Looker API 4.0 Generally Available
We are excited to announce that Looker API 4.0 is generally available in Looker 22.4. The generally available API 4.0 (API 4.0 GA) has multiple breaking and additive changes and promotes multiple endpoints from Beta to Stable. API 3.1 and 3.0 are unaffected. Check out our API reference for detailed API 4.0 specs. We updated our Looker-supported and Community-supported SDKs to support Looker API 4.0 GA endpoints. For more information, check out our API and SDK support policies and how we version our APIs. The rest of this article outlines the breaking changes, mitigations, and features you can look forward to when migrating to API 4.0 GA.
Who should read this?
This document is for you if you use the Looker API through Looker-supported SDKs, Community-supported SDKs, or the API itself. Please read the following section that maps to the Looker API version you currently use.
Pre-GA API 4.0 Users
If you use API 4.0, read this section. It covers the breaking changes and available mitigations when you migrate to API 4.0 GA on Looker 22.4.
API 4.0 GA includes changing all entity ID fields from numeric integer type to string type. For example, GET /groups/{group_id} endpoint returns id as type string instead of type int64.
Please read through the following table for impact and mitigations specific to your API 4.0 endpoint usage:
| Usage | Potential Impact1 | Prevention |
| Looker mobile apps | Outdated installations of Looker mobile apps stop working | Have users update to the latest version of the Looker mobile app(s) |
| Looker Supported2 SDKs | ||
| Typescript SDK (4.0 API) | No impact | No action needed |
| Python SDK (4.0 API) | No impact | No action needed |
| Ruby SDK (4.0 API) | No impact | No action needed |
| Community Supported2 SDKs | ||
| Swift SDK | Runtime exceptions | Update SDK to v22.0+; then resolve resulting type errors, if any |
| Kotlin SDK | No impact | No action needed |
| LookR SDK | No impact | No action needed |
| C# SDK | No impact | No action needed |
| Go SDK | Runtime exceptions | Update SDK to v22.0+; then resolve resulting type errors, if any |
| Other | ||
| Using 4.0 API without an SDK (or with externally provided libraries) | Possible runtime errors, depending on language’s type sensitivity | Review code for dependencies on the type of any ID fields and add support for string-type ID fields. Also review this additional guidance. |
1: Assuming common usage patterns that may include the use of Looker’s ID fields, but not unusual usage patterns such as applying numeric operations to IDs.
2: Looker API & SDK support. Community-supported libraries are not officially supported by Looker.
API 3.1 Users
If you use API 3.1, read this section. It covers the additional features and changes that API 4.0 makes available to you. We provide a detailed diff of endpoint changes from API 3.1 to API 4.0 here. Keep in mind, all our Looker-supported and Community-supported SDKs mainly support API 4.0. Check out our SDK and API support policies for more information.
Additional API 4.0 GA Features
For convenience, we list the most notable and useful additive API 4.0 changes for you:
- Board, board item, and board section creation and management. Board documentation is here.
- Query additional connection info such as databases, schemas, columns, and tables. Set and update additional connection fields.
- OAuth apps and users creation and management. OAuth documentation is here.
- Search groups with hierarchy and roles.
- Search roles with user count.
- Get and set Looker instance settings. Settings documentation is here.
- Alert creation and management. Alert documentation is here.
- SSH tunnels and SSH servers creation, management, and testing. SSH documentation is here.
- Move and copy dashboards.
- Get relative URLs for new dashboards.
- Move and copy Looks.
- SSO and non-SSO embed secret, URL, and user creation and management.
- Get refresh token to refresh login access token.
- Limit and offset the results from getting all LookML models and all users.
- Limit and offset the results from searching users.
- Get the Looker instance API spec in Swagger 2.x JSON.
API 4.0 GA Deprecation Changes
API 4.0 GA replaces several deprecated API 3.1 endpoints with improved features. We list the endpoints affected below:
- Deprecated Homepage endpoints have been removed. Please make use of board endpoints instead of homepages. Board feature documentation is here.
- Deprecated Space endpoints have been removed. Please make use of folder endpoints instead of Space. Folder feature documentation is here.
API 3.0 Users
If you use API 3.0, read this section. Keep in mind, API 3.0 is considered legacy, deprecated, and we do not recommend using it. We encourage you to migrate to API 4.0.
- Only API 4.0 supports all Looker-supported and Community-supported SDKs to ease your development. Check out our SDK repository.
- API 4.0 introduces multiple new features and enhancements as listed above.
Wrap-Up
You can look forward to new features and additive changes to be added to API 4.0 and you can always find the latest changes in our API reference. For more information, read up on our API and SDK support policies and how we version our APIs. We know that breaking changes are not ideal. Unless an extreme issue arises, we will not make any breaking changes to our generally available API 4.0. We hope our generally available Looker API 4.0 helps you develop more productively and easily on the Looker platform.