Bring in your APIs
Bring an existing API into Elva from an OpenAPI document, Postman, or a connected GitHub repository. Review the resulting endpoints and quality report before using the collection in a contract or MCP deployment.
OpenAPI, Postman, GitHub, and AI all converge into one catalog.
There is no plugin to install and no SDK to wire up. Sign in at app.getelva.ai, pick an on-ramp, and Elva does the parsing, conversion, and scoring for you.
Four ways in
Choose the source that matches your API. After import or scan completion, verify that expected operations and schemas are present and review any parsing or scoring findings.
Bring an existing OpenAPI or Swagger contract, either as a file or a link.
- Upload a
.yaml,.yml, or.jsonfile by drag-and-drop or file picker. - Import by URL and Elva fetches it server-side through a guarded proxy, so browser CORS never blocks you.
Both 2.0, 3.0, and 3.1 specs are accepted. JSON is normalized to YAML the moment it hits the editor, so what you work on is always clean, readable YAML.
URL imports are capped at 10MB and only accept http and https schemes. Anything larger or on another protocol is rejected before a byte is read.
Already living in Postman? Paste a Postman API key and Elva pulls your collections and converts them to OpenAPI automatically. See the step-by-step flow in the next section.
No spec yet? Elva reads endpoints straight from your source code across five language ecosystems, then auto-builds scored collections, an owner-attributed catalog, and a git-derived changelog.
This is the deepest on-ramp. It discovers real routes in Express, FastAPI, Spring, gin, and more, with no OpenAPI file required.
Starting from nothing? Describe the API you want in plain language and Elva generates a valid OpenAPI 3.1 spec, streaming it live into the editor as it writes.
When the draft is ready, it drops straight into your catalog like any other collection, ready to score, test, and expose as an MCP server.
Import from Postman
Postman collections are transpiled to OpenAPI on Elva, then treated exactly like any imported spec. The conversion is handled by an automatic converter and re-validated before anything is saved.
1
Paste your Postman API key
Generate a key from your Postman account settings, then paste it into the connect screen. Elva uses it only to list and read the collections you choose.
2
Select up to 20 collections
Search and check the collections you want. You can import as many as 20 collections per run; select-all respects that ceiling.
3
Elva converts and scores each one
Every collection is transpiled to OpenAPI, validated, stored, quality-scored, and embedded for search. You get a per-collection report of what imported and what failed.
If a collection cannot be converted to a valid OpenAPI document, that single import fails with a clear reason while the rest continue. Nothing partial is silently saved.
What happens on every import
OpenAPI or Swagger file
Drag in .yaml, .yml, or .json, any version from 2.0 to 3.1. JSON is normalized to clean YAML the moment it lands in the editor.
OpenAPI by URL
Point Elva at any http or https link and it fetches server-side through a guarded proxy. 10MB cap, and browser CORS never gets in the way.
Imported specifications are stored and processed for quality scoring and search. A completed import is not proof that all intended endpoints were recognized: check the endpoint count and inspect the collection.
Supported sources at a glance
Choose a supported format and review the applicable import limit.
OpenAPI / Swagger file |
| Drag-and-drop or file picker | JSON normalized to YAML in the editor |
OpenAPI by URL | YAML or JSON at any | Fetched server-side via a guarded proxy | 10MB cap, |
Postman | Postman collections | Paste an API key, converted to OpenAPI | Up to 20 collections per import |
GitHub repo | Source code (JS/TS, Python, Go, Java/Kotlin) + specs | OAuth connect and scan | See the code scanner |
AI from scratch | Plain-language prompt | Generated as OpenAPI 3.1 | Streamed into the editor |
Specs are processed on Elva to parse, score, and index them. Keep real secrets, tokens, and live credentials out of the specs you import: use placeholder values in examples and auth fields instead.
Where to go next
The living API catalog
See how imported specs become collections that stay current and searchable.
Spec quality & scoring
Understand the grades Elva assigns the instant your API lands.
Explore with the demo
CLI and agent workflows — Preview
The CLI & automation guides cover file and Postman imports, linked repository scans, reviewed AI plans, and building from local source. You can also use a supported coding agent to prepare a reviewed API artifact. Local-source generation uploads selected source for Elva AI; the agent-artifact workflow submits the API definition prepared by your agent.
A new workspace can include a sample collection, contract, MCP server, and onboarding tour. Explore the sample data, then bring in your own API and verify its behavior with test calls.
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- Bring in your APIs