How to use SDKs to build and maintain API integrations

To help you build and maintain API integrations more easily and successfully, you can leverage the API providers’ software development kits (SDKs).

We’ll break down why SDKs are invaluable in the context of integrations and walk through best practices for using them effectively to ensure you reap their benefits. 

But first, let’s walk through how they can work by sharing a real-world example.

SDK example for API integration

Say you’re using one of our SDKs to build to our unified API. 

We offer SDKs in 6 languages (Node, Java, Python, Go, Ruby, C#/ .NET). Each has its own Github repository page with details on installing the SDK, using it across categories, examples of specific API requests in that coding language (e.g., GET Candidate), and more.

Once you import a package from one of Merge’s SDKs into the relevant code base and select the endpoint you’re interested in, we’ll use IntelliSense to provide details on building to that endpoint.

For example, once you add a base URL for an endpoint, you can hover over it and, using IntelliSense, find all the query parameters you can include.

Similarly, when making POST requests, IntelliSense will tell you which fields are required and what their field types are, allowing you to structure the request body correctly.

Our SDK also makes it easy to parse an API response. 

For instance, you can type in a simple command to access a property associated with an object. Alternatively, you’d have to use an array of dictionaries, which is more tedious to structure and less efficient in retrieving the data you’re interested in. 

Related: 6 examples of powerful SDKs

Benefits of using SDKs for integrations

Now that you know how an SDK can work, let’s break down some of the top benefits associated with using one.

Saves engineers significant time

Each coding language has a native package you can use to develop integrations. 

However, these packages force your developers to construct these requests without critical context on the API providers and specific endpoints. This means they have to review the API providers’ documentation themselves to figure out endpoints’ base URLs, the properties that exist, the parameters they need to pass in, etc. In addition, there’s no input sanitization support, meaning developers won’t know if they’re structuring their requests correctly before making them.

An SDK can neatly address many, if not most, of these drawbacks by abstracting away details on endpoints (e.g., base URLs) and providing guidance on other items, like the authentication parameters you need to pass. 

All of this support translates to countless engineering hours saved over time.

Prevents poorly-built integrations

Neglecting small details in a build can be all it takes to break an integration or prevent it from performing to its full potential. For example, you might not realize that a certain field parameter is available, leading you to not collect more precise data.

SDKs help your engineers become aware of all kinds of details proactively, allowing them to construct reliable and performant integrations consistently. 

Provides a great developer experience

Your engineers likely don’t want to be burdened with constructing raw requests; doing so can feel as tedious and overwhelming as developing the APIs themselves.

Mature SDKs remove the grunt work of API integration development, which helps your engineers focus on the core product initiatives they’re more likely to enjoy and be uniquely suited to handle.

SDK best practices when building and maintaining integrations

Before using an SDK, it’s worth following these best practices:

Determine your specific integration use case(s) first

An SDK is only relevant when you pin down the specific endpoint(s) you want to build to and the data you want to access. 

To that end, you should study the API provider’s documentation to determine the relevant endpoint(s) first, and then test the endpoint(s) in a tool like Postman to confirm the response is what you’d expect.

Once you’re confident you’ve identified the relevant endpoint(s), you can go on to use the SDK to locate the endpoint(s) and determine—and execute—the appropriate implementation schema. 

Bookmark the API providers’ SDK changelogs 

Most API providers offer updates to their SDKs in their GitHub repositories.

And while many updates may not be relevant to your integration use cases and/or don’t require action on your end, keeping tabs on the changelogs ensures that your team pinpoints relevant updates on time. 

With this in mind, it may be worth bookmarking the relevant changelogs from your API providers and revisiting them on a consistent cadence (e.g., once a month).

Prioritize integrations with mature SDKs

Integration providers’ SDKs largely differ from one another. 

Some may provide support on nearly every facet of a request and response while others are barely more useful than raw requests. 

Assuming your integration use cases with two API providers offer relatively similar business value, you should focus on the use case that lets you work off of a more robust SDK first, as you’ll likely be able to build that integration faster and realize value sooner.

Avoid using several SDKs with Merge

Merge lets you add hundreds of integrations across software categories by simply building to its unified API.

This lets your team avoid having to familiarize themselves with different SDKs and risk using ones that are barely functional—if they exist to begin with. 

You can solely use Merge’s SDK once during the initial build. And—given all the features it uses to support developers—it can take your team just a matter of hours to establish the connection successfully.

You can learn more about Merge’s SDKs, Unified API, and other features and capabilities by scheduling a demo with one of our integration experts.

SDK integration FAQ

If you have any additional questions about SDKs, we've answered several common ones below.

What is an SDK?

An SDK consists of various resources, such as debuggers, compilers, and libraries, to help you write code in a specific language quickly and accurately. This code can be used to create mobile or web apps, create internet of things (IoT) applications, develop integrations, and more.

Note: SDKs are inherently different from APIs. An API is a method of enabling connectivity between applications while an SDK provides a wrapper around APIs to simplify the process of calling their endpoints and processing their responses.

What is SDK integration?

It’s simply the process of using a 3rd-party SDK. 

For example, you can use SDKs to build integrations by importing a package from an API provider’s GitHub repository, and then use the SDK’s pre-built functions and capabilities to connect to certain endpoints faster.

Note: SDK integration also differs from API integration. The former can apply to any SDK use case, which includes and extends beyond API integrations.

Do all API providers offer SDKs?

Generally speaking, smaller and newer companies don’t offer SDKs. And even if they do, their SDKs likely offer bare bones functionality that’s barely more useful than making API calls without one.