# What Is a REST API? A Plain-Language Guide From Kathmandu, Nepal

> A REST API is a set of conventions for how software requests data or triggers actions over the web, using addresses called endpoints. It defines what your website, mobile app and third-party systems can connect to and share.

Source: https://webappnepal.com/blog/what-is-a-rest-api
Provider: WebApp Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
Published: 2025-08-28
Updated: 2026-08-07T21:03:41.000000Z

REST API is a term that comes up often in the technical proposals we write for clients in Kathmandu, Nepal, and it is simpler than it sounds. REST is simply a set of conventions for how one piece of software asks another for data or tells it to do something, over the same basic protocol that powers the web. A REST API exposes specific 'endpoints,' addresses that a program can request information from or send information to, similar to how a browser requests a web page.

The reason REST APIs matter to a business owner is that they define what your website can connect to. When we say a mobile app 'talks to' the same backend as your website, we mean both are using the same REST API to read and write the same underlying data, which keeps everything consistent.

You do not need to understand the technical details to make good decisions, but it helps to know that a well-documented, properly structured API makes future integrations, a mobile app, a partner's system, a new payment provider, much easier and cheaper to build. A messy or undocumented API quietly taxes every future project that touches it.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a REST API?

A set of conventions for how one piece of software asks another for data or tells it to act, using the same protocol that powers the web.

### What are endpoints?

Addresses a program can request data from or send data to, similar to how a browser requests a web page.

### Why does it matter to a business owner?

It defines what your website and mobile app can connect to and share.