generated: '2026-08-19'
method: probed
source: https://developer.cisco.com/docs/support-apis/cisco-support-apis-wadl-files/
description: >-
  Cisco DOES publish a machine-readable contract for every one of the eight Support
  APIs — a WADL file per API, linked from a "Downloads" page in the public
  documentation — plus a Swagger YAML for Automated Software Distribution v4.0
  referenced in that API's reference page. None of them is anonymously fetchable:
  every link resolves to apiconsole.cisco.com (Cisco's Mashery portal), which
  answers HTTP 403 with "You do not have permission to view this page. Please Sign
  In or Register" to an unauthenticated client. The contract exists and is
  published; the wall is on the download, not on the documentation. This artifact
  records that distinction so the profile is not read as "Cisco has no spec".
  API Evangelist has NOT authored a substitute contract.
finding: contract-published-but-credential-gated
contract_format: WADL 1.0 (Web Application Description Language) + one Swagger YAML
anonymous_fetch: false
gate:
  host: apiconsole.cisco.com
  kind: portal-sign-in
  observed_status: 403
  observed_body: >-
    "Cisco API Console — Sign In — You do not have permission to view this page.
    Please Sign In or Register."
  server_header: Mashery Proxy
  who_can_pass: >-
    A Cisco.com account that has been granted Support API access by a Smart Net
    Total Care (SNTC) Delegated Administrator, or a Cisco Partner Support Service
    (PSS) partner account onboarded through the Smart Service Bureau.
documents:
  - api: Automated Software Distribution
    version: v2.0 (per the download filename)
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco-Automated-Software-Distribution-API-v2_0.wadl
    status: 403
  - api: Bug
    version: v2.0
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco-BUG-API-v2_0.wadl
    status: 403
  - api: Case
    version: v3
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco_Case_API_v3.wadl
    status: 403
  - api: EoX
    version: v5.0
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco-End-of-Life-EOX-v5_0.wadl
    status: 403
  - api: Product Information
    version: v1.0
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco-ProductInfo-API-v1_0.wadl
    status: 403
  - api: Serial Number to Information
    version: v2
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/SN2INFO_v2.wadl
    status: 403
  - api: Service Order Return (RMA)
    version: v1.0
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco-Return-API-v1_0-Service-Order-Return.wadl
    status: 403
  - api: Software Suggestion
    version: v1.0
    url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco-Software-Suggestion-API-v1_0.wadl
    status: 403
additional_claims:
  - api: Automated Software Distribution
    claim: >-
      "The Swagger YAML for the Cisco Automated Software Distribution API v4.0 is
      available for download from the Cisco API Console."
    source: https://developer.cisco.com/docs/support-apis/automated-software-distribution/
    anonymous_url: null
    note: >-
      No anonymous URL is given for the Swagger YAML; it is only reachable from
      inside the signed-in API Console. This is the only OpenAPI/Swagger artifact
      Cisco names anywhere in the Support APIs documentation.
staleness_signals:
  - signal: WADL filename versions disagree with the live paths
    detail: >-
      The published ASD WADL is named v2_0 while the documented and live base path
      is /software/v4.0/. The Software Suggestion WADL is named v1_0 while the
      documented and live base path is /software/suggestion/v2/.
  - signal: The public API Changelog page has zero entries
    detail: >-
      https://developer.cisco.com/docs/support-apis/api-changelog/ lists all eight
      APIs with a single heading each reading "(changelog begins)" and no dated
      entries, so a consumer cannot tell what changed or when.
what_would_fix_it:
  - Publish the WADL (or better, an OpenAPI 3.x conversion) at an anonymous URL on developer.cisco.com.
  - Gate the credentials, not the contract — an integrator cannot evaluate what they cannot read.
  - Publish the ASD v4.0 Swagger YAML at a stable public URL and link it from the API reference.
evidence:
  - url: https://developer.cisco.com/docs/support-apis/cisco-support-apis-wadl-files/
    status: 200
  - url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/SN2INFO_v2.wadl
    status: 403
  - url: https://apiconsole.cisco.com/files/Cisco-End-of-Life-EOX-v5_0.wadl
    status: 403