Creating API Connections | Vendia

Creating API Connections

This guide walks you through creating API Connections in Vendia MCP Gateway to enable AI applications to discover and interact with your APIs.

Prerequisites

Before creating an API Connection, ensure you have:

Step 1: Prepare Your API Specification

Supported Formats

API Connections support the following specification formats:

File Size Limits

Optimize Your Specification

If your specification exceeds these limits:

  1. Split Large Specifications: Divide your API into multiple smaller connections
  2. Remove Unnecessary Content: Strip out verbose descriptions, examples, and documentation that aren’t essential
  3. Focus on Core Endpoints: Create connections for your most critical API operations

Step 2: Access the Vendia Console

  1. Log in to the Vendia console
  2. Navigate to your MCP Server dashboard
  3. Select API Connections from the navigation menu

Step 3: Create a New API Connection

  1. Click the Add API Connection button
  2. Provide a name for your catalog (this will be visible to AI applications)
  3. Add an optional description to help identify the catalog’s purpose

Step 4: Upload Your Specification

  1. Click Choose File or drag and drop your specification file
  2. Supported formats: .json, .yaml, .yml
  3. Wait for the file to upload and validate

Step 5: Configure API Settings

Base URL (Optional)

If your API’s base URL differs from the one in your specification:

  1. Enter the Base URL Override field
  2. Example: https://api.example.com/v1

This is useful when:

Version (Optional)

If your API’s version differs from the one in your specification:

  1. Enter the Version Override field using numeric semantic versioning format
  2. Example: 1.0.0, 2.1.3, 3.0.0

Only numeric versions are supported: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 1.0.0). Pre-release labels like -beta or -alpha are not supported.

Step 6: Add Authentication (Optional)

If your API requires authentication, you can add custom headers:

Adding Headers

  1. Click Add Header
  2. Enter the Header Name (e.g., Authorization, X-API-Key)
  3. Enter the Header Value (e.g., Bearer YOUR_TOKEN, your API key)

Common Authentication Patterns

API Key in Header:

Header Name: X-API-Key

Header Value: your-api-key-here

Bearer Token:

Header Name: Authorization

Header Value: Bearer your-token-here

Basic Auth:

Header Name: Authorization

Header Value: Basic base64-encoded-credentials

Security Best Practices

Step 7: Save the Catalog

  1. Click Upload API Specification to create the API Connection
  2. The catalog is automatically enabled when saved
  3. AI applications can now discover and interact with your API
  4. You can disable the catalog later by toggling the Enable switch to temporarily restrict access

Verifying Your API Connection

After saving the catalog:

  1. Check the Status: Ensure the catalog shows as “Active” or “Enabled”
  2. Review Operations: Verify that the expected API operations are listed
  3. Test with AI: Connect an AI application and ask it to describe the available endpoints
  4. Verify Authentication: If using authentication, test that API calls succeed

Free Tier Catalog Limits

The Free Tier supports up to 2 API Connections with 25 operations per catalog. To use more connections or operations, upgrade to Vendia Pro or Enterprise.

Troubleshooting

Specification Upload Fails

Problem: The specification file won’t upload or shows validation errors.

Solutions:

Authentication Not Working

Problem: API calls fail with authentication errors.

Solutions:

Catalog Not Visible to AI

Problem: AI application can’t see or access the catalog.

Solutions:

Next Steps