Providing semantic or date-based versioning for an API, offering an overview of what is adopted for an API and why, letting consumers know that their is change management in place and how they can tune into communication.
Versioning
Rules
APIs.json Apis Properties Versioning Info
This property ensures there is a reference to how APIs are versioned, providing a single place where teams can learn about how change is communicated
Strategies
API Change is Managed Relative to Operational Change
Individual APIs should be aligned with overall operational change, providing a common operational change log and road-map that is higher level than change for each individual API, but provides a co...
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
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...
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...
Reliability
If an API isn’t reliable, consumers will eventually look for alternatives. Reliability starts with the platform and infrastructure where the API is deployed, but it also depends heavily on the pace...
Lifecycle
tag Versioning Define
APIs change, and how you version is how you keep faith with the people who depend on you. I decide my versioning and compatibility strategy at the beginning, not after I have already broken someone...
