APIS

API design, REST conventions, authentication, rate limiting, versioning, and field naming. Practical patterns for building APIs that are consistent and easy to consume.

20 notes

API Caching
How to use Cache-Control headers and ETags in your REST API to reduce bandwidth, lower server load,...
API Consistency Rules
Why a consistent API style matters and what your style guide must cover — from field casing and pagi...
API Deprecation Process
A five-step process for deprecating REST API endpoints gracefully — from signalling deprecation in t...
API Error Handling
How to handle errors consistently in a REST API — using a global exception handler, correlation IDs,...
API Field Naming Consistency
Why picking a single field naming convention — and enforcing it across response bodies, query parame...
API Idempotency
How idempotency works in REST APIs, which HTTP methods are idempotent by design, and how to make POS...
API Rate Limiting and Throttling
How to protect a REST API from abuse using rate limiting — covering response headers, 429 handling,...
Authentication and Tokens
How to secure a REST API using Bearer tokens, short-lived access tokens, and refresh token rotation...
Core HTTP Methods
The semantic meaning of GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE in REST APIs, and why letting the HTTP met...
Datetime Handling in REST APIs
Why every REST API should use ISO 8601 in UTC for dates, and how to handle timezone offsets, sub-sec...
Filtering, Sorting, and Pagination
How to give API clients control over large collections using query parameter filtering, sort orderin...
Including Related Data in API Responses
How to let API clients opt into related resource expansion using an include query parameter, avoidin...
REST API Documentation
How to write and maintain REST API documentation using OpenAPI — covering endpoint descriptions, req...
REST API HTTP Status Codes
A reference guide to HTTP status codes for REST APIs, covering success responses, client errors, ser...
REST API Pre-Release Checklist
A final verification checklist covering documentation, correctness, security, performance, testing,...
REST API Resource Naming
Conventions for naming REST API resources — plural nouns, shallow nesting, hyphens over underscores,...
REST API Response Shape
How to structure consistent REST API responses using a data envelope pattern, with examples covering...
REST API Security Basics
Baseline security practices every REST API should follow, covering HTTPS enforcement, authentication...
REST API Validation Errors
How to return consistent, machine-parseable validation error responses from a REST API so client app...
REST API Versioning
How and when to version a REST API, covering URL path versioning, header-based versioning, and prove...