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What are REST APIs for Reporting Services?

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Applies to:  SQL Server Reporting Services (2017 and later) ❌ Power BI Report Server

Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Reporting Services supports Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs. REST APIs are service endpoints that support a set of HTTP operations (methods). These methods provide create, retrieve, update, or delete access for resources within a report server.

A REST API provides programmatic access to the objects in a SQL Server 2017 Reporting Services report server catalog. The following are examples of objects:

  • Folders
  • Reports
  • KPIs
  • Data sources
  • Datasets
  • Refresh plans
  • Subscriptions

When you use a REST API, you can navigate the folder hierarchy, discover the contents of a folder, or download a report definition. You can also create, update, and delete objects.

Note

If you're interested in viewing or deleting personal data, please review Microsoft's guidance in the Windows Data Subject Requests for the GDPR site. If you're looking for general information about GDPR, see the GDPR section of the Service Trust portal.

Components of a REST API request/response

A REST API request/response pair can be separated into five components:

  • The request URI:

    • Although the request URI is included in the request message header, most languages or frameworks require you to pass it separately from the request message.
    • Consists of {URI-scheme} :// {URI-host} / {resource-path} ? {query-string}.
    Request URI Description
    URI scheme Indicates the protocol used to transmit the request. For example, http or https.
    URI host Specifies the domain name or IP address of the server where the REST service endpoint is hosted, such as myserver.contoso.com.
    Resource path Specifies the resource or resource collection, which might include multiple segments used by the service in determining the selection of those resources. For example, you can use CatalogItems(01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef)/Properties to get the specified properties for the CatalogItem.
    Query string (optional) Provides more simple parameters, such as the API version or resource selection criteria.

  • HTTP request message header fields:

    • A required HTTP method, also known as an operation or verb.
    • Tells the service what type of operation you're requesting. Reporting Services REST APIs support DELETE, GET, HEAD, PUT, POST, and PATCH methods.
    • Optional extra header fields, as required by the specified URI and HTTP method.

  • Optional HTTP request message body fields:

    • Supports the URI and HTTP operation. For example, POST operations contain Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) encoded objects that are passed as complex parameters.
    • For POST or PUT operations, the MIME-encoding type for the body should be specified in the Content-type request header as well. Some services require you to use a specific MIME type, such as application/json.

  • HTTP response message header fields:

    • An HTTP status code, ranging from 2xx success codes to 4xx or 5xx error codes. Alternatively, a service-defined status code might be returned, as indicated in the API documentation.
    • Optional extra header fields, as required to support the request's response, such as a Content-type response header.

  • Optional HTTP response message body fields:

    • MIME-encoded response objects are returned in the HTTP response body, such as a response from a GET method that is returning data. Typically, these objects are returned in a structured format such as JSON or XML, as indicated by the Content-type response header.

API documentation

A modern REST API calls for modern API documentation. A REST API is built on the OpenAPI specification, which is also called the swagger specification. Power BI Report Server REST API documentation is available on Microsoft Learn.

Test API calls

If you need a tool for testing HTTP request/response messages, Fiddler is a free web debugging proxy that can intercept your REST requests, making it easy to diagnose the HTTP request/response messages.

Related content

More questions? Try asking the Reporting Services forum