Repository-based API discovery
Scan repository code to identify APIs, generate OpenAPI 3.1 specifications, and organize endpoints into collections without requiring an existing OpenAPI file.
Elva
Elva discovers APIs from source repositories, generates specs, scores readiness, and governs access for developers and AI agents through docs, SDKs, Postman, and MCP.
API discovery, governance, and delivery in one workflow
Elva is an API management and publishing platform for teams that maintain APIs in source repositories and need to make them usable by developers and AI agents. It scans code to discover endpoints, generates OpenAPI 3.1 specifications, organizes APIs into a catalog, and scores their design, security, developer experience, performance, and AI readiness. The workflow is designed to work without an existing OpenAPI specification.
After discovery, teams can define contracts for internal services, partners, public developers, or AI agents. A contract specifies the endpoints and fields an audience may access, and Elva checks commits for drift, breaking changes, and policy violations before publication. Approved contract outputs can be published as specs, documentation, MCP servers, Postman collections, and TypeScript SDKs. The product also includes API testing, an MCP Playground, hosted MCP infrastructure, and usage or agent feedback features that vary by plan.
Core capabilities
API catalog and readiness scoring
Score collections or endpoints across areas such as design, developer experience, AI readiness, security, and performance, then surface issues including missing descriptions, untyped fields, and undocumented authentication.
AI-assisted API improvement
Apply AI-assisted improvements to API descriptions, response schemas, and authentication documentation, with results rescored after changes.
Per-audience API governance
Create audience-specific contracts that control endpoint and field visibility, including options to exclude PII or internal fields. Policies can warn, notify, or block publication when changes break the contract.
Multi-format publishing and MCP hosting
Deploy governed contract outputs as hosted documentation, OpenAPI files, MCP tools, Postman collections, and TypeScript SDKs. MCP servers include gateway authentication and call logging, with per-tool scopes on higher plans.
MCP testing and observability
Use the MCP Playground and agent feedback to test tools, inspect calls, identify unclear descriptions or failures, and feed supported feedback into catalog improvements.
Practical use cases
Cataloging a fragmented API estate
Scan multiple services to create a current endpoint inventory, generate missing specifications, and identify weak authentication, schemas, descriptions, or readiness scores before other teams consume the APIs.
Safely publishing APIs to partners
Create a partner-specific contract that exposes only approved endpoints and fields, removes PII or internal data, and blocks publication when a schema or authentication change would break the partner integration.
Preparing APIs for AI agents
Turn a governed API contract into stable MCP tools for Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, or another MCP client. Use the Playground and gateway logs to inspect tool calls and diagnose schema or latency problems.
Managing API changes across teams
Use commit checks, breaking-change flags, stakeholder notifications, and contract outputs to coordinate API changes across internal services, public documentation, SDKs, and downstream consumers.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Discovers APIs and generates specifications from repository code, so teams do not need to start with an OpenAPI file.
- Connects API inventory, quality scoring, contracts, testing, and publishing in one workflow.
- Provides field-level audience controls, including exclusion of PII and internal fields.
- Publishes governed APIs to several developer and agent-facing outputs, including MCP servers, docs, SDKs, and Postman collections.
- Includes an MCP Playground and agent feedback workflow for checking tool behavior and improving API descriptions and schemas.
Cons
- The most advanced governance, automated testing, analytics, deployment, and enterprise controls are reserved for higher-tier plans.
- Repository and API integration coverage beyond the documented repository-scanning workflow is not specified in the available product material.
- Hosted MCP servers and tool calls are subject to plan-specific limits; self-hosted MCP deployment is listed as an Enterprise capability.
FAQ
How does Elva fit into an API workflow?
Elva scans a repository, discovers endpoints, generates OpenAPI 3.1 specifications from code, builds an API catalog, scores API quality, and can publish selected APIs through documentation, SDKs, Postman collections, and MCP servers. The site states that an OpenAPI specification is not required as an input.
What do API contracts govern?
Contracts define the audience, endpoints, and fields that may be exposed. Elva compares commits with those contracts, identifies drift and breaking changes, and can warn, notify, or block publication depending on the contract policy.
How does Elva expose APIs to AI agents?
Elva can generate hosted MCP servers from governed APIs. The MCP gateway provides authentication and logging, while the contract determines which tools an audience can see. The site also documents self-hosted MCP deployment as an Enterprise capability.
Is there a free version?
Yes. The Free plan includes one repository, unlimited endpoints, specification generation from code, API scoring, manual API testing, the MCP Playground, one hosted MCP server, and 1,000 tool calls per month. Paid plans add repositories, contracts, hosted servers, usage capacity, and governance features.
Quick Facts
- Category
- Developer tool; API management
- Primary users
- API, platform, and engineering teams serving internal services, partners, public developers, or AI agents
- Input
- Source repositories; an existing OpenAPI specification is not required
- Publishing outputs
- OpenAPI, documentation, MCP server, Postman collection, and TypeScript SDK
- Free plan
- $0; 1 repository, unlimited endpoints, 1 hosted MCP server, and 1,000 tool calls per month
- Enterprise options
- Custom plan with unlimited contracts and servers, SSO/SAML, SCIM, audit logs, custom MCP domain, and self-hosted MCP deployment
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