Contact form

The smallest useful data host is a contact form: anyone may submit a message, only you may read the messages back. It is one collection, two endpoints and one user.

api.example.com/
  datahoster-collections/
    messages/                      the table
      datahoster-collection.json
      datahoster-collection-columns/
        name.json
        email.json
        message.json
        handled.json
  datahoster-endpoints/
    submit/                              anyone may POST a message
      datahoster-endpoint-insert.json
    inbox/                               only you may read them back
      datahoster-endpoint-select.json
  datahoster-users/
    you.json

A public inbox: a messages collection, an open insert endpoint and a private select endpoint.

The collection

messages is a collection of four columns: name, email and message hold the submission, and handled is a boolean you flip once you have dealt with it. Every collection also carries automatic id, at and by columns.

The endpoints

Two endpoints sit in front of the collection. submit is an open insert: it takes name, email and message, adds a row, and anyone may call it. inbox is a private select: it returns the rows, and only you may call it.

The user

you.json is a single user holding an access token. Listing that user in the inbox endpoint's permission is what keeps the messages private while submit stays open to the world.

Calling it

Point an HTML form at https://api.example.com/submit and every submission becomes a row in messages. GET https://api.example.com/inbox, with your token, to read them back.