The who, what, how, and why of producing an API, making sure all of the known use cases are accurately described and kept up to date, then used to ensure each API is delivering what is expected with each use case.
Use Cases
Rules
APIs.json Apis Properties Use Cases Info
This property ensures there is a reference to the use cases for an API, helping align an API with the who, what, how, and why of putting an API to work
Strategies
APIs Are Always Aligned with the Wider Enterprise
All API contracts must have use cases that align the business reasons why an API is being delivered to consumers with the actual technical details of each API contract, ensuring that operations all...
APIs Have Clear Business Models
All APIs must have defined business models that articulate the value exchange between producer and consumer, including pricing tiers, plan features, rate limits, and metrics, ensuring that APIs are...
Experiences
Alignment
Achieving alignment between teams producing APIs and their consumers is a persistent challenge in API operations. Effective collaboration between business and technical stakeholders requires ongoin...
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...
Communication
Consistent communication about the production and consumption of APIs is critical for effective enterprise governance. APIs are inherently difficult to visualize, making it essential to invest in m...
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...
Discovery
The average enterprise maintains approximately 0.5 APIs per employee, making it a constant challenge to track the growing inventory of HTTP APIs being produced and consumed. Enterprises often addre...
Onboarding
Transitioning from API discovery to integration as a consumer requires a well-defined and streamlined API onboarding process. Onboarding begins with discovery and relies heavily on clear documentat...
Simplicity
Simplicity is a hallmark of well-designed HTTP APIs, but achieving simplicity requires effort. The likelihood that a partner or third-party developer will abandon an API increases as cognitive load...
Lifecycle
travel_explore Discovery Production
Discovery is how APIs get found and reused instead of rebuilt. APIs.json, catalogs, and search make the APIs I operate visible to the people who need them. Good discovery is what turns a pile of AP...
