Add Sanity Checks to API Spec URL in api_connect Function

[le91688]

Description

In our current implementation of the api_connect function, we lack sufficient sanity checks on the API spec URL. This can lead to unexpected behaviors, errors, or exceptions if the URL is invalid, inaccessible, or doesn't return the expected data.

Tasks/Enhancements Required:

• Validate the URL format: The function should first validate if the provided URL has a proper format (scheme, netloc, etc.). If the URL format is invalid, the function should raise a specific exception or return an error message.

Acceptance Criteria:

• The api_connect function should validate the URL format and return a meaningful error if the URL is invalid.