API Reference

The CWE Go library provides a comprehensive set of APIs for working with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) data. This documentation covers all public types, functions, and methods available in the library.

Overview

The library is organized into several key components:

Core Components

• Core Types - Basic data structures and models
• API Client - REST API client for CWE data
• Data Fetcher - High-level data fetching interface
• Registry - CWE collection management
• HTTP Client - Rate-limited HTTP client
• Rate Limiter - Request rate limiting
• Search & Utils - Search and utility functions
• Tree Operations - Tree building and traversal

Package Constants

const (
    // BaseURL is the root URL for CWE REST API
    BaseURL = "https://cwe-api.mitre.org/api/v1"
    
    // DefaultTimeout is the default HTTP request timeout
    DefaultTimeout = 30 * time.Second
)

Quick Reference

Creating Clients

// Create default API client
client := cwe.NewAPIClient()

// Create API client with custom options
client := cwe.NewAPIClientWithOptions(
    "https://custom-api.example.com/api/v1",
    60 * time.Second,
    cwe.NewHTTPRateLimiter(5 * time.Second),
)

// Create data fetcher
fetcher := cwe.NewDataFetcher()

Basic Operations

// Get CWE version
version, err := client.GetVersion()

// Get a specific weakness
weakness, err := client.GetWeakness("79")

// Get multiple CWEs
cweMap, err := client.GetCWEs([]string{"79", "89", "287"})

// Fetch and convert to local structure
cwe, err := fetcher.FetchWeakness("79")

Registry Operations

// Create registry
registry := cwe.NewRegistry()

// Register CWE
err := registry.Register(cweInstance)

// Get by ID
cwe, exists := registry.GetByID("CWE-79")

// Export to JSON
jsonData, err := registry.ExportToJSON()

Rate Limiting

// Create rate limiter
limiter := cwe.NewHTTPRateLimiter(5 * time.Second)

// Wait for request
limiter.WaitForRequest()

// Set new interval
limiter.SetInterval(2 * time.Second)

Error Handling

All API methods return errors that should be checked:

weakness, err := client.GetWeakness("79")
if err != nil {
    switch {
    case strings.Contains(err.Error(), "not found"):
        log.Printf("CWE not found: %v", err)
    case strings.Contains(err.Error(), "timeout"):
        log.Printf("Request timeout: %v", err)
    default:
        log.Printf("Unknown error: %v", err)
    }
    return
}

Thread Safety

Most components in the library are thread-safe:

• ✅ APIClient - Thread-safe, can be used concurrently
• ✅ HTTPClient - Thread-safe with internal synchronization
• ✅ HTTPRateLimiter - Thread-safe with mutex protection
• ✅ Registry - Thread-safe for read operations
• ⚠️ CWE - Not thread-safe for modifications
• ⚠️ TreeNode - Not thread-safe for modifications

Performance Considerations

• Rate Limiting: All API requests are rate-limited by default (10 seconds per request)
• Retry Logic: Failed requests are automatically retried up to 3 times
• Memory Usage: Large CWE trees may consume significant memory
• Concurrent Access: Use separate client instances for high-concurrency scenarios

Next Steps

• Explore Core Types to understand the data structures
• Check API Client for REST API operations
• See Examples for practical usage patterns