What is the Early Access program?
The early access program (also known as our beta program) enables you to beta test APIs before they are finalized. This is the best opportunity to weigh in on features and functionality before we finalize the UX and ship (GA) the endpoints. Find more information in the original announcement, or the documentation page.
How does the Early Access program work?
First, an organization admin would choose an organization to opt in to the program, and once opted in, the OpenAPI spec for that organization will be changed to the beta spec. That means all API users interacting with that organization will have immediate access to the current beta features. And as soon as new features are released to beta, you can immediately use them with your organization and provide feedback in our Early Access group, so you'll want to inform all API users of this change before signing up.
Technically, joining also means that all endpoints in the given org's OpenAPI spec are subject to unannounced breaking changes, so it's not for everyone. In other words, once an org is opted in, every API user is now subject to the beta API spec, so choose your organization thoughtfully.
New features are published in our Early Access streaming live updates Webex channel and occasionally will be called out in the community's API Early Access Group.
Should I join the Early Access program?
Only you can decide, but here are a few questions to ask yourself before joining:
- Am I a read-write organization admin on the organization I want to opt into the program?
- Am I authorized to make this change for my organization?
- Do all API users of my organization understand the impacts of joining the program, and that joining the program might break any/all applications that depend on the API?
- Are breaking API changes acceptable for all API users (including ecosystem partners) who interact with my organization and all its networks?
- Do I want to provide feedback on beta API features before they are shipped?
If you answered "Yes" to all of the above, then you may be a candidate for the program! Again, joining the program is on a per organization basis, so if you're interested, we recommend creating a separate testing organization rather than joining your production organization(s) to the program.
Are there any active betas right now?
Yes! There are virtually always active betas available for testing and experimentation.
How do I join the program?
First, make sure that you haven't blocked Support from accessing your dashboard--we can't enroll you in the beta if you have this turned on (read more here). Then, you can find the documentation and sign-up form on our Early Access program docs page. At the same time, you can request to join the community's API Early Access Group.
How do I leave the program?
Contact Meraki Support and provide them a dashboard link to the organization which you'd like to remove from the program, and ask them to remove you from the API program. Once removed from the program, your organization and all of its API users will immediately lose access to the beta API spec, and you will be reverted to the public API spec, so you'll want to inform all API users in advance of this change.
