/ˌeɪ-piː-ˈaɪ/ • Application Programming Interface
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software intermediary that allows two applications to communicate. APIs define the methods and data formats that programs can use to communicate with each other, abstracting the underlying implementation and exposing only objects or actions the developer needs.
In content moderation, APIs enable platforms to send images to moderation services and receive analysis results, all without building AI systems in-house.
Most moderation APIs use REST (Representational State Transfer) architecture, providing predictable URLs, HTTP methods, and JSON responses that are easy to integrate with any programming language.
Using a moderation API eliminates the need to build and maintain AI infrastructure, provides instant access to state-of-the-art models, scales automatically with your traffic, and reduces time-to-market for safety features.