as query parameters on any request. The above-mentioned instance of the API is available over HTTPS and accesses bugzilla.mozilla.org over HTTPS. The cert is from GeoTrust's Equifax root, which should be trusted by all current browsers.

Data Formats

On every request, you must set both the "Accept" and "Content-Type" HTTP headers to the MIME type of the data format you are using to communicate with the API. Content-Type tells the API how to interpret your request, and Accept tells it how you want your data back.

Currently, the API has only been tested with JSON (MIME type: "application/json") and JSONP (MIME type: "application/javascript" - add a "callback" parameter to name your callback). However, it's also possible to use application/xml. Feel free to see what you get back, and then try feeding it back in again. But be aware that the XML output format is very much not frozen, and may change at any time.

Errors

If methods are not successful for whatever reason, they will return an Error. You should test every API return to see if it is an error ("error" member set to a true value).

The "code" field on an Error, if present, will give an error code from this list. The other member variables of the object are not stable, and should not be relied upon. The html_page, in particular, is only there so you can read it manually for a better idea of what the error was, and ask for the API to support it properly.

Your Own Installation

If you want to install the API proxy on your own machine for your own Bugzilla, you will need:

• the latest stable 3.4.x release of Bugzilla (many features will not work on 3.2); and
• to be using UTF-8 (this is the default on new installations).

Then, install a copy of the API software - it does not have to be on the same machine. See the INSTALL file in the repository for some installation hints; feel free to send me tips from your experience.

You can get the code from the Mozilla Mercurial (hg) repository:

hg clone http://hg.mozilla.org/webtools/bzapi bzapi

Patches

Even on top of the latest stable release of Bugzilla 3.4, you will need to apply a few further patches. (Unfortunately, it was not possible to support all the necessary functionality without some changes to Bugzilla itself, which were considered either unnecessary or too intrusive for a stable release series.)

• Make legacy XML interface supply more data (flags, etc.) - for 3.4 stable you'll need patch version 8a.
• JSON template for config.cgi (note: you'll need the original patch and then the updated config.json.tmpl)