Google has released a preview of the new Google Analytics Management API, which provides read-only access to Google Analytics configuration data.

"Previously, the API returned all the configuration data at once, which in many cases was inefficient if you only needed a subset of data," says Jeetendra M. Soneja of the Google Analytics API team. "Now with separate feeds, developers can request only the data they need. For example, it’s now easy to get the Profile IDs for a single account or the Goal configuration data for only a single Profile."

The new API includes five separate data feeds for accounts, web properties, profiles, goals, and segments.

The API is currently in Google Labs, meaning its subject to bugs. It’s just a preview at this point.

"The API will change, grow, and get better over time," says Soneja. "We recommend developers who aren’t committed to making updates to their applications only experiment with the new API and continue to use the Account Feed as their primary source for configuration data. We will strive to give you at least one month advanced notice of changes to this API."

There is more info about the API here.