Method and system for providing access to remotely hosted services through a normalized application programming interface

A server system for providing normalized access to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of one or more remotely hosted services at host servers coupled to a communications network, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• memory;
• and
• one or more programs stored in the memory, the one or more programs comprising instructions executed by the one or more processors for:
• receiving, from a client, a generic request to access the remotely hosted services, wherein the generic request uses generic parameters;
• identifying a plurality of respective remotely hosted services that correspond to the generic request, wherein the remotely hosted services are each associated with a respective API of the APIs;
• for each respective remotely hosted service, translating the generic request to a respective API-specific request to access the respective remotely hosted service using API-specific parameters, wherein:
• the API-specific request and the API-specific parameters are specific to the respective API of the respective remotely hosted service;
• and
• the translating includes, for a respective generic parameter in the generic request, identifying a corresponding respective API-specific parameter in an API database storing information about API-specific parameters for multiple distinct remotely hosted services, including the respective remotely hosted service, and using the corresponding respective API-specific parameter in place of the respective generic parameter in the respective API-specific request;
• for each of the plurality respective remotely hosted services, sending the respective API-specific request to the respective remotely hosted service;
• in response to the requests, receiving, from a plurality of the respective remotely hosted services, respective API-specific responses, where a respective API-specific response for a respective remotely hosted service includes respective content;
• generating a final response that includes content from two or more of the API-specific responses;
• and
• transmitting, to the client, the final response.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by one or more processors of a server system, the one or more programs comprising instructions to be executed by the one or more processors so as to:

• receive, from a client, a generic request to access remotely hosted services, wherein the generic request uses generic parameters;
• identify a plurality of respective remotely hosted services that correspond to the generic request, wherein the remotely hosted services are each associated with a respective Application Programming Interface (API);
• for each respective remotely hosted service, translate the generic request to a respective API-specific request to access the respective remotely hosted service using API-specific parameters, wherein:
• the API-specific request and the API-specific parameters are specific to the respective API of the respective remotely hosted service;
• and
• the translating includes, for a respective generic parameter in the generic request, identifying a corresponding respective API-specific parameter in an API database storing information about API-specific parameters for multiple distinct remotely hosted services, including the respective remotely hosted service, and using the corresponding respective API-specific parameter in place of the respective generic parameter in the respective API-specific request;
• for each of the plurality respective remotely hosted services, send the respective API-specific request to the respective remotely hosted service;
• in response to the requests, receive, from a plurality of the respective remotely hosted services, respective API-specific responses, where a respective API-specific response for a respective remotely hosted service includes respective content;
• generate a final response that includes content from two or more of the API-specific responses;
• and
• transmit, to the client, the final response.