Refresh of application programme interface comes in advance of moving platform from private to public beta phase
The Government Digital Service (GDS) has released a new version of the public API for the GOV.UK Notify platform, updating its functionality to provide more concise responses for service teams.
Rebecca Law, the technical lead for the Notify team, has said in a blogpost that the move has been made in advance of moving the platform from private to public beta.
Notify, which was launched in July of last year, is one of the projects to emerge from the Government as Platform programme, providing a mechanism for a public authority to provide automatic updates and reminders to members of the public on service requests.
Law says in the blog that the error response formats have been updated to be easier to understand, which should help to link error messages to documentation, and new filters have been provided for the ‘get all notifications’ function. These include an ‘older than’ ID filter to ensure pagination URLs are more consistent.
There is also a new input parameter for sending an email or SMS, which allows service teams in government organisations to use their own identifiers when interacting with Notify.
GDS has updated the client libraries to use the new version of the AP, although the older versions remain available.
Not taken lightly
“Making the changes to our API is not something we take lightly,” Law says in the blog. “We’ll maintain the old API version while we help migrate all existing client libraries across.”
But she recommends that new users start with the new version.
Notify was launched in private beta for use in a handful of services – including issuing updates on student loans and lasting power of attorney – but GDS indicated that dozens more service areas from across government were looking to use the platform.
Image from Cabinet Office
