.. _edX Platform API Overview:

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edX Platform API Overview
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The edX Platform API enables you to build applications for students to view
course information and videos for courses on your instance of Open edX.

The edX Platform API uses Representational State Transfer (REST) design
principles and supports JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data-interchange
format. Our REST API is simple, lightweight and optimized.

You can use the edX Platform API for web, desktop, and mobile applications. 


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edX Platform API Version 0.5, Alpha
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The edX Platform API is currently at version 0.5 and is an Alpha release. We
plan on making significant enhancements and changes to the API. 

.. caution::
 As this is a new and rapidly evolving API, at this time edX does not guarantee
 forward compatibility. We encourage you to use and experiment with the API,
 while keeping in mind that endpoints may change.

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edX Platform API Capabilities
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With the edX Platform API, you can:

* Get :ref:`user details<Get User Details>` and :ref:`course enrollments<Get a
  User's Course Enrollments>` for a user.

* :ref:`Get or change user status in a course <Get or Change User Status in a
  Course>`

* Get :ref:`course information<Get the Course About Page>`, :ref:`updates<Get
  Course Updates>`, and :ref:`handouts<Get Course Handouts>` for courses the
  user is enrolled in.

* Get :ref:`videos<Get the Video List>` and :ref:`transcripts<Get a Video
  Transcript>` for courses the user is enrolled in.