Feature request: CREATE PUBLISHED REST SERVICE support in MDL

[engalar]

Feature Request

MDL currently supports DESCRIBE PUBLISHED REST SERVICE (read-only) but not CREATE PUBLISHED REST SERVICE (write). This blocks fully automated REST API creation via CLI.

Use Case

Building a Mock API service for a PoC project. The microflows backing the REST operations are already created via MDL, but the Published REST Service itself must be created manually in Studio Pro.

What I want to write

CREATE PUBLISHED REST SERVICE OrderManagement.MockPSSAPI (
  Path: 'api/pss/v1',
  Version: '1.0.0',
  ServiceName: 'Mock PSS API'
)
{
  RESOURCE 'shipment-notification' {
    Post MICROFLOW OrderManagement.PRS_ShipmentNotification;
  }
  RESOURCE 'orders/{orderNumber}/status' {
    Get MICROFLOW OrderManagement.PRS_GetOrderStatus;
  }
};

What currently happens

Parse error: line 1: no viable alternative at input 'CREATEPUBLISHED'

Context

The existing DESCRIBE output already shows the structure that needs to be round-tripped:

-- From DESCRIBE PUBLISHED REST SERVICE Email_Connector.OAuthHandler:
CREATE PUBLISHED REST SERVICE Email_Connector.OAuthHandler (
  Path: 'mxecoh/',
  Version: '1.0.0',
  ServiceName: 'OAuthHandler'
)
{
  RESOURCE 'callback' {
    Get {customOpPath} MICROFLOW Email_Connector.PRS_AuthCodeCallbackGET;
  }
};

This shows the syntax is already defined for output — it just needs to be supported for input.

Backing Microflow Signatures

The microflows that back Published REST operations follow a specific pattern:

CREATE MICROFLOW Module.PRS_Handler (
  $httpResponse: System.HttpResponse,   -- Required first parameter
  $OrderNumber: String                  -- Path/query parameters
)
RETURNS String AS $ResponseJson         -- Response body
BEGIN
  -- Handler logic
  RETURN $ResponseJson;
END;

Minimum Viable Syntax

At minimum, support:

Element	Description
Path	URL path prefix (e.g., 'api/pss/v1')
Version	API version string
ServiceName	Display name
RESOURCE	URL path segment with optional {param} placeholders
Get, Post, Put, Delete, Patch	HTTP methods mapped to microflows
MICROFLOW	Backing microflow reference

Impact

Without this, any project that needs REST APIs must switch to Studio Pro for this single step, breaking the fully-automated CLI workflow. This affects:

• Mock/stub API creation for PoC projects
• CI/CD pipelines that generate REST endpoints
• AI-assisted development (agents can create microflows but not wire them to REST)

Environment

• mxcli: 0.1.0
• Mendix: 11.6.4

[github-actions]

Issue Triage

Summary:
The request is to add support for CREATE PUBLISHED REST SERVICE in MDL so that REST APIs can be fully automated via the CLI.

Checklist for feature request:

• ✅ Use case – clearly described (mock API creation, CI/CD, AI‑assisted workflow).
• ✅ Proposed syntax or behavior – detailed MDL example and minimum viable syntax table provided.
• ✅ Mendix version relevance – Mendix 11.6.4 noted in the environment.

The issue contains all required information for a feature request. Thank you for the thorough submission!

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