On January 3, Team Tech Co posted the latest update on the development of EVE Online’s API system. As announced way back on November 11, 2016, Team Tech Co is moving to transition the API offered for EVE from the XML and CREST systems over to ESI. ESI is short for EVE Swagger Interface. Swagger, per its website, is the largest framework of developer tools for the OpenAPI Specification. This lets CCP to keep the EVE API abreast of the game’s updates much better. As one example, CCP released the ESI endpoints for the new moon mining features on the same day those features went live. This would not have been possible under the old XML or CREST systems.
The major announcement today is that ESI has reached full feature parity with the existing XML and CREST systems. This milestone allows CCP to set a date for shutting down the XML and CREST APIs. At this time, that date is May 8, 2018. Any 3rd party applications will need to transition to the ESI system by that date. Otherwise, they will no longer be usable. Team Tech Co have made an effort to reach out to major 3rd party developers throughout the transition process to ensure that applications are not interrupted when the shutdown occurs. Those with questions or issues can reach out to Team Tech Co via TweetFleet Slack’s #esi channel or the issues section for ESI’s github page.