Integrating Reporting Services into applications
Applies to: 
SQL Server Reporting Services (2016) ❌ SQL Server Reporting Services (2017) ❌ Power BI Report Server
Reporting Services is an open and extensible reporting platform designed to provide developers with a comprehensive set of APIs for developing solutions.
Note
Starting with SQL Server 2017 Reporting Services, REST API access is available for developing solutions. SOAP API access has been deprecated. For more information, see Develop with the REST APIs for Reporting Services.
There are three options for integrating Reporting Services into custom applications: the Report Server Web service, also known as the Reporting Services SOAP API, the Report Viewer controls for Microsoft Visual Studio, and URL access. Each option provides a different approach for integrating Reporting Services into your applications.
Report server web service
The Report Server Web service is the primary interface for developing against Reporting Services. Whether you're developing code to manage your report catalog or developing code to render reports to a supported format, the Web service exposes all the necessary methods to integrate Reporting Services into your applications. An example of one such application is the web portal, which is included with Reporting Services; it uses the Web service to manage the report server database.
Report Viewer controls for Visual Studio
The Report Viewer controls available for Visual Studio are used for integrating report viewing into your applications. There are two controls: one for Windows Forms-based applications and one for Web Forms applications. Each control provides the capability for viewing reports that are deployed to a report server. Each control also allows you to render reports that exist in an environment where a report server isn't installed.
URL access
URL access is another option for integrating report viewing into your applications if the Report Viewer controls aren't an option. In addition, URL access is useful for sending links to reports to users via e-mail.
In this section
Integrating Reporting Services by using SOAP
Describes how to integrate Reporting Services report navigation and management into your existing business applications using the Report Server Web service.
Integrating Reporting Services by using the Report Viewer controls
Describes how to integrate report viewing into your existing applications using the Report Viewer controls.
Integrating Reporting Services by using URL access
Describes how to integrate Reporting Services report navigation into your existing business applications using URL access.