Require that whenever an API version is deprecated or a breaking change is introduced, a clear migration guide is published that shows consumers exactly how to move from the old to the new. I insist on this because a deprecation notice without a migration path is just an ultimatum, and it puts all the burden on the people who trusted us. A good guide spells out what changed, maps old fields and endpoints to new ones, and includes real examples so a developer can make the switch without reverse-engineering the diff. Writing these well is one of the most concrete ways a provider shows respect for the businesses built on its API.
Migration Guides (Experience)
Strategies
API Versioning Follows a Defined Standard
All APIs must follow a defined versioning strategy, whether semantic versioning or date-based versioning, with clear policies for how versions are communicated, how consumers are migrated, and how ...
APIs Are Gracefully Deprecated and Retired
All APIs must follow a formal deprecation and retirement process that provides consumers with adequate notice, migration support, and a clear timeline from deprecation to removal, ensuring that no ...
Breaking Changes Are Prevented or Carefully Managed
All changes to APIs must be evaluated for breaking impact before release, with breaking changes requiring explicit approval, version increments, migration guides, and proactive consumer communicati...
Experiences
Change
Managing and effectively communicating changes across one or more APIs is a leading cause of instability and friction in enterprise operations. While these changes often surface in applications use...
Developer Experience
Developer experience is the sum of every interaction a developer has with an API, from the first time they land on the portal to the hundredth time they call an endpoint in production. It covers do...
Trust
Establish trust with API consumers will evolve and build over time, and is something that can be lost in a very short period of time. Trust will depend on other experiences like quality and reliabi...
Lifecycle
captive_portal Portal Beta
The portal is the front door to an API. It is where consumers discover, learn, authenticate, and get to their first successful call. I judge a portal by how fast a new developer can go from landing...
menu_book Documentation Beta
Documentation is the API for humans. I generate reference docs from the definition and surround them with the guides, examples, and getting-started material that turn a spec into understanding. Doc...
