API
A defined way for one program to ask another for something.
An API is a contract: a set of endpoints or functions, a request format, a response format, and rules about failure. A model API is the same thing with a model behind it: you send a request containing messages, and you get back a response containing generated text and usage numbers.
The contract is the point. Because the interface is fixed, you can swap providers, put a cache in front, or switch to a local model without rewriting the code that calls it. Products that hard-code a provider's quirks lose that freedom, and pay for it every time the price or the behaviour changes.
Error handling is where most integrations go wrong. Rate limits, timeouts, and partial failures are normal operation, not exceptions.
Related terms
Model Provider
The company that serves a model to you. Usually someone else's server.
Rate Limit
A cap on how fast you may call the API, and the most common cause of failures at scale.
Latency
How long you wait. The time to the first token matters more than the total.
Integration
Connecting your system to the other systems it needs to work with.
SDK
A packaged library that wraps an API so you do not have to call it by hand.
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