---
title: "API"
description: "An API - Application Programming Interface - is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other."
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    url: "https://motherduck.com/docs/getting-started/interfaces/"
  - title: "Analyze JSON Data Using SQL and DuckDB"
    url: "https://motherduck.com/blog/analyze-json-data-using-sql/"
  - title: "OpenAI + MotherDuck Integration | DuckDB Analytics"
    url: "https://motherduck.com/ecosystem/openai/"
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---

# API

> An API - Application Programming Interface - is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other.

An API - Application Programming Interface - is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. Think of it as a bridge between different software systems, enabling them to share data and functionality in a standardized way. For example, if you're using a weather app on your phone, that app might use an API to request the current weather data from a weather service's database. The API defines how the request should be made and what kind of response to expect, ensuring smooth and reliable communication between the app and the weather service.