Description
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Web APIs often include inter-parameter dependencies [1] that constrain how input parameters can be combined to form valid service calls.
Violating inter-parameter dependencies leads to:
- Unnecessary message exchanges, resulting in wasted time and excessive quota usage.
- Ambiguous error messages or failures due to insufficient validation of input requests, making debugging and resolution challenging.
Describe the solution you'd like
We propose the integration of IDLFilter [2], a custom filter for Spring Cloud Gateway, designed to:
- Detect and explain inter-parameter dependency violations in Web APIs.
- Leverage the Inter-parameter Dependency Language (IDL) to specify parameter constraints [3, 4].
- Utilize IDLReasoner, a constraint-based analysis engine, to enforce these constraints effectively [3, 4].
Key Benefits
- Enhanced error messaging: Informative and actionable error responses for invalid API calls.
- Robust input validation: Reduces the likelihood of failures caused by dependency violations.
- Improved performance:
- A 59% reduction in response time for invalid requests.
- Only a minimal 7% overhead for valid requests.
Evaluation Results
- Tested with 12 industrial API operations and ~30K API calls (manual and automated).
- Results show that IDLFilter effectively blocks invalid API calls and provides detailed explanations for violations.
References
1- Martin-Lopez, A., Segura, S., Ruiz-Cortés, A. (2019). A Catalogue of Inter-parameter Dependencies in RESTful Web APIs. Springer Link
2- IDLFilter: GitHub Repository
3- Barakat, S., Martin-Lopez, A., Müller, C., Segura, S., & Ruiz-Cortés, A. (2025). The IDL Tool Suite: Specifying and Analyzing Inter-Parameter Dependencies in Web APIs. ScienceDirect
4- IDLWebsite: http://idl.us.es