The Jamf API Ecosystem

Recap: The Jamf App Platform

In JNUC 2021, Tyrrell gave a presentation about the Jamf App Platform concept. He discussed the third-party developer experience when working with the Jamf API and the customer experience when using these third-party apps. He reported that developers face challenges because of the manual and complex nature of developing their application. Developers also must own the entire lifecycle of their software; the lack of a standard procedure means that customers have inconsistent experiences when using different third-party apps.

To improve the developer and customer experience, Tyrrell mentioned a focus on these areas:

• Standardization
• A unified API gateway
• A wholistic way for developers to approach APIs
• Evolution of how events are used

The Jamf API ecosystem

Currently Jamf Pro, Jamf School and Jamf Protect have their own APIs with their own authentication scheme. The Jamf API Ecosystem is intended as the platform for the future with a unified API for all Jamf products and third-party Jamf integrations. This “API-first” mindset has a unified gateway with one authentication scheme and standard languages that makes it easier for developers to work with all Jamf APIs. In fact, having APIs owned by a team at Jamf who is responsible for their API and developing a common style guide and data model can ensure a cohesive experience throughout. In his presentation, Tyrrell goes into detail about these enhancements to the API:

• Evolved event driven design between APIs and systems at Jamfs
• Standardized APIs across the Jamf platform
• A new developer portal to manage API access, event subscriptions and more
• A clear path to migrate between current products and the new model
• Adding apps to the Jamf Marketplace
• One-click installs for first- and third-party integrations

Progress in 2022

So what has happened since Tyrrell’s 2021 JNUC presentation? This initiative now has an expanding and dedicated engineering team and new APIs are already being developed. This ecosystem is actively being worked on by a team of engineers, and more updates are to follow.