A Service Endpoint is a network-addressable location, typically expressed as a URL or URI, at which a service exposes its functionality to clients. It defines where requests are sent and, together with a protocol and interface contract, how interactions are framed and authenticated. Service endpoints are central to APIs, microservices and decentralised-identity documents, where they advertise the reachable interfaces associated with an identity or capability.
Overview
- API provides the broader context within which Service Endpoint sits.
- Service Endpoint is treated here as a member of the security domain at established maturity.
- It is referenced across the knowledge graph by classes that depend on or compose it, making it a central node that warranted an explicit definition.
Key aspects
- It comprises Authentication.
- It requires TLS.
- It makes use of REST API.
- It makes use of HTTP.
Mechanisms
- Service Endpoint operates by combining its constituent parts into a coherent capability that other classes can rely upon.
- Its guarantees and behaviours are realised through the dependencies and standards captured in the relations below.
Applications
- Enables and supports Service Discovery.
- Enables and supports Microservices.
- Enables and supports Service-Oriented Architecture.