:original_name: waf_02_0001.html
.. _waf_02_0001:
API Usage Guidelines
====================
Public cloud APIs comply with the RESTful API design principles. REST-based Web services are organized into resources. Each resource is identified by one or more Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). An application accesses a resource based on the resource's Unified Resource Locator (URL). A URL is usually in the following format: *https://Endpoint/uri*. In the URL, **uri** indicates the resource path, that is, the API access path.
Public cloud APIs use HTTPS as the transmission protocol. Requests/Responses are transmitted by using JSON messages, with media type represented by **Application/json**.
For details about how to use APIs, see `API Usage Guidelines `__.
.. important::
The following table lists the additional request header fields required for the POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE methods.
+-----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Parameter | Description | Mandatory | Example |
+=======================+===============================================+=================+=================+
| x-request-source-type | Type of a request resource | Yes | ApiCall |
| | | | |
| | - **ApiCall**: invoked by an API. | | |
| | - **ConsoleAction**: invoked by the console. | | |
| | - **SystemAction**: invoked by the system. | | |
+-----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+