name: FakerAPI Vocabulary
description: >-
  Controlled vocabulary for FakerAPI — a free, no-authentication REST API that
  produces realistic fake data on demand. The vocabulary maps the operational
  surface (resources, parameters, response envelope) and the capability
  dimensions (test-data generation, mocking, prototyping) into a single
  taxonomy that downstream tooling can index against.
url: https://fakerapi.it/en
created: '2026-05-30'
modified: '2026-05-30'

provider:
  name: FakerAPI
  authority: Alessandro Pietrantonio
  governance: Open source community project
  homepage: https://fakerapi.it/en
  sourceRepository: https://github.com/pietrantonio91/faker-api
  license: Open Source
  cost: Free, no registration required

operationalDimensions:

  apiSurface:
    description: Shape of the HTTP API exposed to consumers.
    terms:
      - name: REST
        description: HTTP/JSON, GET-only, predictable resource paths.
      - name: SingleVersion
        description: Stable /api/v1 surface — no version negotiation required.
      - name: NoAuthentication
        description: All endpoints are public; no API key or token is required.
      - name: ReadOnly
        description: Every operation is a GET; no mutating verbs exposed.

  resources:
    description: First-class resource collections returned by FakerAPI.
    terms:
      - name: Addresses
        path: /api/v1/addresses
        description: Postal addresses with geographic coordinates.
      - name: Books
        path: /api/v1/books
        description: Book records with title, author, ISBN, publisher.
      - name: Companies
        path: /api/v1/companies
        description: Business / organization records with nested addresses.
      - name: Images
        path: /api/v1/images
        description: Image references with title, description, placeholder URL.
      - name: Persons
        path: /api/v1/persons
        description: Person profiles with name, contact, birthday, address.
      - name: Places
        path: /api/v1/places
        description: Geographic coordinate pairs.
      - name: Products
        path: /api/v1/products
        description: Product records with barcodes and images.
      - name: Texts
        path: /api/v1/texts
        description: Lorem-style titled text blocks.
      - name: Users
        path: /api/v1/users
        description: Application user accounts with credentials and identifiers.
      - name: Custom
        path: /api/v1/custom
        description: Caller-defined field schema, returning bespoke records.

  controlParameters:
    description: Universal request parameters shared across every resource.
    terms:
      - name: _quantity
        description: Number of records to return (1-1000, default 10).
      - name: _locale
        description: Locale code (en_US, fr_FR, it_IT, etc.). 60+ locales.
      - name: _seed
        description: Integer seed for deterministic / reproducible output.

  resourceSpecificParameters:
    description: Parameters that apply to a single resource.
    terms:
      - name: country_code
        appliesTo: /api/v1/addresses
        description: Restrict generated addresses to a country.
      - name: _type
        appliesTo: /api/v1/images
        description: Image category (people, business, nature) used in URL.
      - name: _width
        appliesTo: /api/v1/images
        description: Placeholder image width in pixels.
      - name: _height
        appliesTo: /api/v1/images
        description: Placeholder image height in pixels.
      - name: _gender
        appliesTo: /api/v1/persons,/api/v1/users
        description: Restrict generated profiles to male or female.
      - name: _categories_number
        appliesTo: /api/v1/products
        description: Number of categories attached per product.
      - name: _taxes
        appliesTo: /api/v1/products
        description: Tax percentage applied to product pricing.
      - name: _characters
        appliesTo: /api/v1/texts
        description: Maximum characters in generated text blocks.

  responseEnvelope:
    description: Shape of every JSON response.
    terms:
      - name: status
        description: Always "OK" on success.
      - name: code
        description: HTTP-style status code mirrored in the body.
      - name: locale
        description: Locale used to render the payload.
      - name: seed
        description: Seed echoed from the request (or null).
      - name: total
        description: Number of records returned in data.
      - name: data
        description: Generated resource collection.

capabilityDimensions:

  primaryCapabilities:
    description: Core capabilities FakerAPI provides to consumers.
    terms:
      - name: TestDataGeneration
        description: Produce realistic fake records for tests and demos.
      - name: APIMocking
        description: Serve as a stand-in upstream during early integration work.
      - name: PrototypeSeeding
        description: Populate UIs, dashboards, and seed databases for prototypes.
      - name: LoadFixtureGeneration
        description: Pull deterministic, seedable payloads for load tests.
      - name: LocaleVariantGeneration
        description: Produce data in 60+ locales for i18n testing.

  consumerArchetypes:
    description: Who typically consumes FakerAPI.
    terms:
      - name: FrontendDeveloper
      - name: QAEngineer
      - name: APIDesigner
      - name: TechnicalEducator
      - name: PrototypeBuilder
      - name: DataScientist
      - name: WorkshopFacilitator

  domainTags:
    description: High-level categorical tags for indexing.
    terms:
      - TestData
      - FakeData
      - Mocking
      - Prototyping
      - DeveloperTools
      - OpenSource
      - PublicAPIs
      - Internationalization

interoperability:
  upstream:
    - name: PHP Faker
      url: https://github.com/fzaninotto/Faker
      role: Underlying generator library FakerAPI wraps.
  downstream:
    - name: Postman
      role: Easy to import and run from a Postman collection.
    - name: Insomnia
      role: Direct GET calls from any REST client.
    - name: Mock Service Worker / Microcks / Prism
      role: Use FakerAPI output as fixtures for HTTP mock servers.
    - name: Frontend frameworks
      role: React, Vue, Svelte, etc. fetch JSON directly during development.