OpenAPI Specification

Version 3.1.0

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 RFC2119 RFC8174 when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.

This document is licensed under The Apache License, Version 2.0.

Introduction

The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) defines a standard, language-agnostic interface to HTTP APIs which allows both humans and computers to discover and understand the capabilities of the service without access to source code, documentation, or through network traffic inspection. When properly defined, a consumer can understand and interact with the remote service with a minimal amount of implementation logic.

An OpenAPI definition can then be used by documentation generation tools to display the API, code generation tools to generate servers and clients in various programming languages, testing tools, and many other use cases.

Definitions

OpenAPI Document

A self-contained or composite resource which defines or describes an API or elements of an API. The OpenAPI document MUST contain at least one paths field, a components field or a webhooks field. An OpenAPI document uses and conforms to the OpenAPI Specification.

Path Templating

Path templating refers to the usage of template expressions, delimited by curly braces ({}), to mark a section of a URL path as replaceable using path parameters.

Each template expression in the path MUST correspond to a path parameter that is included in the Path Item itself and/or in each of the Path Item's Operations. An exception is if the path item is empty, for example due to ACL constraints, matching path parameters are not required.

The value for these path parameters MUST NOT contain any unescaped "generic syntax" characters described by RFC3986: forward slashes (/), question marks (?), or hashes (#).

Media Types

Media type definitions are spread across several resources. The media type definitions SHOULD be in compliance with RFC6838.

Some examples of possible media type definitions:

  text/plain; charset=utf-8
  application/json
  application/vnd.github+json
  application/vnd.github.v3+json
  application/vnd.github.v3.raw+json
  application/vnd.github.v3.text+json
  application/vnd.github.v3.html+json
  application/vnd.github.v3.full+json
  application/vnd.github.v3.diff
  application/vnd.github.v3.patch

HTTP Status Codes

The HTTP Status Codes are used to indicate the status of the executed operation. The available status codes are defined by RFC7231 and registered status codes are listed in the IANA Status Code Registry.

Specification

Versions

The OpenAPI Specification is versioned using a major.minor.patch versioning scheme. The major.minor portion of the version string (for example 3.1) SHALL designate the OAS feature set. .patch versions address errors in, or provide clarifications to, this document, not the feature set. Tooling which supports OAS 3.1 SHOULD be compatible with all OAS 3.1.* versions. The patch version SHOULD NOT be considered by tooling, making no distinction between 3.1.0 and 3.1.1 for example.

Occasionally, non-backwards compatible changes may be made in minor versions of the OAS where impact is believed to be low relative to the benefit provided.

An OpenAPI document compatible with OAS 3.*.* contains a required openapi field which designates the version of the OAS that it uses.

Format

An OpenAPI document that conforms to the OpenAPI Specification is itself a JSON object, which may be represented either in JSON or YAML format.

For example, if a field has an array value, the JSON array representation will be used:

{
   "field": [ 1, 2, 3 ]
}

All field names in the specification are case sensitive. This includes all fields that are used as keys in a map, except where explicitly noted that keys are case insensitive.

The schema exposes two types of fields: Fixed fields, which have a declared name, and Patterned fields, which declare a regex pattern for the field name.

Patterned fields MUST have unique names within the containing object.

In order to preserve the ability to round-trip between YAML and JSON formats, YAML version 1.2 is RECOMMENDED along with some additional constraints:

Tags MUST be limited to those allowed by the JSON Schema ruleset.
Keys used in YAML maps MUST be limited to a scalar string, as defined by the YAML Failsafe schema ruleset.

Note: While APIs may be defined by OpenAPI documents in either YAML or JSON format, the API request and response bodies and other content are not required to be JSON or YAML.

Document Structure

An OpenAPI document MAY be made up of a single document or be divided into multiple, connected parts at the discretion of the author. In the latter case, Reference Objects and Schema Object $ref keywords are used.

It is RECOMMENDED that the root OpenAPI document be named: openapi.json or openapi.yaml.

Data Types

Data types in the OAS are based on the types supported by the JSON Schema Specification Draft 2020-12. Note that integer as a type is also supported and is defined as a JSON number without a fraction or exponent part. Models are defined using the Schema Object, which is a superset of JSON Schema Specification Draft 2020-12.

As defined by the JSON Schema Validation vocabulary, data types can have an optional modifier property: format. OAS defines additional formats to provide fine detail for primitive data types.

The formats defined by the OAS are:

`type`	`format`	Comments
`integer`	`int32`	signed 32 bits
`integer`	`int64`	signed 64 bits (a.k.a long)
`number`	`float`
`number`	`double`
`string`	`password`	A hint to UIs to obscure input.

Rich Text Formatting

Throughout the specification description fields are noted as supporting CommonMark markdown formatting. Where OpenAPI tooling renders rich text it MUST support, at a minimum, markdown syntax as described by CommonMark 0.27. Tooling MAY choose to ignore some CommonMark features to address security concerns.

Relative References in URIs

Unless specified otherwise, all properties that are URIs MAY be relative references as defined by RFC3986.

Relative references, including those in Reference Objects, PathItem Object $ref fields, Link Object operationRef fields and Example Object externalValue fields, are resolved using the referring document as the Base URI according to RFC3986.

If a URI contains a fragment identifier, then the fragment should be resolved per the fragment resolution mechanism of the referenced document. If the representation of the referenced document is JSON or YAML, then the fragment identifier SHOULD be interpreted as a JSON-Pointer as per RFC6901.

Relative references in Schema Objects, including any that appear as $id values, use the nearest parent $id as a Base URI, as described by JSON Schema Specification Draft 2020-12. If no parent schema contains an $id, then the Base URI MUST be determined according to RFC3986.

Relative References in URLs

Unless specified otherwise, all properties that are URLs MAY be relative references as defined by RFC3986. Unless specified otherwise, relative references are resolved using the URLs defined in the Server Object as a Base URL. Note that these themselves MAY be relative to the referring document.

Schema

In the following description, if a field is not explicitly REQUIRED or described with a MUST or SHALL, it can be considered OPTIONAL.

OpenAPI Object

This is the root object of the OpenAPI document.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
openapi	`string`	REQUIRED. This string MUST be the version number of the OpenAPI Specification that the OpenAPI document uses. The `openapi` field SHOULD be used by tooling to interpret the OpenAPI document. This is not related to the API `info.version` string.
info	Info Object	REQUIRED. Provides metadata about the API. The metadata MAY be used by tooling as required.
jsonSchemaDialect	`string`	The default value for the `$schema` keyword within Schema Objects contained within this OAS document. This MUST be in the form of a URI.
servers	[Server Object]	An array of Server Objects, which provide connectivity information to a target server. If the `servers` property is not provided, or is an empty array, the default value would be a Server Object with a url value of `/`.
paths	Paths Object	The available paths and operations for the API.
webhooks	Map[`string`, Path Item Object \| Reference Object] ]	The incoming webhooks that MAY be received as part of this API and that the API consumer MAY choose to implement. Closely related to the `callbacks` feature, this section describes requests initiated other than by an API call, for example by an out of band registration. The key name is a unique string to refer to each webhook, while the (optionally referenced) Path Item Object describes a request that may be initiated by the API provider and the expected responses. An example is available.
components	Components Object	An element to hold various schemas for the document.
security	[Security Requirement Object]	A declaration of which security mechanisms can be used across the API. The list of values includes alternative security requirement objects that can be used. Only one of the security requirement objects need to be satisfied to authorize a request. Individual operations can override this definition. To make security optional, an empty security requirement (`{}`) can be included in the array.
tags	[Tag Object]	A list of tags used by the document with additional metadata. The order of the tags can be used to reflect on their order by the parsing tools. Not all tags that are used by the Operation Object must be declared. The tags that are not declared MAY be organized randomly or based on the tools' logic. Each tag name in the list MUST be unique.
externalDocs	External Documentation Object	Additional external documentation.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Info Object

The object provides metadata about the API. The metadata MAY be used by the clients if needed, and MAY be presented in editing or documentation generation tools for convenience.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
title	`string`	REQUIRED. The title of the API.
summary	`string`	A short summary of the API.
description	`string`	A description of the API. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
termsOfService	`string`	A URL to the Terms of Service for the API. This MUST be in the form of a URL.
contact	Contact Object	The contact information for the exposed API.
license	License Object	The license information for the exposed API.
version	`string`	REQUIRED. The version of the OpenAPI document (which is distinct from the OpenAPI Specification version or the API implementation version).

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Info Object Example

{
  "title": "Sample Pet Store App",
  "summary": "A pet store manager.",
  "description": "This is a sample server for a pet store.",
  "termsOfService": "https://example.com/terms/",
  "contact": {
    "name": "API Support",
    "url": "https://www.example.com/support",
    "email": "support@example.com"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "Apache 2.0",
    "url": "https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html"
  },
  "version": "1.0.1"
}

title: Sample Pet Store App
summary: A pet store manager.
description: This is a sample server for a pet store.
termsOfService: https://example.com/terms/
contact:
  name: API Support
  url: https://www.example.com/support
  email: support@example.com
license:
  name: Apache 2.0
  url: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
version: 1.0.1

Contact Object

Contact information for the exposed API.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
name	`string`	The identifying name of the contact person/organization.
url	`string`	The URL pointing to the contact information. This MUST be in the form of a URL.
email	`string`	The email address of the contact person/organization. This MUST be in the form of an email address.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Contact Object Example

{
  "name": "API Support",
  "url": "https://www.example.com/support",
  "email": "support@example.com"
}

name: API Support
url: https://www.example.com/support
email: support@example.com

License Object

License information for the exposed API.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
name	`string`	REQUIRED. The license name used for the API.
identifier	`string`	An SPDX license expression for the API. The `identifier` field is mutually exclusive of the `url` field.
url	`string`	A URL to the license used for the API. This MUST be in the form of a URL. The `url` field is mutually exclusive of the `identifier` field.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

License Object Example

{
  "name": "Apache 2.0",
  "identifier": "Apache-2.0"
}

name: Apache 2.0
identifier: Apache-2.0

Server Object

An object representing a Server.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
url	`string`	REQUIRED. A URL to the target host. This URL supports Server Variables and MAY be relative, to indicate that the host location is relative to the location where the OpenAPI document is being served. Variable substitutions will be made when a variable is named in `{`brackets`}`.
description	`string`	An optional string describing the host designated by the URL. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
variables	Map[`string`, Server Variable Object]	A map between a variable name and its value. The value is used for substitution in the server's URL template.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Server Object Example

A single server would be described as:

{
  "url": "https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1",
  "description": "Development server"
}

url: https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1
description: Development server

The following shows how multiple servers can be described, for example, at the OpenAPI Object's servers:

{
  "servers": [
    {
      "url": "https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1",
      "description": "Development server"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://staging.gigantic-server.com/v1",
      "description": "Staging server"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://api.gigantic-server.com/v1",
      "description": "Production server"
    }
  ]
}

servers:
- url: https://development.gigantic-server.com/v1
  description: Development server
- url: https://staging.gigantic-server.com/v1
  description: Staging server
- url: https://api.gigantic-server.com/v1
  description: Production server

The following shows how variables can be used for a server configuration:

{
  "servers": [
    {
      "url": "https://{username}.gigantic-server.com:{port}/{basePath}",
      "description": "The production API server",
      "variables": {
        "username": {
          "default": "demo",
          "description": "this value is assigned by the service provider, in this example `gigantic-server.com`"
        },
        "port": {
          "enum": [
            "8443",
            "443"
          ],
          "default": "8443"
        },
        "basePath": {
          "default": "v2"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

servers:
- url: https://{username}.gigantic-server.com:{port}/{basePath}
  description: The production API server
  variables:
    username:
      # note! no enum here means it is an open value
      default: demo
      description: this value is assigned by the service provider, in this example `gigantic-server.com`
    port:
      enum:
        - '8443'
        - '443'
      default: '8443'
    basePath:
      # open meaning there is the opportunity to use special base paths as assigned by the provider, default is `v2`
      default: v2

Server Variable Object

An object representing a Server Variable for server URL template substitution.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
enum	[`string`]	An enumeration of string values to be used if the substitution options are from a limited set. The array MUST NOT be empty.
default	`string`	REQUIRED. The default value to use for substitution, which SHALL be sent if an alternate value is not supplied. Note this behavior is different than the Schema Object's treatment of default values, because in those cases parameter values are optional. If the `enum` is defined, the value MUST exist in the enum's values.
description	`string`	An optional description for the server variable. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Components Object

Holds a set of reusable objects for different aspects of the OAS. All objects defined within the components object will have no effect on the API unless they are explicitly referenced from properties outside the components object.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
schemas	Map[`string`, Schema Object]	An object to hold reusable Schema Objects.
responses	Map[`string`, Response Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Response Objects.
parameters	Map[`string`, Parameter Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Parameter Objects.
examples	Map[`string`, Example Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Example Objects.
requestBodies	Map[`string`, Request Body Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Request Body Objects.
headers	Map[`string`, Header Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Header Objects.
securitySchemes	Map[`string`, Security Scheme Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Security Scheme Objects.
links	Map[`string`, Link Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Link Objects.
callbacks	Map[`string`, Callback Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Callback Objects.
pathItems	Map[`string`, Path Item Object \| Reference Object]	An object to hold reusable Path Item Object.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

All the fixed fields declared above are objects that MUST use keys that match the regular expression: ^[a-zA-Z0-9\.\-_]+$.

Field Name Examples:

User
User_1
User_Name
user-name
my.org.User

Components Object Example

"components": {
  "schemas": {
    "GeneralError": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "code": {
          "type": "integer",
          "format": "int32"
        },
        "message": {
          "type": "string"
        }
      }
    },
    "Category": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "id": {
          "type": "integer",
          "format": "int64"
        },
        "name": {
          "type": "string"
        }
      }
    },
    "Tag": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "id": {
          "type": "integer",
          "format": "int64"
        },
        "name": {
          "type": "string"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "parameters": {
    "skipParam": {
      "name": "skip",
      "in": "query",
      "description": "number of items to skip",
      "required": true,
      "schema": {
        "type": "integer",
        "format": "int32"
      }
    },
    "limitParam": {
      "name": "limit",
      "in": "query",
      "description": "max records to return",
      "required": true,
      "schema" : {
        "type": "integer",
        "format": "int32"
      }
    }
  },
  "responses": {
    "NotFound": {
      "description": "Entity not found."
    },
    "IllegalInput": {
      "description": "Illegal input for operation."
    },
    "GeneralError": {
      "description": "General Error",
      "content": {
        "application/json": {
          "schema": {
            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/GeneralError"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "securitySchemes": {
    "api_key": {
      "type": "apiKey",
      "name": "api_key",
      "in": "header"
    },
    "petstore_auth": {
      "type": "oauth2",
      "flows": {
        "implicit": {
          "authorizationUrl": "https://example.org/api/oauth/dialog",
          "scopes": {
            "write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
            "read:pets": "read your pets"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

components:
  schemas:
    GeneralError:
      type: object
      properties:
        code:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        message:
          type: string
    Category:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: integer
          format: int64
        name:
          type: string
    Tag:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: integer
          format: int64
        name:
          type: string
  parameters:
    skipParam:
      name: skip
      in: query
      description: number of items to skip
      required: true
      schema:
        type: integer
        format: int32
    limitParam:
      name: limit
      in: query
      description: max records to return
      required: true
      schema:
        type: integer
        format: int32
  responses:
    NotFound:
      description: Entity not found.
    IllegalInput:
      description: Illegal input for operation.
    GeneralError:
      description: General Error
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/GeneralError'
  securitySchemes:
    api_key:
      type: apiKey
      name: api_key
      in: header
    petstore_auth:
      type: oauth2
      flows:
        implicit:
          authorizationUrl: https://example.org/api/oauth/dialog
          scopes:
            write:pets: modify pets in your account
            read:pets: read your pets

Paths Object

Holds the relative paths to the individual endpoints and their operations. The path is appended to the URL from the Server Object in order to construct the full URL. The Paths MAY be empty, due to Access Control List (ACL) constraints.

Patterned Fields

Field Pattern	Type	Description
/{path}	Path Item Object	A relative path to an individual endpoint. The field name MUST begin with a forward slash (`/`). The path is appended (no relative URL resolution) to the expanded URL from the `Server Object`'s `url` field in order to construct the full URL. Path templating is allowed. When matching URLs, concrete (non-templated) paths would be matched before their templated counterparts. Templated paths with the same hierarchy but different templated names MUST NOT exist as they are identical. In case of ambiguous matching, it's up to the tooling to decide which one to use.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Path Templating Matching

Assuming the following paths, the concrete definition, /pets/mine, will be matched first if used:

  /pets/{petId}
  /pets/mine

The following paths are considered identical and invalid:

  /pets/{petId}
  /pets/{name}

The following may lead to ambiguous resolution:

  /{entity}/me
  /books/{id}

Paths Object Example

{
  "/pets": {
    "get": {
      "description": "Returns all pets from the system that the user has access to",
      "responses": {
        "200": {         
          "description": "A list of pets.",
          "content": {
            "application/json": {
              "schema": {
                "type": "array",
                "items": {
                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/pet"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

/pets:
  get:
    description: Returns all pets from the system that the user has access to
    responses:
      '200':
        description: A list of pets.
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/pet'

Path Item Object

Describes the operations available on a single path. A Path Item MAY be empty, due to ACL constraints. The path itself is still exposed to the documentation viewer but they will not know which operations and parameters are available.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
$ref	`string`	Allows for a referenced definition of this path item. The referenced structure MUST be in the form of a Path Item Object. In case a Path Item Object field appears both in the defined object and the referenced object, the behavior is undefined. See the rules for resolving Relative References.
summary	`string`	An optional, string summary, intended to apply to all operations in this path.
description	`string`	An optional, string description, intended to apply to all operations in this path. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
get	Operation Object	A definition of a GET operation on this path.
put	Operation Object	A definition of a PUT operation on this path.
post	Operation Object	A definition of a POST operation on this path.
delete	Operation Object	A definition of a DELETE operation on this path.
options	Operation Object	A definition of a OPTIONS operation on this path.
head	Operation Object	A definition of a HEAD operation on this path.
patch	Operation Object	A definition of a PATCH operation on this path.
trace	Operation Object	A definition of a TRACE operation on this path.
servers	[Server Object]	An alternative `server` array to service all operations in this path.
parameters	[Parameter Object \| Reference Object]	A list of parameters that are applicable for all the operations described under this path. These parameters can be overridden at the operation level, but cannot be removed there. The list MUST NOT include duplicated parameters. A unique parameter is defined by a combination of a name and location. The list can use the Reference Object to link to parameters that are defined at the OpenAPI Object's components/parameters.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Path Item Object Example

{
  "get": {
    "description": "Returns pets based on ID",
    "summary": "Find pets by ID",
    "operationId": "getPetsById",
    "responses": {
      "200": {
        "description": "pet response",
        "content": {
          "*/*": {
            "schema": {
              "type": "array",
              "items": {
                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
              }
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "default": {
        "description": "error payload",
        "content": {
          "text/html": {
            "schema": {
              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorModel"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "parameters": [
    {
      "name": "id",
      "in": "path",
      "description": "ID of pet to use",
      "required": true,
      "schema": {
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
          "type": "string"
        }
      },
      "style": "simple"
    }
  ]
}

get:
  description: Returns pets based on ID
  summary: Find pets by ID
  operationId: getPetsById
  responses:
    '200':
      description: pet response
      content:
        '*/*' :
          schema:
            type: array
            items:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
    default:
      description: error payload
      content:
        'text/html':
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorModel'
parameters:
- name: id
  in: path
  description: ID of pet to use
  required: true
  schema:
    type: array
    items:
      type: string 
  style: simple

Operation Object

Describes a single API operation on a path.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
tags	[`string`]	A list of tags for API documentation control. Tags can be used for logical grouping of operations by resources or any other qualifier.
summary	`string`	A short summary of what the operation does.
description	`string`	A verbose explanation of the operation behavior. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
externalDocs	External Documentation Object	Additional external documentation for this operation.
operationId	`string`	Unique string used to identify the operation. The id MUST be unique among all operations described in the API. The operationId value is case-sensitive. Tools and libraries MAY use the operationId to uniquely identify an operation, therefore, it is RECOMMENDED to follow common programming naming conventions.
parameters	[Parameter Object \| Reference Object]	A list of parameters that are applicable for this operation. If a parameter is already defined at the Path Item, the new definition will override it but can never remove it. The list MUST NOT include duplicated parameters. A unique parameter is defined by a combination of a name and location. The list can use the Reference Object to link to parameters that are defined at the OpenAPI Object's components/parameters.
requestBody	Request Body Object \| Reference Object	The request body applicable for this operation. The `requestBody` is fully supported in HTTP methods where the HTTP 1.1 specification RFC7231 has explicitly defined semantics for request bodies. In other cases where the HTTP spec is vague (such as GET, HEAD and DELETE), `requestBody` is permitted but does not have well-defined semantics and SHOULD be avoided if possible.
responses	Responses Object	The list of possible responses as they are returned from executing this operation.
callbacks	Map[`string`, Callback Object \| Reference Object]	A map of possible out-of band callbacks related to the parent operation. The key is a unique identifier for the Callback Object. Each value in the map is a Callback Object that describes a request that may be initiated by the API provider and the expected responses.
deprecated	`boolean`	Declares this operation to be deprecated. Consumers SHOULD refrain from usage of the declared operation. Default value is `false`.
security	[Security Requirement Object]	A declaration of which security mechanisms can be used for this operation. The list of values includes alternative security requirement objects that can be used. Only one of the security requirement objects need to be satisfied to authorize a request. To make security optional, an empty security requirement (`{}`) can be included in the array. This definition overrides any declared top-level `security`. To remove a top-level security declaration, an empty array can be used.
servers	[Server Object]	An alternative `server` array to service this operation. If an alternative `server` object is specified at the Path Item Object or Root level, it will be overridden by this value.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Operation Object Example

{
  "tags": [
    "pet"
  ],
  "summary": "Updates a pet in the store with form data",
  "operationId": "updatePetWithForm",
  "parameters": [
    {
      "name": "petId",
      "in": "path",
      "description": "ID of pet that needs to be updated",
      "required": true,
      "schema": {
        "type": "string"
      }
    }
  ],
  "requestBody": {
    "content": {
      "application/x-www-form-urlencoded": {
        "schema": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "name": {
              "description": "Updated name of the pet",
              "type": "string"
            },
            "status": {
              "description": "Updated status of the pet",
              "type": "string"
            }
          },
          "required": ["status"]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "responses": {
    "200": {
      "description": "Pet updated.",
      "content": {
        "application/json": {},
        "application/xml": {}
      }
    },
    "405": {
      "description": "Method Not Allowed",
      "content": {
        "application/json": {},
        "application/xml": {}
      }
    }
  },
  "security": [
    {
      "petstore_auth": [
        "write:pets",
        "read:pets"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

tags:
- pet
summary: Updates a pet in the store with form data
operationId: updatePetWithForm
parameters:
- name: petId
  in: path
  description: ID of pet that needs to be updated
  required: true
  schema:
    type: string
requestBody:
  content:
    'application/x-www-form-urlencoded':
      schema:
       type: object
       properties:
          name:
            description: Updated name of the pet
            type: string
          status:
            description: Updated status of the pet
            type: string
       required:
         - status
responses:
  '200':
    description: Pet updated.
    content:
      'application/json': {}
      'application/xml': {}
  '405':
    description: Method Not Allowed
    content:
      'application/json': {}
      'application/xml': {}
security:
- petstore_auth:
  - write:pets
  - read:pets

External Documentation Object

Allows referencing an external resource for extended documentation.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
description	`string`	A description of the target documentation. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
url	`string`	REQUIRED. The URL for the target documentation. This MUST be in the form of a URL.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

External Documentation Object Example

{
  "description": "Find more info here",
  "url": "https://example.com"
}

description: Find more info here
url: https://example.com

Parameter Object

Describes a single operation parameter.

A unique parameter is defined by a combination of a name and location.

Parameter Locations

There are four possible parameter locations specified by the in field:

path - Used together with Path Templating, where the parameter value is actually part of the operation's URL. This does not include the host or base path of the API. For example, in /items/{itemId}, the path parameter is itemId.
query - Parameters that are appended to the URL. For example, in /items?id=###, the query parameter is id.
header - Custom headers that are expected as part of the request. Note that RFC7230 states header names are case insensitive.
cookie - Used to pass a specific cookie value to the API.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
name	`string`	REQUIRED. The name of the parameter. Parameter names are case sensitive. If `in` is `"path"`, the `name` field MUST correspond to a template expression occurring within the path field in the Paths Object. See Path Templating for further information. If `in` is `"header"` and the `name` field is `"Accept"`, `"Content-Type"` or `"Authorization"`, the parameter definition SHALL be ignored. For all other cases, the `name` corresponds to the parameter name used by the `in` property.
in	`string`	REQUIRED. The location of the parameter. Possible values are `"query"`, `"header"`, `"path"` or `"cookie"`.
description	`string`	A brief description of the parameter. This could contain examples of use. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
required	`boolean`	Determines whether this parameter is mandatory. If the parameter location is `"path"`, this property is REQUIRED and its value MUST be `true`. Otherwise, the property MAY be included and its default value is `false`.
deprecated	`boolean`	Specifies that a parameter is deprecated and SHOULD be transitioned out of usage. Default value is `false`.
allowEmptyValue	`boolean`	Sets the ability to pass empty-valued parameters. This is valid only for `query` parameters and allows sending a parameter with an empty value. Default value is `false`. If `style` is used, and if behavior is `n/a` (cannot be serialized), the value of `allowEmptyValue` SHALL be ignored. Use of this property is NOT RECOMMENDED, as it is likely to be removed in a later revision.

The rules for serialization of the parameter are specified in one of two ways. For simpler scenarios, a schema and style can describe the structure and syntax of the parameter.

Field Name	Type	Description
style	`string`	Describes how the parameter value will be serialized depending on the type of the parameter value. Default values (based on value of `in`): for `query` - `form`; for `path` - `simple`; for `header` - `simple`; for `cookie` - `form`.
explode	`boolean`	When this is true, parameter values of type `array` or `object` generate separate parameters for each value of the array or key-value pair of the map. For other types of parameters this property has no effect. When `style` is `form`, the default value is `true`. For all other styles, the default value is `false`.
allowReserved	`boolean`	Determines whether the parameter value SHOULD allow reserved characters, as defined by RFC3986 `:/?#[]@!$&'()*+,;=` to be included without percent-encoding. This property only applies to parameters with an `in` value of `query`. The default value is `false`.
schema	Schema Object	The schema defining the type used for the parameter.
example	Any	Example of the parameter's potential value. The example SHOULD match the specified schema and encoding properties if present. The `example` field is mutually exclusive of the `examples` field. Furthermore, if referencing a `schema` that contains an example, the `example` value SHALL override the example provided by the schema. To represent examples of media types that cannot naturally be represented in JSON or YAML, a string value can contain the example with escaping where necessary.
examples	Map[ `string`, Example Object \| Reference Object]	Examples of the parameter's potential value. Each example SHOULD contain a value in the correct format as specified in the parameter encoding. The `examples` field is mutually exclusive of the `example` field. Furthermore, if referencing a `schema` that contains an example, the `examples` value SHALL override the example provided by the schema.

For more complex scenarios, the content property can define the media type and schema of the parameter. A parameter MUST contain either a schema property, or a content property, but not both. When example or examples are provided in conjunction with the schema object, the example MUST follow the prescribed serialization strategy for the parameter.

Field Name	Type	Description
content	Map[`string`, Media Type Object]	A map containing the representations for the parameter. The key is the media type and the value describes it. The map MUST only contain one entry.

Style Values

In order to support common ways of serializing simple parameters, a set of style values are defined.

`style`	`type`	`in`	Comments
matrix	`primitive`, `array`, `object`	`path`	Path-style parameters defined by RFC6570
label	`primitive`, `array`, `object`	`path`	Label style parameters defined by RFC6570
form	`primitive`, `array`, `object`	`query`, `cookie`	Form style parameters defined by RFC6570. This option replaces `collectionFormat` with a `csv` (when `explode` is false) or `multi` (when `explode` is true) value from OpenAPI 2.0.
simple	`array`	`path`, `header`	Simple style parameters defined by RFC6570. This option replaces `collectionFormat` with a `csv` value from OpenAPI 2.0.
spaceDelimited	`array`, `object`	`query`	Space separated array or object values. This option replaces `collectionFormat` equal to `ssv` from OpenAPI 2.0.
pipeDelimited	`array`, `object`	`query`	Pipe separated array or object values. This option replaces `collectionFormat` equal to `pipes` from OpenAPI 2.0.
deepObject	`object`	`query`	Provides a simple way of rendering nested objects using form parameters.

Style Examples

Assume a parameter named color has one of the following values:

   string -> "blue"
   array -> ["blue","black","brown"]
   object -> { "R": 100, "G": 200, "B": 150 }

The following table shows examples of rendering differences for each value.

`style`	`explode`	`empty`	`string`	`array`	`object`
matrix	false	;color	;color=blue	;color=blue,black,brown	;color=R,100,G,200,B,150
matrix	true	;color	;color=blue	;color=blue;color=black;color=brown	;R=100;G=200;B=150
label	false	.	.blue	.blue.black.brown	.R.100.G.200.B.150
label	true	.	.blue	.blue.black.brown	.R=100.G=200.B=150
form	false	color=	color=blue	color=blue,black,brown	color=R,100,G,200,B,150
form	true	color=	color=blue	color=blue&color=black&color=brown	R=100&G=200&B=150
simple	false	n/a	blue	blue,black,brown	R,100,G,200,B,150
simple	true	n/a	blue	blue,black,brown	R=100,G=200,B=150
spaceDelimited	false	n/a	n/a	blue%20black%20brown	R%20100%20G%20200%20B%20150
pipeDelimited	false	n/a	n/a	blue\|black\|brown	R\|100\|G\|200\|B\|150
deepObject	true	n/a	n/a	n/a	color[R]=100&color[G]=200&color[B]=150

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Parameter Object Examples

A header parameter with an array of 64 bit integer numbers:

{
  "name": "token",
  "in": "header",
  "description": "token to be passed as a header",
  "required": true,
  "schema": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "integer",
      "format": "int64"
    }
  },
  "style": "simple"
}

name: token
in: header
description: token to be passed as a header
required: true
schema:
  type: array
  items:
    type: integer
    format: int64
style: simple

A path parameter of a string value:

{
  "name": "username",
  "in": "path",
  "description": "username to fetch",
  "required": true,
  "schema": {
    "type": "string"
  }
}

name: username
in: path
description: username to fetch
required: true
schema:
  type: string

An optional query parameter of a string value, allowing multiple values by repeating the query parameter:

{
  "name": "id",
  "in": "query",
  "description": "ID of the object to fetch",
  "required": false,
  "schema": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "style": "form",
  "explode": true
}

name: id
in: query
description: ID of the object to fetch
required: false
schema:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
style: form
explode: true

A free-form query parameter, allowing undefined parameters of a specific type:

{
  "in": "query",
  "name": "freeForm",
  "schema": {
    "type": "object",
    "additionalProperties": {
      "type": "integer"
    },
  },
  "style": "form"
}

in: query
name: freeForm
schema:
  type: object
  additionalProperties:
    type: integer
style: form

A complex parameter using content to define serialization:

{
  "in": "query",
  "name": "coordinates",
  "content": {
    "application/json": {
      "schema": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "lat",
          "long"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "lat": {
            "type": "number"
          },
          "long": {
            "type": "number"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

in: query
name: coordinates
content:
  application/json:
    schema:
      type: object
      required:
        - lat
        - long
      properties:
        lat:
          type: number
        long:
          type: number

Request Body Object

Describes a single request body.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
description	`string`	A brief description of the request body. This could contain examples of use. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
content	Map[`string`, Media Type Object]	REQUIRED. The content of the request body. The key is a media type or media type range and the value describes it. For requests that match multiple keys, only the most specific key is applicable. e.g. text/plain overrides text/*
required	`boolean`	Determines if the request body is required in the request. Defaults to `false`.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Request Body Examples

A request body with a referenced model definition.

{
  "description": "user to add to the system",
  "content": {
    "application/json": {
      "schema": {
        "$ref": "#/components/schemas/User"
      },
      "examples": {
          "user" : {
            "summary": "User Example",
            "externalValue": "https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.json"
          }
        }
    },
    "application/xml": {
      "schema": {
        "$ref": "#/components/schemas/User"
      },
      "examples": {
          "user" : {
            "summary": "User example in XML",
            "externalValue": "https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.xml"
          }
        }
    },
    "text/plain": {
      "examples": {
        "user" : {
            "summary": "User example in Plain text",
            "externalValue": "https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.txt"
        }
      }
    },
    "*/*": {
      "examples": {
        "user" : {
            "summary": "User example in other format",
            "externalValue": "https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.whatever"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

description: user to add to the system
content:
  'application/json':
    schema:
      $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
    examples:
      user:
        summary: User Example
        externalValue: 'https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.json'
  'application/xml':
    schema:
      $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
    examples:
      user:
        summary: User example in XML
        externalValue: 'https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.xml'
  'text/plain':
    examples:
      user:
        summary: User example in Plain text
        externalValue: 'https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.txt'
  '*/*':
    examples:
      user:
        summary: User example in other format
        externalValue: 'https://foo.bar/examples/user-example.whatever'

A body parameter that is an array of string values:

{
  "description": "user to add to the system",
  "required": true,
  "content": {
    "text/plain": {
      "schema": {
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
          "type": "string"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

description: user to add to the system
required: true
content:
  text/plain:
    schema:
      type: array
      items:
        type: string

Media Type Object

Each Media Type Object provides schema and examples for the media type identified by its key.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
schema	Schema Object	The schema defining the content of the request, response, or parameter.
example	Any	Example of the media type. The example object SHOULD be in the correct format as specified by the media type. The `example` field is mutually exclusive of the `examples` field. Furthermore, if referencing a `schema` which contains an example, the `example` value SHALL override the example provided by the schema.
examples	Map[ `string`, Example Object \| Reference Object]	Examples of the media type. Each example object SHOULD match the media type and specified schema if present. The `examples` field is mutually exclusive of the `example` field. Furthermore, if referencing a `schema` which contains an example, the `examples` value SHALL override the example provided by the schema.
encoding	Map[`string`, Encoding Object]	A map between a property name and its encoding information. The key, being the property name, MUST exist in the schema as a property. The encoding object SHALL only apply to `requestBody` objects when the media type is `multipart` or `application/x-www-form-urlencoded`.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Media Type Examples

{
  "application/json": {
    "schema": {
         "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
    },
    "examples": {
      "cat" : {
        "summary": "An example of a cat",
        "value":
          {
            "name": "Fluffy",
            "petType": "Cat",
            "color": "White",
            "gender": "male",
            "breed": "Persian"
          }
      },
      "dog": {
        "summary": "An example of a dog with a cat's name",
        "value" :  {
          "name": "Puma",
          "petType": "Dog",
          "color": "Black",
          "gender": "Female",
          "breed": "Mixed"
        },
      "frog": {
          "$ref": "#/components/examples/frog-example"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

application/json:
  schema:
    $ref: "#/components/schemas/Pet"
  examples:
    cat:
      summary: An example of a cat
      value:
        name: Fluffy
        petType: Cat
        color: White
        gender: male
        breed: Persian
    dog:
      summary: An example of a dog with a cat's name
      value:
        name: Puma
        petType: Dog
        color: Black
        gender: Female
        breed: Mixed
    frog:
      $ref: "#/components/examples/frog-example"

Considerations for File Uploads

In contrast with the 2.0 specification, file input/output content in OpenAPI is described with the same semantics as any other schema type.

In contrast with the 3.0 specification, the format keyword has no effect on the content-encoding of the schema. JSON Schema offers a contentEncoding keyword, which may be used to specify the Content-Encoding for the schema. The contentEncoding keyword supports all encodings defined in RFC4648, including "base64" and "base64url", as well as "quoted-printable" from RFC2045. The encoding specified by the contentEncoding keyword is independent of an encoding specified by the Content-Type header in the request or response or metadata of a multipart body -- when both are present, the encoding specified in the contentEncoding is applied first and then the encoding specified in the Content-Type header.

JSON Schema also offers a contentMediaType keyword. However, when the media type is already specified by the Media Type Object's key, or by the contentType field of an Encoding Object, the contentMediaType keyword SHALL be ignored if present.

Examples:

Content transferred in binary (octet-stream) MAY omit schema:

# a PNG image as a binary file:
content:
    image/png: {}

# an arbitrary binary file:
content:
    application/octet-stream: {}

Binary content transferred with base64 encoding:

content:
    image/png:
        schema:
            type: string
            contentMediaType: image/png
            contentEncoding: base64

Note that the Content-Type remains image/png, describing the semantics of the payload. The JSON Schema type and contentEncoding fields explain that the payload is transferred as text. The JSON Schema contentMediaType is technically redundant, but can be used by JSON Schema tools that may not be aware of the OpenAPI context.

These examples apply to either input payloads of file uploads or response payloads.

A requestBody for submitting a file in a POST operation may look like the following example:

requestBody:
  content:
    application/octet-stream: {}

In addition, specific media types MAY be specified:

# multiple, specific media types may be specified:
requestBody:
  content:
    # a binary file of type png or jpeg
    image/jpeg: {}
    image/png: {}

To upload multiple files, a multipart media type MUST be used:

requestBody:
  content:
    multipart/form-data:
      schema:
        properties:
          # The property name 'file' will be used for all files.
          file:
            type: array
            items: {}

As seen in the section on multipart/form-data below, the empty schema for items indicates a media type of application/octet-stream.

Support for x-www-form-urlencoded Request Bodies

To submit content using form url encoding via RFC1866, the following definition may be used:

requestBody:
  content:
    application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
      schema:
        type: object
        properties:
          id:
            type: string
            format: uuid
          address:
            # complex types are stringified to support RFC 1866
            type: object
            properties: {}

In this example, the contents in the requestBody MUST be stringified per RFC1866 when passed to the server. In addition, the address field complex object will be stringified.

When passing complex objects in the application/x-www-form-urlencoded content type, the default serialization strategy of such properties is described in the Encoding Object's style property as form.

Special Considerations for `multipart` Content

It is common to use multipart/form-data as a Content-Type when transferring request bodies to operations. In contrast to 2.0, a schema is REQUIRED to define the input parameters to the operation when using multipart content. This supports complex structures as well as supporting mechanisms for multiple file uploads.

In a multipart/form-data request body, each schema property, or each element of a schema array property, takes a section in the payload with an internal header as defined by RFC7578. The serialization strategy for each property of a multipart/form-data request body can be specified in an associated Encoding Object.

When passing in multipart types, boundaries MAY be used to separate sections of the content being transferred – thus, the following default Content-Types are defined for multipart:

If the property is a primitive, or an array of primitive values, the default Content-Type is text/plain
If the property is complex, or an array of complex values, the default Content-Type is application/json
If the property is a type: string with a contentEncoding, the default Content-Type is application/octet-stream

Per the JSON Schema specification, contentMediaType without contentEncoding present is treated as if contentEncoding: identity were present. While useful for embedding text documents such as text/html into JSON strings, it is not useful for a multipart/form-data part, as it just causes the document to be treated as text/plain instead of its actual media type. Use the Encoding Object without contentMediaType if no contentEncoding is required.

Examples:

requestBody:
  content:
    multipart/form-data:
      schema:
        type: object
        properties:
          id:
            type: string
            format: uuid
          address:
            # default Content-Type for objects is `application/json`
            type: object
            properties: {}
          profileImage:
            # Content-Type for application-level encoded resource is `text/plain`
            type: string
            contentMediaType: image/png
            contentEncoding: base64
          children:
            # default Content-Type for arrays is based on the _inner_ type (`text/plain` here)
            type: array
            items:
              type: string
          addresses:
            # default Content-Type for arrays is based on the _inner_ type (object shown, so `application/json` in this example)
            type: array
            items:
              type: object
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/Address'

An encoding attribute is introduced to give you control over the serialization of parts of multipart request bodies. This attribute is only applicable to multipart and application/x-www-form-urlencoded request bodies.

Encoding Object

A single encoding definition applied to a single schema property.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
contentType	`string`	The Content-Type for encoding a specific property. Default value depends on the property type: for `object` - `application/json`; for `array` – the default is defined based on the inner type; for all other cases the default is `application/octet-stream`. The value can be a specific media type (e.g. `application/json`), a wildcard media type (e.g. `image/*`), or a comma-separated list of the two types.
headers	Map[`string`, Header Object \| Reference Object]	A map allowing additional information to be provided as headers, for example `Content-Disposition`. `Content-Type` is described separately and SHALL be ignored in this section. This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not a `multipart`.
style	`string`	Describes how a specific property value will be serialized depending on its type. See Parameter Object for details on the `style` property. The behavior follows the same values as `query` parameters, including default values. This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`. If a value is explicitly defined, then the value of `contentType` (implicit or explicit) SHALL be ignored.
explode	`boolean`	When this is true, property values of type `array` or `object` generate separate parameters for each value of the array, or key-value-pair of the map. For other types of properties this property has no effect. When `style` is `form`, the default value is `true`. For all other styles, the default value is `false`. This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`. If a value is explicitly defined, then the value of `contentType` (implicit or explicit) SHALL be ignored.
allowReserved	`boolean`	Determines whether the parameter value SHOULD allow reserved characters, as defined by RFC3986 `:/?#[]@!$&'()*+,;=` to be included without percent-encoding. The default value is `false`. This property SHALL be ignored if the request body media type is not `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`. If a value is explicitly defined, then the value of `contentType` (implicit or explicit) SHALL be ignored.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Encoding Object Example

requestBody:
  content:
    multipart/form-data:
      schema:
        type: object
        properties:
          id:
            # default is text/plain
            type: string
            format: uuid
          address:
            # default is application/json
            type: object
            properties: {}
          historyMetadata:
            # need to declare XML format!
            description: metadata in XML format
            type: object
            properties: {}
          profileImage: {}
      encoding:
        historyMetadata:
          # require XML Content-Type in utf-8 encoding
          contentType: application/xml; charset=utf-8
        profileImage:
          # only accept png/jpeg
          contentType: image/png, image/jpeg
          headers:
            X-Rate-Limit-Limit:
              description: The number of allowed requests in the current period
              schema:
                type: integer

Responses Object

A container for the expected responses of an operation. The container maps a HTTP response code to the expected response.

The documentation is not necessarily expected to cover all possible HTTP response codes because they may not be known in advance. However, documentation is expected to cover a successful operation response and any known errors.

The default MAY be used as a default response object for all HTTP codes that are not covered individually by the Responses Object.

The Responses Object MUST contain at least one response code, and if only one response code is provided it SHOULD be the response for a successful operation call.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
default	Response Object \| Reference Object	The documentation of responses other than the ones declared for specific HTTP response codes. Use this field to cover undeclared responses.

Patterned Fields

Field Pattern	Type	Description
HTTP Status Code	Response Object \| Reference Object	Any HTTP status code can be used as the property name, but only one property per code, to describe the expected response for that HTTP status code. This field MUST be enclosed in quotation marks (for example, "200") for compatibility between JSON and YAML. To define a range of response codes, this field MAY contain the uppercase wildcard character `X`. For example, `2XX` represents all response codes between `[200-299]`. Only the following range definitions are allowed: `1XX`, `2XX`, `3XX`, `4XX`, and `5XX`. If a response is defined using an explicit code, the explicit code definition takes precedence over the range definition for that code.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Responses Object Example

A 200 response for a successful operation and a default response for others (implying an error):

{
  "200": {
    "description": "a pet to be returned",
    "content": {
      "application/json": {
        "schema": {
          "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "default": {
    "description": "Unexpected error",
    "content": {
      "application/json": {
        "schema": {
          "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorModel"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

'200':
  description: a pet to be returned
  content:
    application/json:
      schema:
        $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
default:
  description: Unexpected error
  content:
    application/json:
      schema:
        $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorModel'

Response Object

Describes a single response from an API Operation, including design-time, static links to operations based on the response.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
description	`string`	REQUIRED. A description of the response. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
headers	Map[`string`, Header Object \| Reference Object]	Maps a header name to its definition. RFC7230 states header names are case insensitive. If a response header is defined with the name `"Content-Type"`, it SHALL be ignored.
content	Map[`string`, Media Type Object]	A map containing descriptions of potential response payloads. The key is a media type or media type range and the value describes it. For responses that match multiple keys, only the most specific key is applicable. e.g. text/plain overrides text/*
links	Map[`string`, Link Object \| Reference Object]	A map of operations links that can be followed from the response. The key of the map is a short name for the link, following the naming constraints of the names for Component Objects.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Response Object Examples

Response of an array of a complex type:

{
  "description": "A complex object array response",
  "content": {
    "application/json": {
      "schema": {
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
          "$ref": "#/components/schemas/VeryComplexType"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

description: A complex object array response
content:
  application/json:
    schema:
      type: array
      items:
        $ref: '#/components/schemas/VeryComplexType'

Response with a string type:

{
  "description": "A simple string response",
  "content": {
    "text/plain": {
      "schema": {
        "type": "string"
      }
    }
  }

}

description: A simple string response
content:
  text/plain:
    schema:
      type: string

Plain text response with headers:

{
  "description": "A simple string response",
  "content": {
    "text/plain": {
      "schema": {
        "type": "string",
        "example": "whoa!"
      }
    }
  },
  "headers": {
    "X-Rate-Limit-Limit": {
      "description": "The number of allowed requests in the current period",
      "schema": {
        "type": "integer"
      }
    },
    "X-Rate-Limit-Remaining": {
      "description": "The number of remaining requests in the current period",
      "schema": {
        "type": "integer"
      }
    },
    "X-Rate-Limit-Reset": {
      "description": "The number of seconds left in the current period",
      "schema": {
        "type": "integer"
      }
    }
  }
}

description: A simple string response
content:
  text/plain:
    schema:
      type: string
    example: 'whoa!'
headers:
  X-Rate-Limit-Limit:
    description: The number of allowed requests in the current period
    schema:
      type: integer
  X-Rate-Limit-Remaining:
    description: The number of remaining requests in the current period
    schema:
      type: integer
  X-Rate-Limit-Reset:
    description: The number of seconds left in the current period
    schema:
      type: integer

Response with no return value:

{
  "description": "object created"
}

description: object created

Callback Object

A map of possible out-of band callbacks related to the parent operation. Each value in the map is a Path Item Object that describes a set of requests that may be initiated by the API provider and the expected responses. The key value used to identify the path item object is an expression, evaluated at runtime, that identifies a URL to use for the callback operation.

To describe incoming requests from the API provider independent from another API call, use the webhooks field.

Patterned Fields

Field Pattern	Type	Description
{expression}	Path Item Object \| Reference Object	A Path Item Object, or a reference to one, used to define a callback request and expected responses. A complete example is available.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Key Expression

The key that identifies the Path Item Object is a runtime expression that can be evaluated in the context of a runtime HTTP request/response to identify the URL to be used for the callback request. A simple example might be $request.body#/url. However, using a runtime expression the complete HTTP message can be accessed. This includes accessing any part of a body that a JSON Pointer RFC6901 can reference.

For example, given the following HTTP request:

POST /subscribe/myevent?queryUrl=https://clientdomain.com/stillrunning HTTP/1.1
Host: example.org
Content-Type: application/json
Content-Length: 187

{
  "failedUrl" : "https://clientdomain.com/failed",
  "successUrls" : [
    "https://clientdomain.com/fast",
    "https://clientdomain.com/medium",
    "https://clientdomain.com/slow"
  ]
}

201 Created
Location: https://example.org/subscription/1

The following examples show how the various expressions evaluate, assuming the callback operation has a path parameter named eventType and a query parameter named queryUrl.

Expression	Value
$url	https://example.org/subscribe/myevent?queryUrl=https://clientdomain.com/stillrunning
$method	POST
$request.path.eventType	myevent
$request.query.queryUrl	https://clientdomain.com/stillrunning
$request.header.content-Type	application/json
$request.body#/failedUrl	https://clientdomain.com/failed
$request.body#/successUrls/2	https://clientdomain.com/medium
$response.header.Location	https://example.org/subscription/1

Callback Object Examples

The following example uses the user provided queryUrl query string parameter to define the callback URL. This is an example of how to use a callback object to describe a WebHook callback that goes with the subscription operation to enable registering for the WebHook.

myCallback:
  '{$request.query.queryUrl}':
    post:
      requestBody:
        description: Callback payload
        content:
          'application/json':
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/SomePayload'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: callback successfully processed

The following example shows a callback where the server is hard-coded, but the query string parameters are populated from the id and email property in the request body.

transactionCallback:
  'http://notificationServer.com?transactionId={$request.body#/id}&email={$request.body#/email}':
    post:
      requestBody:
        description: Callback payload
        content:
          'application/json':
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/SomePayload'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: callback successfully processed

Example Object

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
summary	`string`	Short description for the example.
description	`string`	Long description for the example. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
value	Any	Embedded literal example. The `value` field and `externalValue` field are mutually exclusive. To represent examples of media types that cannot naturally represented in JSON or YAML, use a string value to contain the example, escaping where necessary.
externalValue	`string`	A URI that points to the literal example. This provides the capability to reference examples that cannot easily be included in JSON or YAML documents. The `value` field and `externalValue` field are mutually exclusive. See the rules for resolving Relative References.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

In all cases, the example value is expected to be compatible with the type schema of its associated value. Tooling implementations MAY choose to validate compatibility automatically, and reject the example value(s) if incompatible.

Example Object Examples

In a request body:

requestBody:
  content:
    'application/json':
      schema:
        $ref: '#/components/schemas/Address'
      examples:
        foo:
          summary: A foo example
          value: {"foo": "bar"}
        bar:
          summary: A bar example
          value: {"bar": "baz"}
    'application/xml':
      examples:
        xmlExample:
          summary: This is an example in XML
          externalValue: 'https://example.org/examples/address-example.xml'
    'text/plain':
      examples:
        textExample:
          summary: This is a text example
          externalValue: 'https://foo.bar/examples/address-example.txt'

In a parameter:

parameters:
  - name: 'zipCode'
    in: 'query'
    schema:
      type: 'string'
      format: 'zip-code'
    examples:
      zip-example:
        $ref: '#/components/examples/zip-example'

In a response:

responses:
  '200':
    description: your car appointment has been booked
    content:
      application/json:
        schema:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/SuccessResponse'
        examples:
          confirmation-success:
            $ref: '#/components/examples/confirmation-success'

Link Object

The Link object represents a possible design-time link for a response. The presence of a link does not guarantee the caller's ability to successfully invoke it, rather it provides a known relationship and traversal mechanism between responses and other operations.

Unlike dynamic links (i.e. links provided in the response payload), the OAS linking mechanism does not require link information in the runtime response.

For computing links, and providing instructions to execute them, a runtime expression is used for accessing values in an operation and using them as parameters while invoking the linked operation.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
operationRef	`string`	A relative or absolute URI reference to an OAS operation. This field is mutually exclusive of the `operationId` field, and MUST point to an Operation Object. Relative `operationRef` values MAY be used to locate an existing Operation Object in the OpenAPI definition. See the rules for resolving Relative References.
operationId	`string`	The name of an existing, resolvable OAS operation, as defined with a unique `operationId`. This field is mutually exclusive of the `operationRef` field.
parameters	Map[`string`, Any \| {expression}]	A map representing parameters to pass to an operation as specified with `operationId` or identified via `operationRef`. The key is the parameter name to be used, whereas the value can be a constant or an expression to be evaluated and passed to the linked operation. The parameter name can be qualified using the parameter location `[{in}.]{name}` for operations that use the same parameter name in different locations (e.g. path.id).
requestBody	Any \| {expression}	A literal value or {expression} to use as a request body when calling the target operation.
description	`string`	A description of the link. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
server	Server Object	A server object to be used by the target operation.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

A linked operation MUST be identified using either an operationRef or operationId. In the case of an operationId, it MUST be unique and resolved in the scope of the OAS document. Because of the potential for name clashes, the operationRef syntax is preferred for OpenAPI documents with external references.

Examples

Computing a link from a request operation where the $request.path.id is used to pass a request parameter to the linked operation.

paths:
  /users/{id}:
    parameters:
    - name: id
      in: path
      required: true
      description: the user identifier, as userId
      schema:
        type: string
    get:
      responses:
        '200':
          description: the user being returned
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  uuid: # the unique user id
                    type: string
                    format: uuid
          links:
            address:
              # the target link operationId
              operationId: getUserAddress
              parameters:
                # get the `id` field from the request path parameter named `id`
                userId: $request.path.id
  # the path item of the linked operation
  /users/{userid}/address:
    parameters:
    - name: userid
      in: path
      required: true
      description: the user identifier, as userId
      schema:
        type: string
    # linked operation
    get:
      operationId: getUserAddress
      responses:
        '200':
          description: the user's address

When a runtime expression fails to evaluate, no parameter value is passed to the target operation.

Values from the response body can be used to drive a linked operation.

links:
  address:
    operationId: getUserAddressByUUID
    parameters:
      # get the `uuid` field from the `uuid` field in the response body
      userUuid: $response.body#/uuid

Clients follow all links at their discretion. Neither permissions, nor the capability to make a successful call to that link, is guaranteed solely by the existence of a relationship.

OperationRef Examples

As references to operationId MAY NOT be possible (the operationId is an optional field in an Operation Object), references MAY also be made through a relative operationRef:

links:
  UserRepositories:
    # returns array of '#/components/schemas/repository'
    operationRef: '#/paths/~12.0~1repositories~1{username}/get'
    parameters:
      username: $response.body#/username

or an absolute operationRef:

links:
  UserRepositories:
    # returns array of '#/components/schemas/repository'
    operationRef: 'https://na2.gigantic-server.com/#/paths/~12.0~1repositories~1{username}/get'
    parameters:
      username: $response.body#/username

Note that in the use of operationRef, the escaped forward-slash is necessary when using JSON references.

Runtime Expressions

Runtime expressions allow defining values based on information that will only be available within the HTTP message in an actual API call. This mechanism is used by Link Objects and Callback Objects.

The runtime expression is defined by the following ABNF syntax

      expression = ( "$url" / "$method" / "$statusCode" / "$request." source / "$response." source )
      source = ( header-reference / query-reference / path-reference / body-reference )
      header-reference = "header." token
      query-reference = "query." name 
      path-reference = "path." name
      body-reference = "body" ["#" json-pointer ]
      json-pointer    = *( "/" reference-token )
      reference-token = *( unescaped / escaped )
      unescaped       = %x00-2E / %x30-7D / %x7F-10FFFF
         ; %x2F ('/') and %x7E ('~') are excluded from 'unescaped'
      escaped         = "~" ( "0" / "1" )
        ; representing '~' and '/', respectively
      name = *( CHAR )
      token = 1*tchar
      tchar = "!" / "#" / "$" / "%" / "&" / "'" / "*" / "+" / "-" / "." /
        "^" / "_" / "`" / "|" / "~" / DIGIT / ALPHA

Here, json-pointer is taken from RFC6901, char from RFC7159 and token from RFC7230.

The name identifier is case-sensitive, whereas token is not.

The table below provides examples of runtime expressions and examples of their use in a value:

Examples

Source Location	example expression	notes
HTTP Method	`$method`	The allowable values for the `$method` will be those for the HTTP operation.
Requested media type	`$request.header.accept`
Request parameter	`$request.path.id`	Request parameters MUST be declared in the `parameters` section of the parent operation or they cannot be evaluated. This includes request headers.
Request body property	`$request.body#/user/uuid`	In operations which accept payloads, references may be made to portions of the `requestBody` or the entire body.
Request URL	`$url`
Response value	`$response.body#/status`	In operations which return payloads, references may be made to portions of the response body or the entire body.
Response header	`$response.header.Server`	Single header values only are available

Runtime expressions preserve the type of the referenced value. Expressions can be embedded into string values by surrounding the expression with {} curly braces.

Header Object

The Header Object follows the structure of the Parameter Object with the following changes:

name MUST NOT be specified, it is given in the corresponding headers map.
in MUST NOT be specified, it is implicitly in header.
All traits that are affected by the location MUST be applicable to a location of header (for example, style).

Header Object Example

A simple header of type integer:

{
  "description": "The number of allowed requests in the current period",
  "schema": {
    "type": "integer"
  }
}

description: The number of allowed requests in the current period
schema:
  type: integer

Tag Object

Adds metadata to a single tag that is used by the Operation Object. It is not mandatory to have a Tag Object per tag defined in the Operation Object instances.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
name	`string`	REQUIRED. The name of the tag.
description	`string`	A description for the tag. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
externalDocs	External Documentation Object	Additional external documentation for this tag.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Tag Object Example

{
	"name": "pet",
	"description": "Pets operations"
}

name: pet
description: Pets operations

Reference Object

A simple object to allow referencing other components in the OpenAPI document, internally and externally.

The $ref string value contains a URI RFC3986, which identifies the location of the value being referenced.

See the rules for resolving Relative References.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
$ref	`string`	REQUIRED. The reference identifier. This MUST be in the form of a URI.
summary	`string`	A short summary which by default SHOULD override that of the referenced component. If the referenced object-type does not allow a `summary` field, then this field has no effect.
description	`string`	A description which by default SHOULD override that of the referenced component. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation. If the referenced object-type does not allow a `description` field, then this field has no effect.

This object cannot be extended with additional properties and any properties added SHALL be ignored.

Note that this restriction on additional properties is a difference between Reference Objects and Schema Objects that contain a $ref keyword.

Reference Object Example

{
	"$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
}

$ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'

Relative Schema Document Example

{
  "$ref": "Pet.json"
}

$ref: Pet.yaml

Relative Documents With Embedded Schema Example

{
  "$ref": "definitions.json#/Pet"
}

$ref: definitions.yaml#/Pet

Schema Object

The Schema Object allows the definition of input and output data types. These types can be objects, but also primitives and arrays. This object is a superset of the JSON Schema Specification Draft 2020-12.

For more information about the properties, see JSON Schema Core and JSON Schema Validation.

Unless stated otherwise, the property definitions follow those of JSON Schema and do not add any additional semantics. Where JSON Schema indicates that behavior is defined by the application (e.g. for annotations), OAS also defers the definition of semantics to the application consuming the OpenAPI document.

Properties

The OpenAPI Schema Object dialect is defined as requiring the OAS base vocabulary, in addition to the vocabularies as specified in the JSON Schema draft 2020-12 general purpose meta-schema.

The OpenAPI Schema Object dialect for this version of the specification is identified by the URI https://spec.openapis.org/oas/3.1/dialect/base (the "OAS dialect schema id").

The following properties are taken from the JSON Schema specification but their definitions have been extended by the OAS:

description - CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
format - See Data Type Formats for further details. While relying on JSON Schema's defined formats, the OAS offers a few additional predefined formats.

In addition to the JSON Schema properties comprising the OAS dialect, the Schema Object supports keywords from any other vocabularies, or entirely arbitrary properties.

The OpenAPI Specification's base vocabulary is comprised of the following keywords:

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
discriminator	Discriminator Object	Adds support for polymorphism. The discriminator is an object name that is used to differentiate between other schemas which may satisfy the payload description. See Composition and Inheritance for more details.
xml	XML Object	This MAY be used only on properties schemas. It has no effect on root schemas. Adds additional metadata to describe the XML representation of this property.
externalDocs	External Documentation Object	Additional external documentation for this schema.
example	Any	A free-form property to include an example of an instance for this schema. To represent examples that cannot be naturally represented in JSON or YAML, a string value can be used to contain the example with escaping where necessary. Deprecated: The `example` property has been deprecated in favor of the JSON Schema `examples` keyword. Use of `example` is discouraged, and later versions of this specification may remove it.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions, though as noted, additional properties MAY omit the x- prefix within this object.

Composition and Inheritance (Polymorphism)

The OpenAPI Specification allows combining and extending model definitions using the allOf property of JSON Schema, in effect offering model composition. allOf takes an array of object definitions that are validated independently but together compose a single object.

While composition offers model extensibility, it does not imply a hierarchy between the models. To support polymorphism, the OpenAPI Specification adds the discriminator field. When used, the discriminator will be the name of the property that decides which schema definition validates the structure of the model. As such, the discriminator field MUST be a required field. There are two ways to define the value of a discriminator for an inheriting instance.

Use the schema name.
Override the schema name by overriding the property with a new value. If a new value exists, this takes precedence over the schema name. As such, inline schema definitions, which do not have a given id, cannot be used in polymorphism.

XML Modeling

The xml property allows extra definitions when translating the JSON definition to XML. The XML Object contains additional information about the available options.

Specifying Schema Dialects

It is important for tooling to be able to determine which dialect or meta-schema any given resource wishes to be processed with: JSON Schema Core, JSON Schema Validation, OpenAPI Schema dialect, or some custom meta-schema.

The $schema keyword MAY be present in any root Schema Object, and if present MUST be used to determine which dialect should be used when processing the schema. This allows use of Schema Objects which comply with other drafts of JSON Schema than the default Draft 2020-12 support. Tooling MUST support the OAS dialect schema id, and MAY support additional values of $schema.

To allow use of a different default $schema value for all Schema Objects contained within an OAS document, a jsonSchemaDialect value may be set within the OpenAPI Object. If this default is not set, then the OAS dialect schema id MUST be used for these Schema Objects. The value of $schema within a Schema Object always overrides any default.

When a Schema Object is referenced from an external resource which is not an OAS document (e.g. a bare JSON Schema resource), then the value of the $schema keyword for schemas within that resource MUST follow JSON Schema rules.

Schema Object Examples

Primitive Sample

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "email"
}

type: string
format: email

Simple Model

{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "name"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "address": {
      "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Address"
    },
    "age": {
      "type": "integer",
      "format": "int32",
      "minimum": 0
    }
  }
}

type: object
required:
- name
properties:
  name:
    type: string
  address:
    $ref: '#/components/schemas/Address'
  age:
    type: integer
    format: int32
    minimum: 0

Model with Map/Dictionary Properties

For a simple string to string mapping:

{
  "type": "object",
  "additionalProperties": {
    "type": "string"
  }
}

type: object
additionalProperties:
  type: string

For a string to model mapping:

{
  "type": "object",
  "additionalProperties": {
    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ComplexModel"
  }
}

type: object
additionalProperties:
  $ref: '#/components/schemas/ComplexModel'

Model with Example

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "integer",
      "format": "int64"
    },
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "name"
  ],
  "example": {
    "name": "Puma",
    "id": 1
  }
}

type: object
properties:
  id:
    type: integer
    format: int64
  name:
    type: string
required:
- name
example:
  name: Puma
  id: 1

Models with Composition

{
  "components": {
    "schemas": {
      "ErrorModel": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "message",
          "code"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "message": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "code": {
            "type": "integer",
            "minimum": 100,
            "maximum": 600
          }
        }
      },
      "ExtendedErrorModel": {
        "allOf": [
          {
            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorModel"
          },
          {
            "type": "object",
            "required": [
              "rootCause"
            ],
            "properties": {
              "rootCause": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

components:
  schemas:
    ErrorModel:
      type: object
      required:
      - message
      - code
      properties:
        message:
          type: string
        code:
          type: integer
          minimum: 100
          maximum: 600
    ExtendedErrorModel:
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorModel'
      - type: object
        required:
        - rootCause
        properties:
          rootCause:
            type: string

Models with Polymorphism Support

{
  "components": {
    "schemas": {
      "Pet": {
        "type": "object",
        "discriminator": {
          "propertyName": "petType"
        },
        "properties": {
          "name": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "petType": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "required": [
          "name",
          "petType"
        ]
      },
      "Cat": {
        "description": "A representation of a cat. Note that `Cat` will be used as the discriminator value.",
        "allOf": [
          {
            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
          },
          {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "huntingSkill": {
                "type": "string",
                "description": "The measured skill for hunting",
                "default": "lazy",
                "enum": [
                  "clueless",
                  "lazy",
                  "adventurous",
                  "aggressive"
                ]
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "huntingSkill"
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      "Dog": {
        "description": "A representation of a dog. Note that `Dog` will be used as the discriminator value.",
        "allOf": [
          {
            "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Pet"
          },
          {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "packSize": {
                "type": "integer",
                "format": "int32",
                "description": "the size of the pack the dog is from",
                "default": 0,
                "minimum": 0
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "packSize"
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

components:
  schemas:
    Pet:
      type: object
      discriminator:
        propertyName: petType
      properties:
        name:
          type: string
        petType:
          type: string
      required:
      - name
      - petType
    Cat:  ## "Cat" will be used as the discriminator value
      description: A representation of a cat
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
      - type: object
        properties:
          huntingSkill:
            type: string
            description: The measured skill for hunting
            enum:
            - clueless
            - lazy
            - adventurous
            - aggressive
        required:
        - huntingSkill
    Dog:  ## "Dog" will be used as the discriminator value
      description: A representation of a dog
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
      - type: object
        properties:
          packSize:
            type: integer
            format: int32
            description: the size of the pack the dog is from
            default: 0
            minimum: 0
        required:
        - packSize

Discriminator Object

When request bodies or response payloads may be one of a number of different schemas, a discriminator object can be used to aid in serialization, deserialization, and validation. The discriminator is a specific object in a schema which is used to inform the consumer of the document of an alternative schema based on the value associated with it.

When using the discriminator, inline schemas will not be considered.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
propertyName	`string`	REQUIRED. The name of the property in the payload that will hold the discriminator value.
mapping	Map[`string`, `string`]	An object to hold mappings between payload values and schema names or references.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

The discriminator object is legal only when using one of the composite keywords oneOf, anyOf, allOf.

In OAS 3.0, a response payload MAY be described to be exactly one of any number of types:

MyResponseType:
  oneOf:
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Cat'
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Lizard'

which means the payload MUST, by validation, match exactly one of the schemas described by Cat, Dog, or Lizard. In this case, a discriminator MAY act as a "hint" to shortcut validation and selection of the matching schema which may be a costly operation, depending on the complexity of the schema. We can then describe exactly which field tells us which schema to use:

MyResponseType:
  oneOf:
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Cat'
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Lizard'
  discriminator:
    propertyName: petType

The expectation now is that a property with name petType MUST be present in the response payload, and the value will correspond to the name of a schema defined in the OAS document. Thus the response payload:

{
  "id": 12345,
  "petType": "Cat"
}

Will indicate that the Cat schema be used in conjunction with this payload.

In scenarios where the value of the discriminator field does not match the schema name or implicit mapping is not possible, an optional mapping definition MAY be used:

MyResponseType:
  oneOf:
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Cat'
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Lizard'
  - $ref: 'https://gigantic-server.com/schemas/Monster/schema.json'
  discriminator:
    propertyName: petType
    mapping:
      dog: '#/components/schemas/Dog'
      monster: 'https://gigantic-server.com/schemas/Monster/schema.json'

Here the discriminator value of dog will map to the schema #/components/schemas/Dog, rather than the default (implicit) value of Dog. If the discriminator value does not match an implicit or explicit mapping, no schema can be determined and validation SHOULD fail. Mapping keys MUST be string values, but tooling MAY convert response values to strings for comparison.

When used in conjunction with the anyOf construct, the use of the discriminator can avoid ambiguity where multiple schemas may satisfy a single payload.

In both the oneOf and anyOf use cases, all possible schemas MUST be listed explicitly. To avoid redundancy, the discriminator MAY be added to a parent schema definition, and all schemas comprising the parent schema in an allOf construct may be used as an alternate schema.

For example:

components:
  schemas:
    Pet:
      type: object
      required:
      - petType
      properties:
        petType:
          type: string
      discriminator:
        propertyName: petType
        mapping:
          dog: Dog
    Cat:
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
      - type: object
        # all other properties specific to a `Cat`
        properties:
          name:
            type: string
    Dog:
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
      - type: object
        # all other properties specific to a `Dog`
        properties:
          bark:
            type: string
    Lizard:
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pet'
      - type: object
        # all other properties specific to a `Lizard`
        properties:
          lovesRocks:
            type: boolean

a payload like this:

{
  "petType": "Cat",
  "name": "misty"
}

will indicate that the Cat schema be used. Likewise this schema:

{
  "petType": "dog",
  "bark": "soft"
}

will map to Dog because of the definition in the mapping element.

XML Object

A metadata object that allows for more fine-tuned XML model definitions.

When using arrays, XML element names are not inferred (for singular/plural forms) and the name property SHOULD be used to add that information. See examples for expected behavior.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
name	`string`	Replaces the name of the element/attribute used for the described schema property. When defined within `items`, it will affect the name of the individual XML elements within the list. When defined alongside `type` being `array` (outside the `items`), it will affect the wrapping element and only if `wrapped` is `true`. If `wrapped` is `false`, it will be ignored.
namespace	`string`	The URI of the namespace definition. This MUST be in the form of an absolute URI.
prefix	`string`	The prefix to be used for the name.
attribute	`boolean`	Declares whether the property definition translates to an attribute instead of an element. Default value is `false`.
wrapped	`boolean`	MAY be used only for an array definition. Signifies whether the array is wrapped (for example, `<books><book/><book/></books>`) or unwrapped (`<book/><book/>`). Default value is `false`. The definition takes effect only when defined alongside `type` being `array` (outside the `items`).

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

XML Object Examples

The examples of the XML object definitions are included inside a property definition of a Schema Object with a sample of the XML representation of it.

No XML Element

Basic string property:

{
    "animals": {
        "type": "string"
    }
}

animals:
  type: string

<animals>...</animals>

Basic string array property (wrapped is false by default):

{
    "animals": {
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
            "type": "string"
        }
    }
}

animals:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string

<animals>...</animals>
<animals>...</animals>
<animals>...</animals>

XML Name Replacement

{
  "animals": {
    "type": "string",
    "xml": {
      "name": "animal"
    }
  }
}

animals:
  type: string
  xml:
    name: animal

<animal>...</animal>

XML Attribute, Prefix and Namespace

In this example, a full model definition is shown.

{
  "Person": {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "id": {
        "type": "integer",
        "format": "int32",
        "xml": {
          "attribute": true
        }
      },
      "name": {
        "type": "string",
        "xml": {
          "namespace": "https://example.com/schema/sample",
          "prefix": "sample"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Person:
  type: object
  properties:
    id:
      type: integer
      format: int32
      xml:
        attribute: true
    name:
      type: string
      xml:
        namespace: https://example.com/schema/sample
        prefix: sample

<Person id="123">
    <sample:name xmlns:sample="https://example.com/schema/sample">example</sample:name>
</Person>

XML Arrays

Changing the element names:

{
  "animals": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "string",
      "xml": {
        "name": "animal"
      }
    }
  }
}

animals:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
    xml:
      name: animal

<animal>value</animal>
<animal>value</animal>

The external name property has no effect on the XML:

{
  "animals": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "string",
      "xml": {
        "name": "animal"
      }
    },
    "xml": {
      "name": "aliens"
    }
  }
}

animals:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
    xml:
      name: animal
  xml:
    name: aliens

<animal>value</animal>
<animal>value</animal>

Even when the array is wrapped, if a name is not explicitly defined, the same name will be used both internally and externally:

{
  "animals": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "xml": {
      "wrapped": true
    }
  }
}

animals:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
  xml:
    wrapped: true

<animals>
  <animals>value</animals>
  <animals>value</animals>
</animals>

To overcome the naming problem in the example above, the following definition can be used:

{
  "animals": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "string",
      "xml": {
        "name": "animal"
      }
    },
    "xml": {
      "wrapped": true
    }
  }
}

animals:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
    xml:
      name: animal
  xml:
    wrapped: true

<animals>
  <animal>value</animal>
  <animal>value</animal>
</animals>

Affecting both internal and external names:

{
  "animals": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "string",
      "xml": {
        "name": "animal"
      }
    },
    "xml": {
      "name": "aliens",
      "wrapped": true
    }
  }
}

animals:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
    xml:
      name: animal
  xml:
    name: aliens
    wrapped: true

<aliens>
  <animal>value</animal>
  <animal>value</animal>
</aliens>

If we change the external element but not the internal ones:

{
  "animals": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "xml": {
      "name": "aliens",
      "wrapped": true
    }
  }
}

animals:
  type: array
  items:
    type: string
  xml:
    name: aliens
    wrapped: true

<aliens>
  <aliens>value</aliens>
  <aliens>value</aliens>
</aliens>

Security Scheme Object

Defines a security scheme that can be used by the operations.

Supported schemes are HTTP authentication, an API key (either as a header, a cookie parameter or as a query parameter), mutual TLS (use of a client certificate), OAuth2's common flows (implicit, password, client credentials and authorization code) as defined in RFC6749, and OpenID Connect Discovery. Please note that as of 2020, the implicit flow is about to be deprecated by OAuth 2.0 Security Best Current Practice. Recommended for most use case is Authorization Code Grant flow with PKCE.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Applies To	Description
type	`string`	Any	REQUIRED. The type of the security scheme. Valid values are `"apiKey"`, `"http"`, `"mutualTLS"`, `"oauth2"`, `"openIdConnect"`.
description	`string`	Any	A description for security scheme. CommonMark syntax MAY be used for rich text representation.
name	`string`	`apiKey`	REQUIRED. The name of the header, query or cookie parameter to be used.
in	`string`	`apiKey`	REQUIRED. The location of the API key. Valid values are `"query"`, `"header"` or `"cookie"`.
scheme	`string`	`http`	REQUIRED. The name of the HTTP Authorization scheme to be used in the Authorization header as defined in RFC7235. The values used SHOULD be registered in the IANA Authentication Scheme registry.
bearerFormat	`string`	`http` (`"bearer"`)	A hint to the client to identify how the bearer token is formatted. Bearer tokens are usually generated by an authorization server, so this information is primarily for documentation purposes.
flows	OAuth Flows Object	`oauth2`	REQUIRED. An object containing configuration information for the flow types supported.
openIdConnectUrl	`string`	`openIdConnect`	REQUIRED. OpenId Connect URL to discover OAuth2 configuration values. This MUST be in the form of a URL. The OpenID Connect standard requires the use of TLS.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

Security Scheme Object Example

Basic Authentication Sample

{
  "type": "http",
  "scheme": "basic"
}

type: http
scheme: basic

API Key Sample

{
  "type": "apiKey",
  "name": "api_key",
  "in": "header"
}

type: apiKey
name: api_key
in: header

JWT Bearer Sample

{
  "type": "http",
  "scheme": "bearer",
  "bearerFormat": "JWT",
}

type: http
scheme: bearer
bearerFormat: JWT

Implicit OAuth2 Sample

{
  "type": "oauth2",
  "flows": {
    "implicit": {
      "authorizationUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog",
      "scopes": {
        "write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
        "read:pets": "read your pets"
      }
    }
  }
}

type: oauth2
flows:
  implicit:
    authorizationUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog
    scopes:
      write:pets: modify pets in your account
      read:pets: read your pets

OAuth Flows Object

Allows configuration of the supported OAuth Flows.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
implicit	OAuth Flow Object	Configuration for the OAuth Implicit flow
password	OAuth Flow Object	Configuration for the OAuth Resource Owner Password flow
clientCredentials	OAuth Flow Object	Configuration for the OAuth Client Credentials flow. Previously called `application` in OpenAPI 2.0.
authorizationCode	OAuth Flow Object	Configuration for the OAuth Authorization Code flow. Previously called `accessCode` in OpenAPI 2.0.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

OAuth Flow Object

Configuration details for a supported OAuth Flow

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Applies To	Description
authorizationUrl	`string`	`oauth2` (`"implicit"`, `"authorizationCode"`)	REQUIRED. The authorization URL to be used for this flow. This MUST be in the form of a URL. The OAuth2 standard requires the use of TLS.
tokenUrl	`string`	`oauth2` (`"password"`, `"clientCredentials"`, `"authorizationCode"`)	REQUIRED. The token URL to be used for this flow. This MUST be in the form of a URL. The OAuth2 standard requires the use of TLS.
refreshUrl	`string`	`oauth2`	The URL to be used for obtaining refresh tokens. This MUST be in the form of a URL. The OAuth2 standard requires the use of TLS.
scopes	Map[`string`, `string`]	`oauth2`	REQUIRED. The available scopes for the OAuth2 security scheme. A map between the scope name and a short description for it. The map MAY be empty.

This object MAY be extended with Specification Extensions.

OAuth Flow Object Examples

{
  "type": "oauth2",
  "flows": {
    "implicit": {
      "authorizationUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog",
      "scopes": {
        "write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
        "read:pets": "read your pets"
      }
    },
    "authorizationCode": {
      "authorizationUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog",
      "tokenUrl": "https://example.com/api/oauth/token",
      "scopes": {
        "write:pets": "modify pets in your account",
        "read:pets": "read your pets"
      }
    }
  }
}

type: oauth2
flows:
  implicit:
    authorizationUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog
    scopes:
      write:pets: modify pets in your account
      read:pets: read your pets
  authorizationCode:
    authorizationUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/dialog
    tokenUrl: https://example.com/api/oauth/token
    scopes:
      write:pets: modify pets in your account
      read:pets: read your pets

Security Requirement Object

Lists the required security schemes to execute this operation. The name used for each property MUST correspond to a security scheme declared in the Security Schemes under the Components Object.

Security Requirement Objects that contain multiple schemes require that all schemes MUST be satisfied for a request to be authorized. This enables support for scenarios where multiple query parameters or HTTP headers are required to convey security information.

When a list of Security Requirement Objects is defined on the OpenAPI Object or Operation Object, only one of the Security Requirement Objects in the list needs to be satisfied to authorize the request.

Patterned Fields

Field Pattern	Type	Description
{name}	[`string`]	Each name MUST correspond to a security scheme which is declared in the Security Schemes under the Components Object. If the security scheme is of type `"oauth2"` or `"openIdConnect"`, then the value is a list of scope names required for the execution, and the list MAY be empty if authorization does not require a specified scope. For other security scheme types, the array MAY contain a list of role names which are required for the execution, but are not otherwise defined or exchanged in-band.

Security Requirement Object Examples

Non-OAuth2 Security Requirement

{
  "api_key": []
}

api_key: []

OAuth2 Security Requirement

{
  "petstore_auth": [
    "write:pets",
    "read:pets"
  ]
}

petstore_auth:
- write:pets
- read:pets

Optional OAuth2 Security

Optional OAuth2 security as would be defined in an OpenAPI Object or an Operation Object:

{
  "security": [
    {},
    {
      "petstore_auth": [
        "write:pets",
        "read:pets"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

security:
  - {}
  - petstore_auth:
    - write:pets
    - read:pets

Specification Extensions

While the OpenAPI Specification tries to accommodate most use cases, additional data can be added to extend the specification at certain points.

The extensions properties are implemented as patterned fields that are always prefixed by "x-".

Field Pattern	Type	Description
^x-	Any	Allows extensions to the OpenAPI Schema. The field name MUST begin with `x-`, for example, `x-internal-id`. Field names beginning `x-oai-` and `x-oas-` are reserved for uses defined by the OpenAPI Initiative. The value can be `null`, a primitive, an array or an object.

The extensions may or may not be supported by the available tooling, but those may be extended as well to add requested support (if tools are internal or open-sourced).

Security Filtering

Some objects in the OpenAPI Specification MAY be declared and remain empty, or be completely removed, even though they are inherently the core of the API documentation.

The reasoning is to allow an additional layer of access control over the documentation. While not part of the specification itself, certain libraries MAY choose to allow access to parts of the documentation based on some form of authentication/authorization.

Two examples of this:

The Paths Object MAY be present but empty. It may be counterintuitive, but this may tell the viewer that they got to the right place, but can't access any documentation. They would still have access to at least the Info Object which may contain additional information regarding authentication.
The Path Item Object MAY be empty. In this case, the viewer will be aware that the path exists, but will not be able to see any of its operations or parameters. This is different from hiding the path itself from the Paths Object, because the user will be aware of its existence. This allows the documentation provider to finely control what the viewer can see.

Appendix A: Revision History

Version	Date	Notes
3.1.0	2021-02-15	Release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.1.0
3.1.0-rc1	2020-10-08	rc1 of the 3.1 specification
3.1.0-rc0	2020-06-18	rc0 of the 3.1 specification
3.0.3	2020-02-20	Patch release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.3
3.0.2	2018-10-08	Patch release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.2
3.0.1	2017-12-06	Patch release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.1
3.0.0	2017-07-26	Release of the OpenAPI Specification 3.0.0
3.0.0-rc2	2017-06-16	rc2 of the 3.0 specification
3.0.0-rc1	2017-04-27	rc1 of the 3.0 specification
3.0.0-rc0	2017-02-28	Implementer's Draft of the 3.0 specification
2.0	2015-12-31	Donation of Swagger 2.0 to the OpenAPI Initiative
2.0	2014-09-08	Release of Swagger 2.0
1.2	2014-03-14	Initial release of the formal document.
1.1	2012-08-22	Release of Swagger 1.1
1.0	2011-08-10	First release of the Swagger Specification

Files

3.1.0.md

Latest commit

History

3.1.0.md

File metadata and controls

OpenAPI Specification

Version 3.1.0

Introduction

Table of Contents

Definitions

OpenAPI Document

Path Templating

Media Types

HTTP Status Codes

Specification

Versions

Format

Document Structure

Data Types

Rich Text Formatting

Relative References in URIs

Relative References in URLs

Schema

OpenAPI Object

Fixed Fields

Info Object

Fixed Fields

Info Object Example

Contact Object

Fixed Fields

Contact Object Example

License Object

Fixed Fields

License Object Example

Server Object

Fixed Fields

Server Object Example

Server Variable Object

Fixed Fields

Components Object

Fixed Fields

Components Object Example

Paths Object

Patterned Fields

Path Templating Matching

Paths Object Example

Path Item Object

Fixed Fields

Path Item Object Example

Operation Object

Fixed Fields

Operation Object Example

External Documentation Object

Fixed Fields

External Documentation Object Example

Parameter Object

Parameter Locations

Fixed Fields

Style Values

Style Examples

Parameter Object Examples

Request Body Object

Fixed Fields

Request Body Examples

Media Type Object

Fixed Fields

Media Type Examples

Considerations for File Uploads

Support for x-www-form-urlencoded Request Bodies

Special Considerations for multipart Content

Encoding Object

Fixed Fields

Encoding Object Example

Responses Object

Fixed Fields

Patterned Fields

Responses Object Example

Response Object

Fixed Fields

Special Considerations for `multipart` Content