Today, we’re excited to announce APIOps CLI, a new command-line experience designed to help organizations manage Azure API Management (APIM) using modern configuration-as-code and GitOps practices.

As APIs become increasingly central to digital transformation, organizations need a reliable way to manage API definitions, policies, products, diagnostics, and gateway configuration across multiple environments. APIOps CLI provides a streamlined, developer-friendly approach to extract, version, review, and publish API Management configuration through familiar DevOps workflows.

Why APIOps CLI?

Traditional API management processes often rely on manual configuration changes, environment-specific customizations, and limited visibility into what changed and why. As API estates grow, these approaches become difficult to scale, audit, and govern.

APIOps CLI addresses these challenges by enabling teams to manage API Management configuration as source-controlled artifacts. Every change can be reviewed through pull requests, tracked through Git history, and promoted consistently across development, test, and production environments.

The result is improved governance, greater reliability, better collaboration between API developers and platform operators, and a simpler path toward enterprise-scale API operations.

What APIOps CLI Enables

APIOps CLI provides capabilities that help organizations adopt a true APIOps model:

• Extract API Management configuration into local artifact files
• Store and version configuration in Git repositories
• Review changes through standard pull request workflows
• Publish approved artifacts back into API Management environments
• Promote configuration consistently across environments
• Scaffold GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps pipelines
• Support automated CI/CD deployment patterns
• Enable auditable, repeatable API configuration management

By treating API Management configuration as code, organizations gain the same operational excellence practices that software development teams have relied on for years.

A Modern GitOps Workflow for APIs

The APIOps CLI workflow follows a simple yet powerful pattern:

• Extract configuration from an existing API Management instance.
• Store the generated artifacts in source control.
• Review and approve changes through pull requests.
• Run automated validation and deployment pipelines.
• Publish approved configuration back to target API Management environments.

This approach creates a clear separation between authoring, review, approval, and deployment while maintaining a complete audit trail of API platform changes.

For organizations already practicing GitOps, APIOps CLI integrates naturally into existing development workflows and governance processes.

Built for Real-World Enterprise Scenarios

APIOps CLI is designed to support customers operating at enterprise scale. Common use cases include:

• Migrating away from manual API Management administration
• Standardizing deployments across multiple environments
• Establishing controlled promotion paths from development to production
• Implementing governance and compliance requirements
• Supporting platform engineering and API platform teams
• Managing large inventories of APIs, products, policies, and configurations
• Enabling self-service API development with centralized governance

Whether you’re operating a single API Management instance or managing a large multi-team API platform, APIOps CLI provides a foundation for consistent and repeatable operations.

Integrated with Your Existing Toolchain

APIOps CLI works alongside the tools teams already use:

• GitHub
• Azure DevOps
• Azure Pipelines
• GitHub Actions
• Azure CLI
• Existing Git repositories and branching strategies

The tool can generate CI/CD scaffolding to accelerate adoption, helping teams move from manual operations to automated deployments with less effort.

Open Source and Community Driven

APIOps CLI is available as an open-source project under the Azure GitHub organization. The repository includes source code, architecture guidance, command documentation, CI/CD examples, walkthroughs, troubleshooting guidance, and reference material.

By making the project open and community-driven, we are enabling customers, partners, and contributors to participate directly in the evolution of Azure API Management DevOps practices.

Getting Started

Getting started is straightforward:

• Install the APIOps CLI package.
• Authenticate with Azure.
• Extract an existing API Management instance into local artifacts.
• Commit those artifacts to a Git repository.
• Review and approve changes through pull requests.
• Publish approved changes back to Azure API Management.

We recommend beginning with a non-production environment to establish your workflow, validate governance processes, and familiarize teams with the configuration-as-code model.

Looking Ahead

APIs have become a strategic asset for every organization. As API estates continue to expand, successful teams will increasingly adopt automation, governance, and GitOps practices to maintain speed without sacrificing control.

APIOps CLI is an important step in that journey. It provides a modern foundation for managing Azure API Management configurations with the same rigor, automation, and reliability that organizations expect from modern software delivery practices.

We invite you to explore APIOps CLI, try it in your environment, share feedback, and join us in shaping the future of API operations on Azure.

Resources

• APIOps CLI GitHub repository: https://github.com/Azure/apiops-cli/tree/main
• Microsoft Learn: Manage API Management configuration with APIOps CLI