# Overview of REST API

The Symphony Messaging REST API acts as a secure interface between your Symphony Messaging Bot and Symphony Messaging's components. Symphony's architecture for bots comprises three components: the **Symphony Messaging Pod**, the **API Agent** and the **Key Manager**.

The Symphony Messaging REST API is spread out across these components according to the type of API being called.

{% hint style="info" %}
While Bots can call the Symphony Messaging API directly, Symphony Messaging's dedicated BDK and WDK toolkits provide language-specific API bindings that enable bot developers to easily call the API directly from code:

* The [Java Bot Developer Kit](/dev-tools/bdk-java.md) (Java BDK)
* The [Python Bot Developer Kit](/dev-tools/bdk-python.md) (Python BDK)
  {% endhint %}

## API Swagger files

The API Swagger files are available [here](https://github.com/finos/symphony-api-spec#symphony-api-spec). 

There is one sub-folder per API collection, and each API collection is split in two swagger files: one for the supported endpoints and a second one listing only the deprecated endpoints (e.g. `/pod/pod-api-public-deprecated.yaml`).

Depending on your pod or agent version, a newly introduced endpoint may not yet be available to you. You can spot these new endpoints as they are tagged with the `x-since` attribute. For example, an endpoint flagged as `x-since: 20.15` will not be present if you are still on SBE 20.14.

## REST API Architecture

To learn more about how bots securely interact with Symphony Messaging's three components, continue onto the REST API Architecture guide below:

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MB57TCGkDVXTc68Oj2k" %}
[REST API Architecture](/bots/overview-of-rest-api/rest-api-architecture.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## Pod API

To learn more about how bots can make authentication and administrative calls such as manage streams, manage users or facilitate cross-pod connections, continue onto the Pod API guide below:

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MBu9f2kuxEjywSnzAc5" %}
[Overview of Pod API](/bots/overview-of-rest-api/pod-api.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## Key Manager API

To learn more about how bots can authenticate and encrypt messages on Symphony Messaging, continue onto the Key Manager API guide below:

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MBu9f2lUsN8ermIS7Dl" %}
[Overview of Key Manager API](/bots/overview-of-rest-api/key-manager-api.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## Agent API

To learn more about how bots can send and receive encrypted messages on Symphony Messaging, continue onto the Agent API guide below:

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MBu9f2mfWwwGVgVmBqM" %}
[Overview of Agent API](/bots/overview-of-rest-api/agent-api.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## REST API Reference

For the full Symphony Messaging API reference continue here:

{% content-ref url="/pages/-MMvdntu\_i3qLFfvCqvN" %}
[Broken mention](broken://pages/-MMvdntu_i3qLFfvCqvN)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.developers.symphony.com/bots/overview-of-rest-api.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.