NCSA – Automated Hacks

CGI Scripts and the First Server-Side Web Interfaces (1990–1994) — Web API History, Chapter 2

Before REST and JSON, CGI scripts turned early websites into programmable interfaces. From 1990–1994, CGI and server-side integration quietly shaped the first usable patterns of web APIs.

CGI Scripts and Server-Side Web Integration (1990–1994): How the First Web “APIs” Took Shape

Between 1990 and 1994, CGI scripts turned the early Web from static documents into interactive services. This chapter explains how the first practical HTTP interfaces worked—requests as inputs, script output as responses—and how that pattern became the backbone of modern web APIs.