Hi
Please see the answers to all your questions below :
I'm having a having a hard time with the exact usage of the Services APIs and terminology. Are Services APIs the same as Smart APIs?
https://developer.cisco.com/docs/service-apis/
https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/assets/docs/pss-api-overview.pdf
https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/assets/docs/pss-api-faq.pdf
No, Services APIs and Smart APIs are not the same. Services APIs are currently available to Smart Net Total Care (SNTC) customers where as Smart APIs that you are referring to primarily serves partner community (Partner Support Services (PSS)). Currently Smart APIs are in sustenance mode and the goal is to consolidate APIs supporting both customers and partners. Having said that, currently there are no plans to deprecate Smart APIs.
Why are the Services APIs managed through anypoint.mulesoft.com, but Support APIs aren't?
The decision to have Services APIs managed through MuleSoft was based on the market conditions at that time. In the near future Services APIs will be available through apiconsole.cisco.com similar to Support APIs.
Are Services APIs the same as Smart APIs?
Already answered
Do these APIs also require on on-prem PSS appliance? Or are they really around obtaining SNTC data which is populated by an on-prem appliance, manual upload, or Cisco CallHome?
Services APIs are based on SNTC data and as you said, can be obtained by an on-prem appliance or manual uploads.
I have a few use cases that I'm trying to make sure I develop correctly around. If I have a customer who only gives me a serial number for a device, I'm still best served by using the Support APIs (SN2INFO, EOX, etc.)? Yes, because if a serial number of a device is not part of SNTC upload, then it will not be reported via Smart APIs.
