The Radix Node software exposes two Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): the Core API and the System API; while the Network Gateway software exposes the Gateway API.
All Radix APIs are documented in accordance with the Open API specification.
Radix Node Software APIs
The RadixNode provides their node-runner access to the Core API and the System API.
The Core API is primarily designed for network integrations such as exchanges, ledger analytics providers, or hosted ledger data dashboards where detailed ledger data is required and the integrator can be expected to run their own full node. The Core API is NOT intended to be available on the public web. It is mainly designed to be accessed in a private network for integration use.
The System API provides node-runners detailed information about the state of their node.
For more detail on Node APIs see Radix Tech Docs.
Network Gateway Software APIs
Whereas the Core API provides low-level transaction-by-transaction level data, the Gateway API is designed for public access by individual user clients such as wallets and dashboards to view specific things about the state of the ledger or to submit transactions.
The Network Gateway is designed to be a scalable way of querying and interacting with the Radix Public Network. It provides builders a highly familiar set of tools, in the form of a PostgreSQL database, in which they can configure their implementation of the Gateway API to provide any endpoint they so desire.
For more detail on the Gateway API see Radix Tech Docs.
Foundation-run Gateway Service
The Foundation-run Gateway Service is the Radix Foundation’s implementation of the Network Gateway. It is what allows the Radix Wallet to query the state of the Radix Ledger (e.g. display account balances) and submit transactions to the Radix Public Network. This Gateway Service also serves the Radix Dashboard.
Third parties may connect directly to the Foundation-run Gateway Service, although this service is rate-limited. Because the Gateway Service must be available for the world at large, this protection limits the amount of demand a single person or application can place on it. We do not recommend third parties who might expect significant demand to use the Foundation-run Gateway Service. Instead, those third parties should configure their own implementation of a Radix Node and Network Gateway for their own use.
Further reading: