Cisco Nexus switches use which API for network programmability?

Cisco Nexus switches utilize NETCONF as a key API for network programmability, making it particularly valuable for automating configuration management and operational tasks. NETCONF, defined by IETF, offers capabilities such as retrieving and modifying device configurations, interacting with the management protocol, and utilizing XML-based data encoding.

Choosing NETCONF enables consistent and reliable communication between the network device and management software, allowing for structured queries and transaction management. This facilitates automation, configuration compliance, and operational efficiency, aligning well with network programmability initiatives.

While the other options, such as Nx-API REST and Nx-API CLI, are indeed APIs available on Cisco Nexus switches, they serve different specific functions. Nx-API CLI is focused on extending CLI commands as APIs and is designed for simpler integrations. Nx-API REST provides a RESTful interface for accessing switch features but doesn't encompass the full range of capabilities inherent to NETCONF, particularly when it comes to configuration management best practices. gRPC is also a modern framework that could be leveraged for different contexts but is not specifically tied to the Cisco Nexus switches in the way NETCONF is.