All About Our New & Improved GOLDAccount Center API Documentation

We’ve recently made some changes to our documentation for the GOLDAccount Center APIs. These APIs allow your institution’s website or mobile app to communicate with GAC, and we’ve updated the format of the documentation to make it more consistent and easier to use. In this article, I’ll walk you through some of the most important modifications in the documentation.

First things first: You can find the GAC API documentation in the Help Center by going to Resources in the main menu and choosing API Documentation. From there, click the GOLDAccount Center tile.

Where to find GAC API documentation in the Help Center

Web-Based Documents

Previously, our documentation for the GOLDAccount Center APIs was kept in a PDF document, which readers (that’s you) had to download to their own computer to read. The new version of the documentation is web-based and hosted directly on the Help Center. That means that you don’t have to download anything—and it’s easier for readers to search for specific information or API calls and easier to follow links to related Help Center topics. Plus, on our end, it’s now easier for the documentation team to make quick updates as needed, so you can rest assured that the documentation you see is as up-to-date as possible.

Pleasing Design Elements

In our new API documentation, all call methods are color-coded, both on the class introduction pages and on the pages documenting each individual call. (And for the color-blind: Don’t worry—we’ve also included the name of the method in each place, so you’ll still know what you’re getting.)

Color-coded methods make it easy to differentiate between API calls on the class page (main) and the call page (inset).

In addition, we have made use of the Help Center’s drop-down feature to keep things nice and tidy on the page. Readers will be able to see at a glance what information is included on each page and can open only those drop-downs with the information they need. For example, if you just need to the values for an enum parameter in the response, you can quickly find the relevant model class without having to scroll through loads of information that’s irrelevant to your current situation.

All calls include consistent information, while drop-downs keep the page tidy and easy to use.

More Consistent and Detailed Information

We have worked hard to ensure that the new documentation is consistent across all pages. This means that you will know where to look to find the exact information you need. Every page documenting an API call now includes the following information, in this order (see the above image for an example):

• Method and Endpoint
• Description of the call’s functionality
• Request Parameters: If the API call requires any path, query, or request body parameters, they will be listed in this section, along with information about where to find the relevant values for these parameters.
• Sample Code: Each API call now provides a sample request and a sample response so you’ll know what to expect for a successful call.
• Models & Definitions: In this section, we will provide detailed information about each datapoint returned in the API response. Each model class is documented, even if has already been documented for another API call.
• Links to related Help Center documents, such as the Mnemonic Dictionary entries for information that is written to or read from the Host when the API is run. (See image below.)

The Host column, when present, provides the mnemonic for any information that is read from or written to the Host when the API is run, along with a link to the relevant documentation in the Mnemonic Dictionary (on Help Center).

In addition, we have been working to ensure that the same information is included for each parameter, including (but not limited to):

• Data type (integer, Boolean, string, enum, etc.)
• Accepted formats
• Minimum and maximum values for integers
• Numeric and string values for enums
• Whether a given parameter is required, optional, or read-only

Example of parameter information provided for a Body Request model class.

Conclusion

We’re confident that these modifications to our GOLDAccount Center API documentation will make it easier than ever for you to implement these API calls for your institution’s website and mobile app. We can’t wait for you to start using it!

In fact, we’re so excited about these changes that we will soon be reworking the rest of our API documentation to match this format. So keep an eye out for those updates in the coming months!