Strapi APIs to access your content#

Strapi's Content API provides access to your content through REST and GraphQL APIs for front-end applications, plus lower-level Document Service and Query Engine APIs for backend and plugin development.

Once you've created and configured a Strapi project, created a content structure with the Content-Type Builder and started adding data through the Content Manager, you likely would like to access your content.

From a front-end application, your content can be accessed through Strapi's Content API, which is exposed:

by default through the REST API
and also through the GraphQL API if you installed the Strapi built-in GraphQL plugin.

You can also use the Strapi Client library to interact with the REST API.

REST and GraphQL APIs represent the top-level layers of the Content API exposed to external applications. Strapi also provides 2 lower-level APIs:

The Document Service API, accessible through strapi.documents, is the recommended API to interact with your application's database within the backend server or through plugins. The Document Service is the layer that handles documents as well as Strapi's complex content structures like components and dynamic zones.
The Query Engine API, accessible through db.query (i.e., strapi.db.query), interacts with the database layer at a lower level and is used under the hood to execute database queries. It gives unrestricted internal access to the database layer, but is not aware of any advanced Strapi features that Strapi 5 can handle, like Draft & Publish, Internationalization, Content History, and more.
⚠️ In most, if not all, use cases, you should use the Document Service API instead.

This documentation section includes reference information about the following Strapi APIs and some integration guides with 3rd party technologies:

:::strapi Integrations
If you're looking for how to integrate Strapi with other platforms, such as , , , and more, please refer to Strapi's .
:::

Strapi APIs to access your content#

From a front-end application, your content can be accessed through Strapi's Content API, which is exposed:

by default through the REST API

and also through the GraphQL API if you installed the Strapi built-in GraphQL plugin.

You can also use the Strapi Client library to interact with the REST API.

REST and GraphQL APIs represent the top-level layers of the Content API exposed to external applications. Strapi also provides 2 lower-level APIs:

The Document Service API, accessible through strapi.documents, is the recommended API to interact with your application's database within the backend server or through plugins. The Document Service is the layer that handles documents as well as Strapi's complex content structures like components and dynamic zones.

The Query Engine API, accessible through db.query (i.e., strapi.db.query), interacts with the database layer at a lower level and is used under the hood to execute database queries. It gives unrestricted internal access to the database layer, but is not aware of any advanced Strapi features that Strapi 5 can handle, like Draft & Publish, Internationalization, Content History, and more.
⚠️ In most, if not all, use cases, you should use the Document Service API instead.

This documentation section includes reference information about the following Strapi APIs and some integration guides with 3rd party technologies:

:::strapi Integrations
If you're looking for how to integrate Strapi with other platforms, such as , , , and more, please refer to Strapi's .
:::