Apache OpenWhisk
Apache OpenWhisk is an open-source serverless cloud platform that executes functions in response to events at any scale. It supports multiple programming languages and provides a rich programming model for creating serverless APIs and event-driven applications.
Real signal across most facets with visible, nameable gaps — the contract exists but is thin, or the portal is good while governance and commercial terms are absent.
API Evangelist profiles Apache OpenWhisk the way a machine reads it — 88 machine-readable artifacts across 6 APIs, pulled from the provider's own public surface and indexed so a developer, an analyst, or an AI agent can evaluate it against every other provider on the network.
Every provider in the network is reduced to the same set of machine-readable artifacts — OpenAPI contracts, event specifications, GraphQL schemas, runnable collections, pricing and rate-limit signals, security posture, OAuth scopes, and the agent surfaces (MCP servers and skills) that let software drive the API on its own. We profile them because the interface is the part of a company you can actually inspect: it is a truer signal of what a provider does than any marketing page. From those artifacts we compute the Kin Score — Apache OpenWhisk scores 52.9/100 (developing), with a separate agent-readiness read of 48/100 (agent ready). The full breakdown is below, followed by every artifact we hold — each card links through to its machine-readable definition on apis.io.
Kin Score
This is the API Evangelist rating — a single, repeatable read computed from the artifacts on this page. Green fill is points earned; the red track is points possible, so every bar shows earned-versus-possible at a glance.
How we profile Apache OpenWhisk
Each block below is one kind of artifact we hold for Apache OpenWhisk. For each we say what it is and why it earns a place in the profile, then list every one we've indexed — capped at two rows, scroll within the panel for the rest.
APIs 6
Each API is captured as its own OpenAPI definition — every operation, parameter, and response. This is the single most useful machine-readable description of what an API does, and it's what lets us score, lint, mock, and generate against it without asking the provider for anything.
Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.
Apache OpenWhisk Actions API
The Actions API from Apache OpenWhisk — 2 operation(s) for actions.
Apache OpenWhisk Activations API
The Activations API from Apache OpenWhisk — 2 operation(s) for activations.
Apache OpenWhisk Namespaces API
The Namespaces API from Apache OpenWhisk — 3 operation(s) for namespaces.
Apache OpenWhisk Packages API
The Packages API from Apache OpenWhisk — 2 operation(s) for packages.
Apache OpenWhisk Rules API
The Rules API from Apache OpenWhisk — 2 operation(s) for rules.
Apache OpenWhisk Triggers API
The Triggers API from Apache OpenWhisk — 2 operation(s) for triggers.
Pricing Plans 1
Pricing is part of the interface. Machine-readable plans tell you what a tier costs and includes before you commit — one of the six things the Kin Score reads for commercial clarity.
Published pricing tiers and plan structures.
Rate Limits 1
Rate limits are the difference between a demo that works and a production integration that doesn't fall over. Publishing them is an operational-transparency signal — and a hard requirement for any agent that plans its own throughput.
Documented rate limits and quota policies.
Apache Openwhisk Rate Limits
RATE LIMITSFinOps 1
Cost, billing, and metering signals let a buyer model the financial operations of an API before it's live. We profile them for the same reason we profile pricing: the money is part of the contract.
Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.
Apache Openwhisk Finops
FINOPSFeatures 7
The notable capabilities this provider advertises, captured as structured features so they can be searched and compared instead of read one landing page at a time.
Notable capabilities this provider offers.
Serverless Functions
Execute stateless functions in response to events without managing infrastructure
Multi-Language Support
Supports Node.js, Python, Java, Go, PHP, Ruby, Swift, and custom Docker runtimes
Event Triggers
Named event channels that fire actions based on external events
Action Sequences
Compose multiple actions into sequential pipelines
Package System
Pre-built integrations via /whisk.system namespace
REST API
Full REST API for managing all platform resources programmatically
Docker Actions
Custom runtime support via Docker containers for any language
Scroll within the panel for all 7 ·
Semantic Vocabularies 1
JSON-LD contexts give the data shared meaning across APIs. We profile them because semantics are what let a machine reconcile 'customer' here with 'customer' somewhere else.
JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.
Apache Openwhisk Context
JSON-LDSpectral Rules 2
Governance rulesets we run against this provider's specs — the automated checks behind parts of the score. Profiling them makes the quality bar explicit and re-runnable, not a matter of opinion.
Apache OpenWhisk API Rules
SPECTRALApache OpenWhisk API Rules
SPECTRALJSON Schema 18
Standalone JSON Schema definitions describe the data models behind the API. We profile them so the shapes are validatable on their own — useful long after a single request is forgotten.
Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.
ActionExec
JSON SCHEMAActionLimits
JSON SCHEMAActionRequest
JSON SCHEMAAction
JSON SCHEMAActivationRef
JSON SCHEMAActivationResponse
JSON SCHEMAActivation
JSON SCHEMAActivationSummary
JSON SCHEMAEntityRef
JSON SCHEMAKeyValue
JSON SCHEMANamespaceEntities
JSON SCHEMANamespaceLimits
JSON SCHEMAPackageRequest
JSON SCHEMAPackage
JSON SCHEMARuleRequest
JSON SCHEMARule
JSON SCHEMATriggerRequest
JSON SCHEMATrigger
JSON SCHEMAScroll within the panel for all 18 ·
JSON Structure 18
JSON Structure captures the data shapes in a form built for tooling — a complement to JSON Schema that keeps the model machine-legible.
JSON Structure definitions describing this provider's data shapes.
Apache Openwhisk Action Exec Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Action Limits Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Action Request Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Action Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Activation Ref Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Activation Response Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Activation Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Activation Summary Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Entity Ref Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Key Value Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Namespace Entities Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Namespace Limits Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Package Request Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Package Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Rule Request Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Rule Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Trigger Request Structure
JSON STRUCTUREApache Openwhisk Trigger Structure
JSON STRUCTUREScroll within the panel for all 18 ·
Examples 18
Real request and response payloads are what turn a spec from abstract into obvious — and they're one of the twelve things an agent needs to call an API correctly on the first try.
Example request and response payloads for these APIs.
Scroll within the panel for all 18 ·
Security Posture 3
Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals — the evidence that a provider takes security seriously enough to document it. We profile it because you can't govern what you can't see.
Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.
Agentic Access 1
An x-agentic-access contract marks which operations are safe for an agent to run on its own and which need a human in the loop. It is the difference between an API an agent can use and one it can use safely.
Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.
Use Cases 5
What developers actually build with this provider — captured so the catalogue answers 'what is this for', not just 'what does this expose'.
What developers build with this provider.
Event-Driven Microservices
Build loosely coupled microservices that respond to events
IoT Data Processing
Process sensor and device events at scale without infrastructure management
API Backend
Create REST APIs backed by serverless functions
Scheduled Tasks
Run periodic jobs using alarm triggers
Chatbots & Webhooks
Handle Slack, GitHub, and other webhook events
Integrations 6
Pre-built integrations with other platforms tell you where this provider already fits in a stack.
Pre-built integrations with other platforms and tools.
Slack
Respond to Slack events and slash commands
GitHub
Automate workflows based on GitHub repository events
Apache Kafka
Process Kafka message stream events
Cloudant
React to CouchDB/Cloudant database changes
IBM Cloud
Available as IBM Cloud Functions on IBM Cloud
Kubernetes
Deploy OpenWhisk on Kubernetes using Helm charts
Resources
Every other property we hold for Apache OpenWhisk — documentation, portals, status pages, policies, and corporate surface — grouped by the job it does, following the integrator's arc from getting started to running in production.
Documentation 1
Reference material describing how the API behaves
Agent Surfaces 1
MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs
Design & Contract 3
Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events
Build 1
SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with
Access & Security 3
Authentication, authorization, and security posture
← All providers · Data indexed from github.com/api-evangelist/apache-openwhisk · machine-readable index on apis.io