Method and apparatus for enabling remote service task based access to functionality provided by one or more remote services

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
• receive an input, via a user interface, identifying at least one task to be performed, wherein the task is independent of a particular software package;
• generate a task based query at a task query apparatus, the task based query suggestive of the task to be performed, wherein the task based query is generated based on the input;
• determine, based on functionalities of a plurality of software packages local to the task query apparatus, that at least one software package of the plurality of software packages is configured to perform the task in an instance in which the task matches at least one of an intent, end state, or purpose to the functionalities exposed by the plurality of software packages local to the task query apparatus;
• cause, in an instance in which at least one software package of the plurality of software packages that are local to the task query apparatus is not configured to perform the task, the task based query to be provided from the task query apparatus to a remote service discovery engine, wherein the remote service discovery engine comprises a registry that defines a functionality for a plurality of remote services and provides access instructions for independently connecting with a remote service of the plurality of remote services, wherein the remote service is configured to provide at least one of the requested functionality via a user interface or additional functionality for one or more local packages, such that the one or more local packages are able to perform the requested task;
• receive, at the task query apparatus, from the remote service discovery engine and as a response to the task based query, an indication of a remote service of the plurality of remote services that is configured to perform the task based on the functionality of the remote service, the indication comprising access information for querying the remote service;
• cause the task based query to be transmitted from the task query apparatus, to the remote service that is formatted according to the access information, wherein the access information for the remote service comprises syntax information and a description of a format in which a response is provided;
• and
• cause a response to the task based query that is received from the remote service to be displayed via the user interface.