Require that every API defines and enforces validation rules in its contract, using schemas, constraints, required fields, and formats so that bad input is rejected with a clear, consistent error instead of silently corrupting data downstream. Every API must make its expectations explicit and machine-readable, so validation can be generated, tested, and enforced automatically rather than reimplemented by hand in every service. I have cleaned up too many messes that started as an unvalidated field quietly accepted at the edge. Designing validation into the contract is how we keep our APIs consistent, catch problems early, and give consumers honest, actionable feedback.
Validation (Design)
Strategies
APIs Follow Consistent Design Patterns
All APIs must follow consistent design patterns for naming conventions, media types, pagination, filtering, sorting, and error handling, ensuring that consumers can learn patterns once and apply th...
Data Should Be Well-Defined and Validated
The schema for data that is sent and received via API should always be well-defined, possess a well-known shape, and always be validated, ensuring that digital resources and capabilities are what t...
Experiences
Consistency
Achieving consistency in the design, delivery, and maintenance of HTTP APIs across an enterprise is a significant challenge—one that often complicates API operations. Small differences, such as var...
Quality
The quality of HTTP APIs powering an enterprise tends to decline as the number of ungoverned APIs grows across internal, partner, and public landscapes. Low-quality APIs lead to poor downstream exp...
Contracts
Every API is a contract, and the contract experience is about how clearly the promises between provider and consumer are expressed. Technical contracts like OpenAPI and AsyncAPI describe what the A...
Lifecycle
design_services Design Design
Design is where the human experience of an API is won or lost. I work design-first, shaping the paths, schema, errors, and naming in the contract before development begins, so that consistency is b...
checklist Testing Beta
Testing is how I know the API does what the contract says. Contract testing, integration testing, and validation against the definition keep implementation and documentation honest with each other....
