diff --git a/docs/api.rst b/docs/api.rst
--- a/docs/api.rst
+++ b/docs/api.rst
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 .. _swh-graph-api:
 
-Graph REST API
-==============
+Graph RPC API
+=============
 
 
 Terminology
diff --git a/docs/quickstart.rst b/docs/quickstart.rst
--- a/docs/quickstart.rst
+++ b/docs/quickstart.rst
@@ -55,11 +55,11 @@
      -h, --help              Show this message and exit.
 
    Commands:
-     api-client  client for the graph REST service
+     api-client  client for the graph RPC service
      cachemount  Cache the mmapped files of the compressed graph in a tmpfs.
      compress    Compress a graph using WebGraph Input: a pair of files...
      map         Manage swh-graph on-disk maps
-     rpc-serve   run the graph REST service
+     rpc-serve   run the graph RPC service
 
 Compression
 -----------
diff --git a/java/README.md b/java/README.md
--- a/java/README.md
+++ b/java/README.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Graph service - Java backend
 ============================
 
-Server side Java REST API.
+Server side Java RPC API.
 
 Build
 -----
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
 $ mvn compile assembly:single
 ```
 
-Start REST API
---------------
+Start RPC API
+-------------
 
 ```bash
 $ java -cp target/swh-graph-*.jar \
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/App.java b/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/App.java
--- a/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/App.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/App.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 
 /**
- * Web framework of the swh-graph server REST API.
+ * Web framework of the swh-graph server RPC API.
  *
  * @author The Software Heritage developers
  */
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
     }
 
     /**
-     * Checks query strings names provided to the REST API.
+     * Checks query strings names provided to the RPC API.
      *
      * @param ctx Javalin HTTP request context
      * @param allowedFmt a regular expression describing allowed query strings names
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@
     }
 
     /**
-     * Formats endpoint result into final JSON for the REST API.
+     * Formats endpoint result into final JSON for the RPC API.
      * <p>
      * Removes unwanted information if necessary, such as timings (to prevent use of side channels
      * attacks).
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/Endpoint.java b/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/Endpoint.java
--- a/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/Endpoint.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/softwareheritage/graph/server/Endpoint.java
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 
 /**
- * REST API endpoints wrapper functions.
+ * RPC API endpoints wrapper functions.
  * <p>
  * Graph operations are segmented between high-level class (this one) and the low-level class
  * ({@link Traversal}). The {@link Endpoint} class creates wrappers for each endpoints by performing
diff --git a/swh/graph/cli.py b/swh/graph/cli.py
--- a/swh/graph/cli.py
+++ b/swh/graph/cli.py
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
 @click.option("--port", default="5009", help="Graph server port")
 @click.pass_context
 def api_client(ctx, host, port):
-    """client for the graph REST service"""
+    """client for the graph RPC service"""
     from swh.graph import client
 
     url = "http://{}:{}".format(host, port)
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@
 )
 @click.pass_context
 def serve(ctx, host, port, graph):
-    """run the graph REST service"""
+    """run the graph RPC service"""
     import aiohttp
 
     from swh.graph.backend import Backend