Well you kind of knew this was coming, but it’s still very very exciting: the Cligs API is now publicly available!

For Cligs Users

What is an API? It’s basically for programs to talk to Cligs to allow for automation. This means Cligs can now be integrated into Twitter clients, content management systems, and more and enable you to tap into the power of Cligs seamlessly.

To use the API to its fullest capabilities, you need to give the programs you want to use a secret key. The keys tie the cligs the program generates to your account.

You can create an unlimited number of API keys so that you can give each program its own key to use. This means that if you decide that a program is naughty and you don’t want it accessing your account, you can simply disable just one key and not break any other programs. Neat, eh?

You can get your API keys from the API Control Panel. On this page, which is still not complete (more in a sec…), you can create new API keys and view the API keys you already have.

The API Control Panel is not complete because I want your feedback. Basically, I will add a way to disable and delete individual API keys. Also, when the API becomes used extensively, you’ll be able to see which programs accessed your account via the API, and again control their access. These are coming soon once there is enough API usage to be able to design a sensible interface, so get using the API!

I also want you feedback, using We Want about what you’d like the API to do and what you would like the API Control Panel to show.

For Developers

The API is very easy to use and has extensive documentation. You can use any programming language to interact with the API over HTTP GET.

There are two endpoints right now at launch:

• A create cligs endpoint to create both Public and user-account-specific cligs.
• An expand clig endpoint to expand a clig to get its long URL destination.

There is a developers mailing list for all things API. Please join it and start demanding features

As the final preparations for the API are put in place, I found time to squeeze in one quick feature: Friendfeed mentions of the clig and the destination in the Cligs Details pages.

It is integrated just like Twitter, Google Blogsearch and the other live search data in the tab sets.

Any other services you’d like live data for?