EVE Evolved: An Update On The ESI

With the advent of the global PLEX market I began scripting in Python again. I wanted to monitor the market and make graphs automatically, so I started looking for the reference sites I was used to using a couple of years ago. What I found was a lot different. What I didn't know is that I returned to coding using EVE data in the middle of CCP Games updating the whole structure.

Today CCP launched both a dev blog and YouTube video announcing, "ESI Delivered: The Next Chapter." I got to quickly read the dev blog, watch the video, and play around with some of the reference material. What I'll do is provide the Copilot Cliffnotes version of the video and then give some thoughts.

Summary: “Dev Chat: EVE Evolved – ESI Delivered: The Next Chapter”

In this Dev Chat, CCP Monty hosts CCP Stroopwafel, CCP Zelus, and CCP Troglodyte to discuss the long-awaited overhaul and expansion of the EVE Swagger Interface (ESI).

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What Is ESI and Why It Matters

• ESI is the modern, RESTful JSON API layer for EVE Online, originally built on CREST in 2016.
• It exposes character, corporation, kill-mail, market, mapping, authentication, and other data and actions without needing the game client open.
• Third-party tools (killboards, fleet-management apps, mapping utilities, Excel add-ins, etc.) rely on ESI to deliver live in-game information.
• Reviving and extending ESI supports CCP’s mantra of “EVE for forever” by enabling community innovation.

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The Evolution and Recent Revamp

1. Early History

• 2004–2005: Players scraped the website for data → XML API → CREST → ESI (2016).
• ESI stagnated as the game added features without corresponding API endpoints.

2. 2025 Overhaul

• New dedicated team (Stroopwafel Troglodyte, Pinky, others) started six months ago.
• Replaced large portions of ESI’s core infrastructure live, minimizing disruption to both third-party apps and in-game systems.
• Shifted data sourcing away from direct game-server queries to a dedicated data warehouse, improving performance and resilience.

3. Technical Challenges

• Performing a “flying engine swap” while ESI serves thousands of live requests without downtime.
• Ensuring neither ESI nor the game servers suffer performance degradation.

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What’s Launched Today

• Corporation Projects Endpoints
• Read access to corp project lists and progress.
• Early-access feedback cycle with EVE Partnership Program partners (e.g., Rift).
• Lays the groundwork for eventual project creation tooling, alliance management workflows, and automated corp-admin tasks.

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Roadmap: What’s Next

• Freelance Jobs API for managing individual assignments outside the client.
• Sovereignty Updates reflecting current null-sec structures and mechanics.
• Paragon Hub Features to streamline asset, market, and corporate finance management.
• Static Data Export (SDE) Rework for more reliable and complete in-game dataset downloads.
• Improved Rate Limiting, enhanced error reporting, and other modernizations.
• Excel Add-In Upgrade for power-users who organize EVE data in spreadsheets.

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Getting Started as a Developer

1. Visit developers.eveonline.com for API docs, quick-start guides, and community‐sourced app listings (Rift, zKillboard, DOTLAN, Pyfa, EveRef, etc.).

2. Join the EVE Online Official Discord, especially the “third-party development” channel.

3. Obtain an ESI API key by linking an active EVE account and accepting API terms.

4. Consider applying to the EVE Partnership Program for early feature access, collaborative feedback, and peer support.

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Now my take. I already had the API Explorer page bookmarked for use as I found it useful. From reading the dev blog I learned about the Community Showcase section from which I discovered the JitaSpace SDE REST API. The page on JitaSpace was exactly what I was looking for to do the queries for the market information I'm most interested in. I got to play a little bit in the morning with queries and now I have a lot of ideas.

I know, not much of a reaction. But I do hope to see the ESI get some love in the future. Even though I might not take advantage of any new features I know some poor volunteer player-dev supporting hundreds of players will.

Author's note [27 Aug 2025]: My apologies to CCP Zelus for getting his dev name incorrect. I blame the YouTube transcript.