OpenAPI Explorer:Use Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit in VS Code

Prerequisites

VS Code is installed.

Method 1: Download and install the extension from Extensions

1. In the left-side navigation bar of VS Code, click the icon.

2. Search for Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit and click Install.

Method 2: Download the installation package from a browser

1. Visit the Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit page on the official Marketplace of VS Code in a browser. Click Install. The VS Code client is invoked and the Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit page appears.

2. On the Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit page in VS Code, click Install.

Verify the installation

After the extension is installed, the Alibaba Cloud icon appears in the left-side navigation pane.

Subscription to Alibaba Cloud services

Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit allows you to subscribe to Alibaba Cloud services with a few clicks, supports different versions of APIs of Alibaba Cloud services, and provides prompts for recommended versions. You can press Ctrl+Cmd+K (Ctrl+Win+K in Windows) to search for and subscribe to Alibaba Cloud services without the need to use a configuration file.

API search

Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit allows you to search for the APIs to which you have subscribed. You can press Ctrl+Cmd+L (Ctrl+Win+L in Windows) to search for and view the API references corresponding to the subscribed APIs. You can also insert code snippets.

API reference preview

You can click an API operation to open a new tab and view the corresponding API reference on the tab. The API reference contains information such as the usage notes, request parameters, response parameters, and error codes.

API debugging

• After the identity and credential are verified, you can use Alibaba Cloud API Toolkit to debug API operations.

• You can debug Alibaba Cloud APIs by configuring parameters and view the debugging results.

• You can directly view the returned results of API operations in VS Code.

Use sample code

Complete and run the code

• Complete the code

  • Modify the endpoint.

    Log on to OpenAPI Explorer, move the pointer over Cloud Products in the top navigation bar, and then click an Alibaba Cloud service. On the Regions tab of the page that appears, you can view the supported endpoints.

  • Specify request parameters. For more information, see the API reference preview section of this topic.

  • Optional. Add logging.

  • Save the code.

    import OpenApi, * as $OpenApi from '@alicloud/openapi-client';
    import Ecs20140526, * as $Ecs20140526 from '@alicloud/ecs20140526';
    export default class DescribeRegion {
        static async main(args: string[]): Promise<void> {
            let config = new $OpenApi.Config({
                // Make sure that the ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID and ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured in the code runtime environment. 
                accessKeyId: process.env['ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID'],
                accessKeySecret: process.env['ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET'],
                // Specify an endpoint. For more information, see endpoints at https://api.aliyun.com/product/Ecs.
                endpoint: `ecs.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com`,
            });
            let client = new Ecs20140526(config);
            let describeRegionsRequest = new $Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest({});
            let response = await client.describeRegions(describeRegionsRequest);
            console.log(response.body?.regions?.region);
        }
    }

• Run the code

  1. Run the following command on the terminal to compile the TypeScript file into a JavaScript file:

     tsc client.ts # client.ts is the file name.

  2. Create a main.js file and copy the following code in the edit section:

     const { default: Describeregion } = require("./describeregion");
     
     Describeregion.main();
     

  3. Run the following command on the terminal to run the sample code:

     node .\main.js

  4. View the result. If the result displayed in the following figure is returned, the call is successful.