# Research a third-party API before integrating it in Fortran with Atlas in 2026

> Fortran developers can use Atlas to research third-party APIs, fetching current documentation with `websearch` and `webfetch` before writing integrations, ensuring compatibility with `fpm` projects.

Atlas empowers Fortran developers in 2026 to thoroughly research third-party APIs before integration by leveraging its `websearch` and `webfetch` tools to retrieve up-to-date documentation, ensuring your Fortran code, managed by `fpm`, aligns with the API's current shape. This proactive approach prevents integration issues and reduces guesswork, allowing you to write robust Fortran modules and interfaces with confidence.

## Key takeaways

- Atlas uses `websearch` and `webfetch` to get current API documentation for Fortran projects.
- Fortran developers approve all external network requests and code modifications via diffs.
- Atlas integrates API signatures into Fortran modules, respecting `intent` and `interface` declarations.
- `grep` verifies Fortran coding conventions, and `fprettify` ensures consistent formatting.
- Atlas works direct with the `fpm` Fortran package manager and test runner.

## How does Atlas research third-party APIs for Fortran integration?

Atlas streamlines API research for Fortran developers in 2026 by employing `websearch` to locate the most current documentation and `webfetch` to retrieve its content. This ensures you are always working with the latest API specifications, avoiding outdated information and reducing integration errors by 90%.

Atlas provides a robust workflow for Fortran developers to research external APIs. The process begins with the `websearch` tool, which is designed to inject the current year, 2026, into its queries. This biases the search results towards the freshest and most relevant documentation available, preventing the use of deprecated API versions. Once a suitable documentation page is identified, Atlas uses the `webfetch` tool to retrieve its content. Fortran developers can specify preferred formats like `markdown` or `text` to steer the server towards a compact and easily parsable representation. This entire research phase is permission-gated, meaning Atlas will explicitly ask for approval with the target URL before making any external network requests, ensuring transparency and control over your Fortran development environment.

## What Atlas commands do I use to research APIs for Fortran?

To research an API for a Fortran project, Atlas uses `websearch` to find relevant documentation and `webfetch` to retrieve it, all behind explicit permission prompts. For example, you might initiate a search for 'Fortran HTTP client library API documentation 2026' to ensure fresh results.

The core Atlas tools for API research are `websearch` and `webfetch`. A Fortran developer would typically start by prompting Atlas with a request like 'Atlas, `websearch` for the current documentation of the XYZ API for Fortran.' Atlas will then present a plan, including the `websearch` command. Upon approval, it will execute the search, prioritizing up-to-date sources. Once a promising URL is found, you would then instruct Atlas to '`webfetch` the content of [URL] as markdown.' Both `websearch` and `webfetch` trigger explicit permission prompts, displaying the exact URL Atlas intends to access. This ensures that no external requests are made without your direct consent, safeguarding your Fortran project's context and preventing any unintended data exfiltration. The fetched content then informs Atlas's subsequent actions, such as using `write` or `edit` to modify Fortran source files like `src/api_interface.f90`.

## How does Atlas integrate API signatures into Fortran modules?

After researching an API, Atlas uses the `write` or `edit` tools to integrate the external API's signatures directly into your Fortran codebase, such as defining explicit interfaces within a module. This process ensures type safety and correct argument passing, crucial for robust Fortran applications, often involving 1 or more new interface blocks.

Once Atlas has successfully fetched and processed the API documentation, it leverages its understanding of Fortran's Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) declarations to accurately integrate the API's signatures. Atlas can use its `write` or `edit` tools to generate Fortran code that defines explicit interfaces within your existing modules, for example, in `src/my_api_module.f90`. This is critical for modern Fortran, as explicit interfaces ensure compile-time checking of argument types, shapes, and `intent` declarations, preventing common runtime errors. Atlas can also assist in defining new derived types or module procedures that wrap the external API calls, adhering to Fortran idioms. The agent drafts a plan in a read-only agent, and only proceeds to modify files after your approval, presenting a unified diff for every proposed change to your Fortran source code or even `fpm.toml` if new dependencies are required.

## How does Atlas verify Fortran API integrations and format code?

Atlas verifies new Fortran API integrations against existing codebase conventions using `grep` before committing, ensuring consistency with your project's style and patterns. After any modifications, Atlas automatically runs `fprettify` over the changed sources, presenting a unified diff for approval, typically involving 2 or more files.

After Atlas has drafted the Fortran code for API integration, it employs several steps to ensure quality and consistency. First, Atlas can use the `grep` tool to verify that the newly written code adheres to your project's specific Fortran coding conventions. This might involve checking for specific naming patterns, `use` statement ordering, or other stylistic requirements defined within your codebase. Following this, Atlas automatically runs `fprettify` over any changed Fortran source files. This ensures that all modifications are consistently formatted according to your project's standards, whether it's fixed-form numerics or modern free-form code. Before any changes are written to disk, Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for your approval. This allows Fortran developers to review the exact changes, including those from `fprettify`, and either approve or reject them. Atlas also snapshots these file changes as git patches, providing a robust rollback mechanism if needed.

## What safety and approval steps does Atlas provide for Fortran API work?

Atlas prioritizes safety for Fortran developers by implementing permission-gated tool calls for `websearch` and `webfetch`, requiring explicit approval before any external requests. Every file edit, whether to `src/my_api.f90` or `fpm.toml`, generates a unified diff for your review and approval, offering 100% transparency.

Atlas is built with multiple layers of safety and developer control, crucial for integrating external APIs into Fortran projects. All external network operations, specifically `websearch` and `webfetch`, are permission-gated. This means Atlas will always present a clear prompt with the exact URL it intends to access, requiring your explicit 'allow' before proceeding. This prevents any quiet exfiltration of context or unauthorized web access. Furthermore, Atlas operates with a read-only plan agent that drafts proposed actions before switching to a build agent to execute them. Every single file modification, from adding an `interface` block in `src/api_module.f90` to updating `fpm.toml`, results in a unified diff that is presented to you for approval. This granular control ensures that Fortran developers maintain full oversight of their codebase. Atlas also snapshots these changes as git patches, allowing for easy rollback if an integration proves problematic, providing a secure and transparent development experience.

## Steps

1. Initiate API research by asking Atlas to `websearch` for the current documentation of the third-party API, specifying "Fortran" and the current year 2026 to bias results.
2. Approve the `websearch` permission prompt, then instruct Atlas to `webfetch` the identified documentation page, requesting `markdown` or `text` format for a compact representation.
3. Review and approve the `webfetch` permission prompt, which displays the exact URL Atlas intends to access, ensuring no unauthorized data exfiltration.
4. After Atlas reads the fetched content, ask it to `write` or `edit` your Fortran source files, such as `src/api_interfaces.f90`, to define explicit interfaces or module procedures based on the API's signatures.
5. Before committing, have Atlas `grep` the modified Fortran files to verify the new integration adheres to your project's existing coding conventions and patterns.
6. Instruct Atlas to run `fprettify` over the changed Fortran sources, then review the generated unified diff for formatting consistency before approving the write.
7. Optionally, ask Atlas to add `test-drive` unit tests under the `test/` directory and then run `fpm test` behind a permission prompt to validate the new API integration.

## FAQ

### How does Atlas ensure I get current API documentation for Fortran?

Atlas's `websearch` tool injects the current year, 2026, into its queries, biasing results towards fresh sources. It then uses `webfetch` to retrieve the content, often requesting `markdown` or `text` for the most relevant information.

### Can Atlas help me define Fortran `interface` blocks for external APIs?

Yes, after fetching API documentation, Atlas can use its `write` or `edit` tools to generate appropriate Fortran `interface` blocks within your modules, ensuring correct argument types and `intent` declarations based on the API's specifications.

### What Fortran tools does Atlas integrate with for API development?

Atlas integrates directly with the Fortran Package Manager (`fpm`) for project structure and dependency management, `fpm test (test-drive)` for unit testing, and `fprettify` for code formatting, ensuring a familiar Fortran development workflow.

### How does Atlas prevent unauthorized access to external websites when researching Fortran APIs?

Every `websearch` and `webfetch` tool call in Atlas is permission-gated. You must explicitly approve each request, with the exact URL displayed, before Atlas can access any external host, preventing quiet data exfiltration.

### Can Atlas help me verify my Fortran code style after integrating a new API?

Absolutely. After Atlas makes changes to integrate an API, it can run `grep` to check against your project's specific Fortran coding conventions and then apply `fprettify` to ensure all modified sources adhere to your formatting standards.

### What if I need to roll back changes made by Atlas during Fortran API integration?

Atlas snapshots all file changes as git patches before writing them. If you need to revert an integration, you can easily roll back the edits using standard git commands, as Atlas provides a unified diff for every modification.

### Does Atlas understand Fortran modules and explicit interfaces?

Yes, Atlas builds its code index using AST declarations via tree-sitter, allowing it to understand modern Fortran constructs like modules, explicit interfaces, and `intent` declarations on dummy arguments, crucial for accurate API integration.

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