Ambassador Blackbird Quick Start

Blackbird helps you accelerate your API development lifecycle by reducing the margin for errors and risk, improving consistency and reusability, decreasing time-to-market, and driving positive business outcomes.

Use Blackbird to quickly create dynamic or static mocks based on an OpenAPI specification, enabling you to get started on front-end development faster. You can also to generate boilerplate code, allowing you to focus more on developing the business logic rather than setting up repetitive code. Test and debug your code locally with Blackbird, or use its ephemeral environments to share your work and collaborate seamlessly with your team.

Use this page to set up your account, optionally download the command line interface (CLI), add an API, and create a mock.

If you have any questions about getting started, contact our Support team.

Before you begin

Before you get started with Blackbird, you need to create an account. If you prefer to work directly from a CLI, you can also download the CLI.

Note: Blackbird offers several features that are only available using the Blackbird UI, including creating an API using AI and choosing a third-party API.

Create an account

Create an account using the Blackbird UI by signing in to your Google, GitHub, or Microsoft email address.

Download the CLI and log in (optional)

If you prefer to work directly in a CLI, download it and then log in.

After you download the CLI, run the following command in your terminal to open a browser tab you can use to log in.

Add an API

To get started with Blackbird, upload your own OpenAPI specification, create one using AI, or choose a third-party API from our library of popular services.

Upload your own API

Note: You can also use the CLI to upload your own API with Blackbird. For more information, see API Design Generation with Blackbird.

1. Open the Blackbird UI.
2. In the left pane, choose Dashboard and then the Add API button.
3. Choose the Upload API tile.
4. On the Upload API page, either drag-and-drop your API file into the section or click the section to open a file explorer. Supported OpenAPI versions include 2.0 - 3.1, and supported file types include .yaml, .yml, and .json.
5. On the Review Specification page, review and edit the basic API details and use the Mock Instance toggle to choose whether you want to automatically create a mock instance of your API. If you don't want to create a mock now, you can create a mock later after you finish creating your API.
6. When you're ready, choose the Create API button.

Create an API using AI

1. Open the Blackbird UI.
2. In the left pane, choose Dashboard and then the Add API button.
3. Choose the Create API tile.
4. On the Create API page, type a prompt with information about the API you want to create. For example, you could provide the following prompt for a payment processing API: I want to create a new API for processing payments. Use OpenAPI 3.0.1. The service should have paths and operations related to accepting user payment requests, processing payments, and handling payment errors.
5. Review the content of the API, and use prompts in the chatbot to make changes.
6. When you’re ready, choose the Accept button to review and edit the API details.
7. On the Review Specification page, review and edit the basic API details and use the Mock Instance toggle to choose whether you want to automatically create a mock instance of your API. If you don't want to create a mock now, you can create a mock later after you finish creating your API.
8. When you're ready, choose the Create API button.

Choose a third-party API

To choose a third-party API:

1. Open the Blackbird UI.
2. In the left pane, choose Dashboard and then the Add API button.
3. Choose the Third Party API tile.
4. On the Choose Specification page, select an API from the External Service drop-down menu. For example, use OpenAPI, Zoom API, or Google Analytics API.
5. Choose the Accept button to review and edit the API details.
6. On the Review Specification page, review and edit the basic API details and use the Mock Instance toggle to choose whether you want to automatically create a mock instance of your API. If you don't want to create a mock now, you can create a mock later after you finish creating your API.
7. When you're ready, choose the Create API button.

Create a mock

If you didn't create a mock automatically while adding an API, you can now create a mock to start testing your API.

Note: You can also use the CLI to create a mock with Blackbird. For more information, see Creating Mock Instances with Blackbird.

1. Open the Blackbird UI.
2. In the left pane, choose APIs under Catalog.
3. In the tile of the API for which you want to create a mock, choose the Create Mock button.
4. In the modal, provide a custom name or use the pre-populated name, and then choose the Create button.

After you have a mock, you can send requests to the mock to test the behavior.