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title: Azure API Management overview and key concepts | Microsoft Docs
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description: Learn about key scenarios, capabilities, and concepts of the Azure API Management service.
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title: Azure API Management - Overview and key concepts | Microsoft Docs
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description: Introduction to key scenarios, capabilities, and concepts of the Azure API Management service. API Management supports the full API lifecycle.
This article provides an overview of common scenarios and key components of Azure API Management. Azure API Management is a hybrid, multicloud management platform for APIs across all environments. As a platform-as-a-service, API Management supports the complete API lifecycle.
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Azure API Management is a hybrid, multicloud management platform for APIs across all environments. This article provides an overview of common scenarios and key components of API Management.
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> [!TIP]
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> If you're already familiar with API Management and ready to start, see these resources:
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> *[Features and service tiers](api-management-features.md)
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> *[Create an API Management instance](get-started-create-service-instance.md)
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> *[Import and publish an API](import-and-publish.md)
APIs enable digital experiences, simplify application integration, underpin new digital products, and make data and services reusable and universally accessible. With the proliferation and increasing dependency on APIs, organizations need to manage them as first-class assets throughout their lifecycle.
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:::image type="content" source="media/api-management-key-concepts-experiment/apis-connected-experiences.png" alt-text="Diagram showing role of APIs in connected experiences.":::
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Azure API Management helps customers meet these challenges:
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* Abstract backend architecture diversity and complexity from API consumers
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Azure API Management is made up of an API *gateway*, a *management plane*, and a *developer portal*. These components are Azure-hosted and fully managed by default. API Management is available in various [tiers](api-management-features.md) differing in capacity and features.
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:::image type="content" source="media/api-management-key-concepts/api-management-components.png" alt-text="Key components of Azure API Management":::
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:::image type="content" source="media/api-management-key-concepts-experiment/api-management-components.png" alt-text="Diagram showing key components of Azure API Management.":::
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###API gateway
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## API gateway
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All requests from client applications first reach the API gateway, which then forwards them to respective backend services. The API gateway acts as a facade to the backend services, allowing API providers to abstract API implementations and evolve backend architecture without impacting API consumers. The gateway enables consistent configuration of routing, security, throttling, caching, and observability.
With the [self-hosted gateway](self-hosted-gateway-overview.md), customers can deploy the API gateway to the same environments where they host their APIs, to optimize API traffic and ensure compliance with local regulations and guidelines. The self-hosted gateway enables customers with hybrid IT infrastructure to manage APIs hosted on-premises and across clouds from a single API Management service in Azure.
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The self-hosted gateway is packaged as a Linux-based Docker container and is commonly deployed to Kubernetes, including to Azure Kubernetes Service and [Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes](how-to-deploy-self-hosted-gateway-azure-arc.md).
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The self-hosted gateway is packaged as a Linux-based Docker container and is commonly deployed to Kubernetes, including to Azure Kubernetes Service and [Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes](how-to-deploy-self-hosted-gateway-azure-arc.md).
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More information:
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*[API gateway in Azure API Management](api-management-gateways-overview.md)
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###Management plane
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## Management plane
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API providers interact with the service through the management plane, which provides full access to the API Management service capabilities.
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* Manage users
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###Developer portal
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## Developer portal
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The open-source [developer portal][Developer portal] is an automatically generated, fully customizable website with the documentation of your APIs.
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:::image type="content" source="media/api-management-key-concepts-experiment/cover.png" alt-text="Screenshot of API Management developer portal - administrator mode." border="false":::
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API providers can customize the look and feel of the developer portal by adding custom content, customizing styles, and adding their branding. Extend the developer portal further by [self-hosting](developer-portal-self-host.md).
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App developers use the open-source developer portal to discover the APIs, onboard to use them, and learn how to consume them in applications. (APIs can also be exported to the [Power Platform](export-api-power-platform.md) for discovery and use by citizen developers.)
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## Integration with Azure services
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API Management integrates with many complementary Azure services, including:
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API Management integrates with many complementary Azure services to create enterprise solutions, including:
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*[Azure Key Vault](../key-vault/general/overview.md) for secure safekeeping and management of [client certificates](api-management-howto-mutual-certificates.md) and [secrets](api-management-howto-properties.md)
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*[Azure Monitor](api-management-howto-use-azure-monitor.md) for logging, reporting, and alerting on management operations, systems events, and API requests
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*[Application Insights](api-management-howto-app-insights.md) for live metrics, end-to-end tracing, and troubleshooting
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*[Virtual networks](virtual-network-concepts.md) and [Application Gateway](api-management-howto-integrate-internal-vnet-appgateway.md) for network-level protection
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*[Virtual networks](virtual-network-concepts.md), [private endpoints](private-endpoint.md), and [Application Gateway](api-management-howto-integrate-internal-vnet-appgateway.md) for network-level protection
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* Azure Active Directory for [developer authentication](api-management-howto-aad.md) and [request authorization](api-management-howto-protect-backend-with-aad.md)
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*[Event Hubs](api-management-howto-log-event-hubs.md) for streaming events
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* Several Azure compute offerings commonly used to build and host APIs on Azure, including [Functions](import-function-app-as-api.md), [Logic Apps](import-logic-app-as-api.md), [Web Apps](import-app-service-as-api.md), [Service Fabric](how-to-configure-service-fabric-backend.md), and others.
*[Landing zone accelerator](/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/scenarios/app-platform/api-management/landing-zone-accelerator?toc=%2Fazure%2Fapi-management%2Ftoc.json&bc=/azure/api-management/breadcrumb/toc.json)
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## Key concepts
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### APIs
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Operations in API Management are highly configurable, with control over URL mapping, query and path parameters, request and response content, and operation response caching.
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More information:
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**More information**:
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*[Import and publish your first API][How to create APIs]
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*[Mock API responses][How to add operations to an API]
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When a product is ready for use by developers, it can be published. Once published, it can be viewed or subscribed to by developers. Subscription approval is configured at the product level and can either require an administrator's approval or be automatic.
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More information:
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**More information**:
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*[Create and publish a product][How to create and publish a product]
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*[Subscriptions in API Management](api-management-subscriptions.md)
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Administrators can also create custom groups or use external groups in an [associated Azure Active Directory tenant](api-management-howto-aad.md) to give developers visibility and access to API products. For example, create a custom group for developers in a partner organization to access a specific subset of APIs in a product. A user can belong to more than one group.
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More information:
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**More information**:
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*[How to create and use groups][How to create and use groups]
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### Developers
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Developers represent the user accounts in an API Management service instance. Developers can be created or invited to join by administrators, or they can sign up from the [developer portal][Developer portal]. Each developer is a member of one or more groups, and can subscribe to the products that grant visibility to those groups.
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When developers subscribe to a product, they are granted the primary and secondary key for the product for use when calling the product's APIs.
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When developers subscribe to a product, they're granted the primary and secondary key for the product for use when calling the product's APIs.
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More information:
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**More information**:
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*[How to manage user accounts][How to create or invite developers]
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### Policies
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Policies can be applied at different scopes, depending on your needs: global (all APIs), a product, a specific API, or an API operation.
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**More information**:
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*[Transform and protect your API][How to create and configure advanced product settings].
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