REST Api

[stiller]

We would like to create some webservices around the zimbra backend, preferably using the REST interface for CRUD. Having searched the forums, read the wiki on user migration, the documentation and various blogposts (thanks Roland), it's still unclear which parts can or can't be reached through REST. Some parts seem to support remote queries, and some parts even support create/update operations through POST. As an NE customer, we've contacted support and even they can't seem to provide us with a clear answer.

Of course, there's always SOAP, but that would require a lot of study, since it looks pretty closely bound to the client and we have no way of telling how stable and consistent it will prove to be.

So hopefully, some internal documentation on REST exists which is more complete than the very specific examples found online. And finally, are there plans to expose more if not all of the zimbra functionality through REST?

Zimbra will prove to be a fantastic webservices platform, if these aspects are publicized in a clear and consistent manner.

[stiller]

Sorry to bump own post, but I think the REST API deserves some discussion.
After having worked my way through the somewhat terse REST.txt documentation and experimenting with the various calls, I have come to a few conclusions:

- The JSON returned through the REST interface is not deemed valid by several frameworks and online tools. Not sure why.
- Zimbra does not seem to support sending messages through a POST interface
- POSTing new content only seems to be supported for a few object types such as MIME or vcards? Allowing zimbra to create contacts, tasks, events etc. through JSON REST calls would be much more flexible.
- No DELETE?
- Updating an item is not an explicit function, but simply posting it again with a modify flag. Should be PUT.

That's all the time I had. Meanwhile, using a competing product and some JS frameworks, I was able to create a proof-of-concept client in a week. These are some very powerful concepts without the tight coupling of the XML/JSON API.