docs: def api(self):
          """
          .. warning:: Deprecated: will be withdrawn since JPC doesn't appear 
             to return the nice documentation object any more
          
          ::
          
              GET /
          
          :Returns: a programmatically-generated API summary using HTTP verbs 
              and URL templates
          :rtype: :py:class:`dict`
          """
          if self.verbose:
              print("%s\t%s\t%s" % 
                  (datetime.now().isoformat(), 'GET', self.base_url), 
                  file=self.verbose)
          resp = requests.request('GET', self.base_url, verify=self.verify)
          if 400 <= resp.status_code < 499:
              resp.raise_for_status()
          if resp.content:
              return json.loads(resp.content)