TL;DR

A REST API is a standardized HTTP interface for reading and writing resources over the web, used to wire a live-chat product to other apps and back-end systems.

Key Points

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REST (Representational State Transfer) was formalized by Roy Fielding in his 2000 dissertation as a set of constraints for building scalable distributed systems [3].

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Requests are stateless: every call carries everything the server needs, so no client session is stored between requests [2].

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It maps HTTP verbs to actions on resources, e.g. GET to read, POST to create, PUT to replace, DELETE to remove [4].

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A REST API is the most common way to programmatically pull a [[chat-transcript]] or sync a [[conversation]] into an external help desk or CRM.

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REST is request/response and pull-based, which contrasts with a [[webhook]] that pushes events to you and with [[http-polling]] or a [[websocket]] used for live message delivery.

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REST APIs are language-agnostic and exchange data in standard formats like JSON, so any client that speaks HTTP can use them [1].

What makes an API RESTful

REST is an architectural style, not a protocol, defined by six constraints: client-server separation, statelessness, cacheability, a uniform interface, a layered system, and optional code-on-demand ^[3]^[2]. The uniform interface is the core idea: each resource has a stable URL, and clients act on it with standard HTTP methods so the same data lives behind one address ^[2]. Because requests are stateless, servers can be scaled and load-balanced freely, and intermediaries can cache responses to cut load ^[2]. In practice many HTTP services are called REST APIs even when they bend some constraints; for builders the useful definition is an HTTP service callable with ordinary web libraries and tools ^[1].

HTTP methods and resources

A REST API models everything as resources, such as a contact, a conversation, or a message, each reachable at a URL like /conversations/123. You operate on them with HTTP verbs: GET retrieves a resource, POST creates one, PUT replaces it, PATCH partially updates it, and DELETE removes it ^[4]. GET is safe and idempotent so it can be cached and retried freely, while POST is neither ^[4]. Responses use standard status codes and typically return JSON. For a live-chat tool this is how an integration would list open conversations, fetch a Website Visitor record, or mark a Conversation closed from an external dashboard.

REST versus webhooks, polling, and sockets

REST is pull-based: your code asks the server for data when it wants it. That is the wrong tool for real-time chat delivery, where you want to know the instant a message arrives. For live updates products use a WebSocket or repeated HTTP Polling in the widget, and a Webhook to push server events outward. Eloqra uses HTTP polling for the widget and a Telegram webhook to route operator replies, rather than a public REST API. REST shines for everything that is fine to fetch on demand: exporting a Chat Transcript, syncing a Contact into a CRM, or batch-reading conversation history. Many teams pair a webhook for instant notifications with a REST API for follow-up reads and writes.

Designing and consuming a REST API

Good REST APIs use predictable, noun-based URLs, consistent JSON shapes, sensible status codes, and authentication via API keys or tokens, plus pagination and rate limits for large datasets ^[2]. Consumers usually call them from server-side code rather than the browser to keep credentials secret. If you are wiring a Live Chat tool to other systems, the REST API is what an AI Coding Agent would target to automate exports or build a custom Shared Inbox view. It complements lower-level building blocks like an Embed Code snippet or a JavaScript Widget on the front end, sitting on the back end where data is read and written.

Sources & References

REST - MDN Web Docs Glossary ↗

What is a RESTful API? - AWS ↗

REST - Wikipedia ↗

HTTP request methods - MDN Web Docs ↗

Last updated: June 25, 2026

Related Terms

Webhook

A webhook is a user-defined HTTP callback: instead of polling for data, an application registers a URL that a source service calls with an HTTP POST request the moment a specific event happens. [1] In Eloqra, a webhook is how an operator's Telegram reply travels back into the chat widget.

HTTP Polling

HTTP polling is a real-time technique where the client repeatedly sends HTTP requests on a fixed interval to ask the server whether new data is available, instead of holding a persistent connection. Eloqra's chat widget uses short polling roughly every 4-5 seconds to fetch new messages and typing state.

WebSocket

WebSocket is a protocol (standardized as RFC 6455) that opens a single, persistent, full-duplex connection between a browser and a server, letting either side push data at any time without re-issuing HTTP requests. It is the transport many real-time apps reach for when they need low-latency, bidirectional messaging.

SDK

A software development kit (SDK) is a packaged collection of tools, libraries, code samples, and documentation that lets developers build software for a specific platform without writing every integration from scratch. In live chat, an SDK is the language- or framework-specific library that embeds and controls a chat widget inside a web or mobile app.

Embed Code

An embed code is a short snippet of HTML or JavaScript a website owner pastes into their pages so a third-party tool loads and runs on their site. For Eloqra it is a two-line script snippet that sets a project configuration and loads the chat script, which then injects the live-chat widget.

Telegram Integration

Telegram Integration is the mechanism by which Eloqra routes every website chat into the project owner's Telegram, forwarding visitor messages to a Telegram bot and flowing operator replies back to the widget. It turns Telegram into the operator inbox, so there is no separate agent console to keep open.

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