This article provides an overview of the ParishSOFT Family Suite API, including what it is, how it works at a high level, where to find documentation, and how API access is authenticated. It is intended for developers or technical partners working with ParishSOFT data. 

What Is an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. APIs are used by software developers to build applications that interact with other systems. APIs can exist in several forms, such as:

• Dynamic link libraries (DLLs)
• JavaScript
• Web services

Family Suite API Overview

The Family Suite API is a REST Web API that allows customers to perform pre‑defined operations against their ParishSOFT Family Suite data.

REST (Representational State Transfer) means the API:

• Uses standard HTTP methods
• Accepts parameters via:
  • URL‑encoded values, or
  • JSON or XML payloads

Supported HTTP Methods

The Family Suite API uses standard HTTP verbs to perform actions:

• POST – Creates or saves data, or performs complex operations
• GET – Retrieves data
• PUT – Updates or replaces data
• PATCH – Modifies existing data
• DELETE – Deletes data

API Documentation

Full API documentation is available through the Swagger interface. The documentation is organized by Domain, which represents a category of data, such as:

• Families
• Organizations

Under each domain, you can view the available operations, for example:

• Get Families
• Get Family Groups
• Get Organizations

Note: Click the down carrot to expand each HTTP Verb to explore the values and data structure for each request.

To explore request values and data structures, expand each HTTP method in Swagger.

Authentication and API Access

Before retrieving data from the API, you must authenticate.

• The Token/Authenticate endpoint must be called first
• Authentication requires an API key provided by ParishSOFT
• A successful authentication request returns a JWT (JSON Web Token)
• The JWT is required for all subsequent API calls

Testing API Endpoints

For testing API calls, the article recommends using Postman.

The authentication request includes:

• An HTTP POST request
• The Token/Authenticate endpoint URL
• A Content-Type header set to application/json
• The API key is included in the request body

A successful response returns a 200 OK status code along with the JWT for future requests.

1. Click the + in the tab region of Postman
   
2. Change the request type to POST
3. Enter the URL https://fsapi.parishsoft.app/api/Token/Authenticate
4. Click the Headers tab and add a KEY value of Content-Type and a VALUE of application/json
5. Click the Body tab
6. Under Body tab ensure the raw and JSON options are selected
7. Add API key to the text area below as shown here
8. Click the Send button
9. The API should return a 200 OK response with a JWT (Javascript Web Token). This value will be required for subsequent calls to the API.