API

From TapTo Wiki

This page refers to the future version 2.0.0 of TapTo which is in active development. Please don't use any information on this page until it's been finalised and released.

The TapTo API is available on and published by every device running the core TapTo software. This API allows management of all TapTo features locally and remotely. The TapTo Life app uses this API for all communication with TapTo devices, as do most of the flags when TapTo is run via the command line.

This page documents the protocol used to communicate with the API and how to interact with it. It is the source of truth when developing applications that work with TapTo.

Communication Protocol

The API uses a standard WebSocket connection to exchange JSON payloads using the JSON-RPC 2.0 protocol.

All remote cleartext WebSocket connections must encrypt every payload using the secure layer detailed below, or else the payload will be rejected. Local unencrypted connections are allowed, depending on the platform and privilege context of the running service.

Communication follows a loose client-server relationship. Clients, by default, are not expected to implement the API beyond what that particular client needs to function.

Connection

Connections to the API can be established with any standard WebSocket client, using the root endpoint (/) of the HTTP server published by the TapTo service. By default, the HTTP server is accessible on port 7497. This port is configurable by the user.

An example address for connecting to the API: ws://10.0.0.123:7497/

The connection requires no special configuration or authentication to initiate.

JSON Payloads

Server and clients communicate back and forth using JSON payloads, following the JSON-RPC 2.0 protocol.

Because a WebSocket connection is asynchronous, request payloads are tagged with a unique ID. The client must keep track of IDs sent to another client and wait for a matching response object. A client can continue sending requests while waiting for responses to previous requests.

Requests

A request object asks the connected server to run a predefined method, and report back when it's completed with a response object.

An example request:

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "4b5da056-a5d4-436b-b4e6-b96231e99969",
    "method": "media.search",
    "params": {
        "query": "240p"
    }
}

This request would query TapTo's media database for a filename containing the word "240p" and return a response with the search results.

Request object
Key Type Required Description
jsonrpc string Yes As per the JSON-RPC 2.0 spec, this key's value must be the string 2.0 for a payload to be accepted.
id string Yes* A UUID generated by the requesting client, used to match requests back to responses. A request missing this key is valid but would be treated as a notification and not receive any response.
method string Yes A string corresponding to a method to be run by the receiving server.
params any No Arguments supplied for the method. The value of this key depends on the method used and is omitted for some methods.

All available request methods and their parameters are documented below.

Notifications

Notifications are requests which do not contain an ID. Otherwise, they are identical to a standard request object. Notifications can be sent by either server or client and do not receive a response.

Like standard requests, notifications may or may not have parameters and its value will depend on the method. Types of notifications are documented below.

Responses

Every request sent must have a matching response. An example response to the media.search request shown above:

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "4b5da056-a5d4-436b-b4e6-b96231e99969",
    "result": {
        "media": [{
            "system": {
                "id": "Gameboy",
                "name": "Gameboy"
            },
            "name": "240p Test Suite (PD) v0.03 tepples",
            "path": "Gameboy/240p Test Suite (PD) v0.03 tepples.gb"
        }],
        "total": 1
    }
}
Response object
Key Type Required Description
jsonrpc number Yes Same as a request.
id string Yes Same as a request. The same ID sent by the original request.
result any No* Return value of the method. May be null depending on the method, will be missing if there was an error. See methods for possible values.
error Error No* If a method failed, this key will be populated with the error details and the result key will be empty. See below for details about errors.
Response Errors

If a method fails, it will populate the error key in the response object with details about the failure. An example of a failed request:

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "4b5da056-a5d4-436b-b4e6-b96231e99969",
    "error": {
        "code": 1,
        "message": "query or system is required"
    }
}
Error object
Key Type Required Description
code number Yes An integer specifying the general error category. Error codes are not yet formalised.
message string Yes Short human readable message explaining the error cause, if possible.

Protocol Errors

If a low-level error occurs before a request context can be established, a protocol error will be sent back. This can happen, for example, if a JSON payload is malformed or a payload could not be decrypted. They're identical to an error response except they will have no ID.

Protocol errors may be sent cleartext if a secure context couldn't be established, but will not contain any sensitive data.

Secure Layer

The API supports a secure layer when communicating via an cleartext WebSocket connection. This layer is required for all cleartext remote WebSocket connections, and payloads will be rejected if not encrypted.

...

If a payload is decrypted successfully, it continues through the standard protocol process until the response which will be encrypted before sending back.

Anonymous Access

Anonymous cleartext access is, generally, allowed when an API connection is made from a loopback address (i.e. from the same device TapTo is running). This access depends on the platform and whether the service is running with elevated privileges. Check the page for the specific platform you're using to make sure it's available to you.

This access is also allowed when a connection is made over a WebSocket Secure (wss) connection.

Heartbeat

If sent the bytes ping, the API will immediately respond with the bytes pong. This feature can be used by heartbeat functions in WebSocket libraries.

Launch Endpoint

The HTTP server has an additional endpoint which allows restricted access to launch TapScript using a GET request. This endpoint is specifically meant to support uses such as QR codes scanned by a phone's camera app or simple launch testing.

The endpoint is: /l/

An example request: GET http://10.0.0.123:7497/l/**launch.system:snes

This would act as though a token with the text **launch.system:snes had been scanned.

Requests from the local device are allowed without restriction. Remote requests must be explicitly allowed using the allow_launch config file setting.

Methods

Methods are used to execute actions and request data back from the API. See the API Methods page for detailed definitions and examples of each method.

ID Description
launch Emulate a token scan.
stop Kill any active launcher, if possible.
tokens List active tokens.
tokens.history Return a list of the latest token launches.
media Return status and statistics about media database.
media.active Return the currently active (now playing) media.
media.search Query the media database and return all matching indexed media.
media.index Start a new media database index.
systems List all currently indexed systems.
settings List current configuration settings.
settings.update Update one or more settings in-memory and save changes to disk.
mappings List all mappings.
mappings.new Create a new mapping.
mappings.update Change an existing mapping.
mappings.delete Delete an existing mapping.
readers List all currently connected readers.
readers.write Attempt to write given text to the first available write-capable reader, if possible.
clients List all clients (including disconnected) and associated data.
clients.new Create a new client with a newly generated ID and secret.
clients.delete Delete an existing client.
version Return server's current version and platform.

Notifications

Notifications let a server or client know an event has occurred. See the API Notifications page for detailed definitions and examples of each notification.

ID Description
launching New TapScript has been added to the launch queue.
readers.added A new reader was connected to the server.
readers.removed A connected reader was disconnected from the server.
tokens.added A new token detected by a reader.
tokens.removed A token was removed.
media.started New media was started on server.
media.stopped Media has stopped on server.
media.indexing The state of the indexing process has changed.