# flAPI | Make your data fly!

flAPI transforms SQL queries into production-ready REST APIs powered by DuckDB. Build blazing-fast, secure, AI-ready APIs in minutes.

## Ai-integration

- [Claude Integration](https://flapi.io/docs/ai-integration/claude-integration.md): Connect flAPI to Claude Desktop and Claude AI
- [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://flapi.io/docs/ai-integration/mcp-overview.md): Expose flAPI endpoints as structured tools for AI agents

## Concepts

- [Architecture Deep Dive](https://flapi.io/docs/concepts/architecture.md): Understanding how flAPI decouples slow backends from fast applications
- [Caching Strategy](https://flapi.io/docs/concepts/caching-strategy.md): How flAPI's caching dramatically reduces costs and improves performance
- [How It Works](https://flapi.io/docs/concepts/how-it-works.md): Understand flAPI's 3-step process to transform data into fast APIs
- [SQL Templating](https://flapi.io/docs/concepts/sql-templating.md): Dynamic SQL queries with Mustache syntax

## Endpoints

- [Authentication](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/authentication.md): Secure your flAPI endpoints with JWT, Basic Auth, or custom authentication
- [Endpoints Overview](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/overview.md): Learn how to create and configure API endpoints in flAPI
- [Parameters](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/parameters.md): Handle request parameters in flAPI endpoints
- [Response Format](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/response-format.md): Configure API response formats and structure
- [SQL Templates](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/sql-templates.md): Learn how to write SQL templates for your API endpoints
- [Validation](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/validation.md): Validate input parameters for security and data integrity
- [Write Operations (CRUD)](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/write-operations.md): flAPI supports full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations, enabling you to build complete data APIs that not only serve data but also accept modifications. This guide covers how to configure write endpoints with validation, transactions, and guaranteed data integrity.
- [YAML Syntax & Structure](https://flapi.io/docs/endpoints/yaml-syntax.md): Extended YAML syntax for endpoints and MCP tools with best practices

## Examples

- [BigQuery with Caching](https://flapi.io/docs/examples/bigquery-caching.md): Complete example of caching BigQuery data for cost-effective APIs
- [Complete CRUD API Tutorial](https://flapi.io/docs/examples/crud-api.md): In this tutorial, you'll build a complete product management API with Create, Read, Update, and Delete operations using flAPI. By the end, you'll have a fully functional API that validates input, returns created data, and wraps writes in transactions.
- [Google Sheets API](https://flapi.io/docs/examples/google-sheets-api.md): Build a collaborative product catalog API from a spreadsheet
- [Parquet File API](https://flapi.io/docs/examples/parquet-api.md): Create a REST API from Parquet files in 5 minutes
- [SAP ERP Materials API](https://flapi.io/docs/examples/sap-erp-api.md): Complete example of building a materials inventory API from SAP ERP
- [Vector Search RAG API](https://flapi.io/docs/examples/vector-search-rag.md): Build a production RAG system for AI agents with semantic search

## Getting-started

- [Building from Source](https://flapi.io/docs/getting-started/build-from-source.md): Prerequisites
- [Configuration](https://flapi.io/docs/getting-started/configuration.md): flAPI uses YAML files for configuration. The main configuration file (flapi.yaml) defines global settings and connections.
- [Contributing](https://flapi.io/docs/getting-started/contributing.md): We welcome contributions to Flapi! Here's how you can help:
- [Deployment](https://flapi.io/docs/getting-started/deployment.md): Deploy flAPI to any cloud platform or on-premises infrastructure
- [Creating Your First API](https://flapi.io/docs/getting-started/first-api.md): This guide will walk you through creating your first API endpoint with FLAPI.
- [Introduction to flAPI](https://flapi.io/docs/getting-started/introduction.md): The high-performance serving layer for enterprise data
- [Quickstart](https://flapi.io/docs/getting-started/quickstart.md): What is Flapi?

## Guides

- [Bidirectional Data Sync Patterns](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/bidirectional-sync.md): Traditional data serving layers are read-only—they pull data from slow backends and serve it from a fast cache, but changes flow only one direction. flAPI's write support enables bidirectional sync patterns where data flows both ways: reads from the cache, writes that update both the cache and the backend.

## Guides - Caching

- [Caching Setup](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/caching/setup.md): Configure caching in flAPI for faster responses and lower costs

## Guides - Connections

- [BigQuery Connection](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/bigquery.md): Connect flAPI to Google BigQuery
- [Google Sheets](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/google-sheets.md): Turn spreadsheets into production APIs
- [ODBC (Universal Connector)](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/odbc.md): Connect to ANY database - Oracle, Teradata, DB2, Informix, and more
- [Connections Overview](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/overview.md): Connect flAPI to your data sources
- [Parquet Files](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/parquet.md): Work with Parquet files in flAPI
- [PostgreSQL Connection](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/postgres.md): Connect flAPI to PostgreSQL databases
- [Power BI](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/powerbi.md): Query Power BI data models programmatically without opening Power BI
- [SAP BW Connection](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/sap-bw.md): Connect flAPI to SAP BW/4HANA for analytics and reporting data
- [SAP ERP Connection](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/sap-erp.md): Connect flAPI to SAP ERP systems using the ERPL extension
- [Snowflake](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/snowflake.md): Cost-optimized access to Snowflake with intelligent caching
- [Vector Search (AI/RAG)](https://flapi.io/docs/guides/connections/vector-search.md): Build semantic search APIs for RAG applications and AI agents

## Tools

- [flapii CLI](https://flapi.io/docs/tools/cli-overview.md): Command-line tools for flAPI development
- [Configuration Service](https://flapi.io/docs/tools/configuration-service.md): Manage and validate flAPI configurations with powerful tooling
- [VS Code Extension](https://flapi.io/docs/tools/vscode-extension.md): flAPI development tools for Visual Studio Code