# Overview of Integration Methods

## Overview

Below are the most common integration methods with API-first tools such as Open Loyalty:

* **API Gateway:** A single entry point for managing, securing, and routing API requests to the appropriate services, simplifying client-side integrations
* **Event-driven Architecture:** Leverage APIs for event publishing and consumption, allowing systems to react asynchronously to events and promoting decoupling
* **API Composition:** Combine multiple API calls into a single, aggregated response, reducing client-side complexity and optimizing performance
* **API Orchestration:** Coordinate and manage multiple API requests in a predefined sequence or workflow, simplifying complex integrations
* **API Choreography:** Decentralize coordination by enabling services to publish and subscribe to events, facilitating loose coupling and greater flexibility

## Primary Methods of Integration with Open Loyalty

### API

API Integration uses RESTful APIs to enable synchronous communication between systems, allowing for real-time data retrieval and processing.

{% hint style="info" %}
**When to use API Integration:**

* When you need real-time access to data or immediate processing of requests,
* When you want to retrieve specific data on demand or control the data being fetched,
* When you want to integrate with customer-facing applications (ie. Mobile App, eCommerce, POS)
  {% endhint %}

### Webhooks

Webhooks leverage user-defined HTTP callbacks for asynchronous event-driven communication, providing near real-time updates without continuous polling.

{% hint style="info" %}
**When to use Webhook Integration:**

* When you want to receive updates automatically\
  as events occur in Open Loyalty,
* When you need near real-time updates without the resources overhead of continuous polling,
* When you need to notify another system about important business events from Open Loyalty (ie. send a message when Member reaches a Tier)
  {% endhint %}