Custom Developer Portal with Apigee on Drupal
Building a fully customized, enterprise-grade developer portal that extended beyond standard Apigee capabilities.
The Challenge
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) had successfully implemented Apigee for their API management and security needs, but quickly realized that Apigee's integrated developer portal wouldn't meet their requirements for extensive customization and branding.
The company faced a critical strategic decision: build a custom developer portal on Drupal using Apigee Kickstart, or develop an entirely new solution from scratch. They needed specialized capabilities including:
- •Specialized app key management workflows tailored to their business processes
- •Streamlined developer onboarding for both internal teams and external partners
- •Interactive API documentation that developers could test in real-time
- •Full control over branding, UX, and feature sets beyond what standard portals offered
Our Solution
Centauri Systems (Stratus Meridian) partnered with RCCL to implement a fully customized developer portal using Apigee Kickstart on Drupal. This approach provided the flexibility of a custom-built solution with the stability of an established framework, accelerating time-to-market while ensuring enterprise-grade reliability.
Our implementation delivered a comprehensive solution tailored to RCCL's specific needs:
Custom Material UI Theme
Implemented a completely custom Material UI theme that aligned with RCCL's brand identity and provided an enhanced visual design experience beyond standard portal templates.
Faceted API Discovery
Built advanced filtering and search capabilities enabling developers to quickly discover and explore API products based on multiple criteria and use cases.
Customized Swagger UI
Fully customized Swagger UI integration providing comprehensive, interactive API documentation where developers can test endpoints directly from the portal.
Automated CI/CD Pipeline
Integrated Apigee Maven plugin for continuous integration and deployment, enabling seamless API specification updates without manual portal maintenance.
Implementation Approach
Our team worked closely with Royal Caribbean's API and developer experience teams to ensure the portal met both technical requirements and business objectives. The implementation focused on three core areas:
- 1.Developer Experience: Simplified app key management and streamlined onboarding workflows reduced time-to-first-API-call for new developers
- 2.API Lifecycle Management: Automated deployment of API specifications through CI/CD pipelines ensured documentation stayed synchronized with backend changes
- 3.Brand Alignment: Custom theming and design elements created a cohesive experience that reinforced RCCL's enterprise brand standards
Technologies Used
Results & Impact
The custom developer portal transformed Royal Caribbean's API program, completing the full API lifecycle from backend management and security through to developer engagement and adoption. The solution successfully addressed all of RCCL's initial requirements while providing a foundation for future API program growth.
Key outcomes achieved:
- ✓Accelerated Developer Onboarding: Streamlined workflows reduced time-to-first-API-call for new developers, enabling faster partner and internal team integration
- ✓Simplified API Key Management: Specialized workflows for app key provisioning and management aligned with RCCL's security and governance requirements
- ✓Interactive Documentation: Developers gained hands-on API testing capabilities directly within the portal, reducing support requests and increasing successful integrations
- ✓Enterprise-Grade Branding: Fully customized UI created a professional, cohesive experience that reinforced Royal Caribbean's brand standards
- ✓Automated Lifecycle Management: CI/CD integration eliminated manual updates, ensuring documentation always reflected current API capabilities
Complete API Program Lifecycle
By implementing this custom developer portal, Royal Caribbean completed their full API program lifecycle—from backend API management with Apigee through frontend developer experience with a world-class portal. The solution provided the extensibility RCCL needed while maintaining the reliability and security standards expected of an enterprise platform.