Frequently Asked Questions

Almost every software company is a database backend with a website frontend for user interface. The user interface is designed to be human-readable, and is great when you're looking for manual hands-on interactions with data. To get computer-readable, automated access to the API, you want to cut out the website middleman and query the database directly. An API or Application Programming Interface is a method by which clients can proxy those queries to a database via structured URLs. Based on the additional values encoded into the URL, you can request data directly from our API, receiving a user-unfriendly, but computer-readable JSON or XML file, which persists within your system, rather than being cleared when you click away from the browser tab.

You can derive data from our web service, P5, or set up automated calls to our API. P5 is best suited for an engineer to query the parts database and make decisions based on a single part. The API access is would be better for a user who wants to set up a large amount of parts-related calls and automate the calls to process directly into a native environment. The API access lacks the user interface and visualization elements of P5, which requires a technical investment to use compared to its browser-based sibling. However, the ability to customize and mechanize your interactions with our database provides high levels of customization and flexiblity.

API subscriptions are typically sold for one-year increments. There are a few things to consider when picking which package and size best fits your business needs.
1. Estimate the total unique parts (unique part number/manufacturer combination, not part numbers) to be used during contract term. For example, a BAV99 diode from Vishay and a BAV99 diode from Toshiba are two separate unique parts.
2. Determine information and modules needed. Refer to our Silver and Gold packaging.
Talk with one of our API team members today to find the package right for your business needs.

The Silver package contains static information like if a component is obsolete or if it is still active in production. The Gold package has dynamic data and derived information such as the estimated years until a part reaches end of life.

Unique to SiliconExpert, the clients quota is deducted on a per part basis and not per query. Your quota is decreased for part detail requests to our database; a part search will not decrement your quota. A part detail request will include data such as compliance, parametric, lifecycle, predictive risk, and more. This information is accessible for the remainder of your contract year and will not require another request against your quota. In comparison to competitors, this could be multiple calls against the quota each time a piece of this data is accessed.

The quota will be decremented with the following queries per unique part: Part Detail Search, Add Part to ACL, and cross reference.

Use the User Status command with the POST protocol. https://www.siliconexpert.com/apidocs/#user-status. You will be warned when you approach zero, and you can always revise your quota upwards mid-contract.

You can increase your quota during your contract term. If you have excess quota, it will not be refunded or credited. Please contact your SIliconExpert representative for more information.

Documentation can be accessed here  https://www.siliconexpert.com/apidocs/. If you're not using the 'Product API' as described in our documentation, you're most likely using an outdated version of the API and need to update. Alternatively, you may be using a custom API for your unique needs, in which case, please consult your SIliconExpert account representative.

First, authenticate your user session, then create a structured query based on a call as outlined in the API documentation (hyperlink to page). If successful, a JSON or XML file will be returned with the results of the query. That data will persist within your system and can be used as needed as long as it is not resold.

There are three common points of failure. Please check the following,
1. Ensure that you are using HTTPS, not HTTP, as unsecured calls are blocked.
2. Make sure you are using the POST protocol, and consequently using a tool that supports the POST protocol, rather than the default GET command. We require user-sensitive calls to be made via POST to encode information such as username and API Key / password in such a way that is invisible to potentially malicious actors.
3. Finally, make sure you are querying api.siliconexpert as the endpoint, not app.siliconexpert. The 'api' endpoint is our Modern servers, and the 'app' endpoint pointed to our now-defunct 'Classic' servers.

Make sure you are querying api.siliconexpert as the endpoint, not app.siliconexpert. The 'api' endpoint is our modern servers, and the 'app' endpoint pointed to our now-defunct 'Classic' servers.

All of SiliconExpert's partners can be found on our Partner Solutions page. If your PLM is not currently listed as a partner, please reach out to a SiliconExpert representative and your PLM to discuss a potential integration.

As of today, we do not make changes to our API for individual clients. Our Professional Services team (link to https://www.siliconexpert.com/professional-services/) may be able to help create custom solutions. We constantly leverage feedback to make our services exceed the needs of our clients.

Our API solution is priced consistently whether you purchase them from SE or from a channel partner integration.

If a client purchases directly through SE, they are responsible for the development work and integrating into their tools; however, it provides the endless customization opportunities to cater to their business needs.

If a client purchases through a channel integration partner, they partner already did the development work and it becomes plug and play in their native tools.