MindAPI: a mind map that organises an API security assessment

A mind map, because mind maps are how the author thinks

MindAPI organises an API security assessment by using a mind map, and the reason for the format is personal rather than technical. The author says they are a huge fan of mindmaps, that they are the go-to for keeping thoughts organized whether deep in security research or bouncing ideas around with colleagues, and that they created MindAPI to share that with the community. The stated motivation follows: APIs are the backbone of pretty much every modern app, so it made sense to build something that helps the security community assess APIs while keeping the author's own work tidy. The framing in the project title is Bringing order to API hacking chaos. The practical consequence is that what you get is a document shaped like a mind map, and the value is in the structure of the branches and the links hanging off them, not in any capability.

Two sections: reconnaissance and testing

The map is divided into two sections. The first is Reconnaissance, which is the part of an API assessment where you work out what the API surface actually is before you test anything. The second is Testing, and its coverage is stated precisely, as most of the OWASP API Security Top 10 and other security resources. On both sections you have guidelines, links to open-source tools and documentation that help you along the way. The structure is deliberately the shape of an engagement rather than a list of vulnerability classes, so the reconnaissance branch comes first because you cannot enumerate problems in an API you have not mapped. The OWASP list is the backbone of the testing section, and the other security resources are additions to it rather than a replacement for it, which makes the map usable as a supplement to a checklist you already have as well as a starting point for one you do not.

Hugo for the site, Markmap for the map itself

The project was built with the help of Hugo and Markmap, and those two choices tell you what it is. Hugo is the static site generator, and it is what turns the content into the site you can view online at the project pages address, with a link to play with it directly. Markmap is the interactive mind map library, and it is what makes the branches collapsible and explorable rather than a flat list of headings. The result is a site that is fast to load, works without a build step on the reader's side, and can be hosted on GitHub Pages, which is what the repository layout implies with a docs directory and a content tree. The primary language recorded for the repository is not set, which is consistent with a project that is mostly a Markdown document plus a site around it rather than a program.

Two files carry the content, and they are edited by different routes

The contribution guidance is unusual and worth understanding, because it tells you where the content actually lives. There are two ways to contribute. The first is to fork the project, commit your changes to the MindAPI.md file, push to the branch and open a pull request. The second is to update the References page on the site project instead, where the file to change is the references content file under the docs content directory, and the same fork, commit, push and pull request sequence applies. So the mind map itself and the reference list it points at are separate documents with separate edit paths, and a contributor can update either. That is a sensible arrangement, because a link list ages faster than a methodology outline, but it also means the two can drift out of step, and it is worth checking both when you use the map. The repository root holds the MindAPI.md file, the references content under docs, a Sponsorship file, a .gitmodules file, and the image assets the readme uses.

CC0 means you can take the whole thing

The licence is CC0-1.0, which is the strongest possible grant and the one that makes this project usable in a work context. A public domain dedication means there is no reserved copyright, no attribution requirement and no share-alike condition, so you can copy the map into a client deliverable, adapt it for a specific engagement, translate it, or fold it into a document you sell. For a methodology artefact that is exactly the right licence, since the value is in people using it. The other side of that is that it does not protect the author from someone repackaging it as their own, but the project is explicitly built for community collaboration and the sponsorship page shows the author is comfortable with that trade. The readme links to a sponsorship page that describes a MindAPI Scholarship, the acknowledgements name Paulo Silva, and the contact section identifies the author as David Sopas.

What this is not, and where the effort goes

It is worth being blunt about the scope, because the topic list includes api-security, hacking and methodology, and that can suggest a tool. MindAPI is a curated map of links and guidance. It does not scan anything, it does not keep a record of what you found, and it does not produce a report. The work you would use it for is reading and adapting, and the workflow around it is yours to supply. The roadmap section points at the open issues for proposed features and known issues, so the shape of what comes next is decided in public. The last push was on 2026-05-27, the repository has no GitHub releases, and the content is versioned as text in a repository rather than as released artefacts, which for a document that people edit through pull requests is the right model. If you are trying to decide whether this fills a gap in your process, the honest test is whether you currently keep your API testing notes in a mind map, because that is the workflow it was built for.

Editorial conclusion

MindAPI suits a security tester who wants a structured checklist for an API assessment and a place to hang their own notes, and a teacher who wants a map to hand out. It does not suit a team that needs a scanner, a workflow tool or something that produces findings on its own, because nothing here runs. Before you rely on it, check the two files that carry the content, MindAPI.md and the references page, because they are edited through separate pull request paths and can drift apart, and expect to spend the time translating the map into your own process rather than adopting it as one.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. dsopas/MindAPI on GitHub
2. Issues
3. License: CC0-1.0
4. README