📡 API Development & Documentation

No API versioning, breaking changes affecting all clients, mobile apps break on backend deploy. Implement versioning: 1) URL-based (/api/v1/, /api/v2/) 2) Header-based (Accept: application/vnd.api+json;version=2) 3) Support multiple versions simultaneously 4) Deprecation warnings in response headers 5) Sunset dates for old versions. Strategy: maintain n-1 versions, 6-month deprecation window, automated tests for all versions. Also: version in OpenAPI docs, changelog for each version. Challenges: code duplication, testing multiple versions, migration coordination. Document: versioning policy, client migration guide. Est: 8 story points. Enables safe evolution.

Implement API versioning strategy with gradual migration path

Current API returns all results (no pagination), causing performance issues when datasets grow. User list endpoint returning 50K users (10MB response), timing out. Design API v2: 1) Cursor-based pagination for infinite scroll 2) Offset/limit for page-based navigation 3) Filtering (?status=active&role=admin) 4) Sorting (?sort=created_at&order=desc) 5) Field selection (?fields=id,name,email). Standard response format: {data: [], pagination: {next, prev, total}, meta: {}}. Implement: query builder, validation, error handling. Backward compatible v1 deprecation path. Document: OpenAPI spec, examples, migration guide. Est: 13 story points. Critical for scalability.

Design and implement REST API v2 with pagination and filtering

API documentation outdated and incomplete. Developers guessing request/response formats. Create comprehensive OpenAPI 3.0 spec: 1) All endpoints documented 2) Request/response schemas 3) Example requests 4) Error responses 5) Authentication docs. Use: decorators for auto-generation, Swagger UI for interactive docs. Include: data types, required fields, validation rules, status codes, rate limits. Also: Postman collection export. Keep in sync: documentation tests, CI checks. Host: dedicated docs site (docs.api.company.com). Benefits: easier integration, reduced support, better DX. Est: 8 story points. High value for API consumers.

Add comprehensive OpenAPI/Swagger documentation for all endpoints

API returning 200 OK for errors with error in body, wrong status codes (404 for validation errors), inconsistent error format. Follow standards: 1) 2xx success, 3xx redirect, 4xx client error, 5xx server error 2) Specific codes: 400 bad request, 401 unauthorized, 403 forbidden, 404 not found, 422 validation 3) Standard error format: {error: {code, message, details: []}}. Include: error codes for programmatic handling, field-level validation errors, helpful error messages. Also: rate limit headers (X-RateLimit-*), correlation IDs for tracing. Update all endpoints, test with contract tests. Document error codes. Est: 8 story points. Improves API usability.

Implement proper HTTP status codes and error responses

API responses large, slow on mobile, high bandwidth costs. Average response: 500KB, should be <50KB. Implement compression: 1) Gzip/Brotli compression middleware 2) Compress responses >1KB 3) Accept-Encoding negotiation 4) Compressed request bodies for large payloads. Also optimize: remove unnecessary data from responses, use field selection, implement pagination. Expected: 70-90% size reduction. Configure: compression level (6 for balance), vary header. Benefits: faster responses, reduced bandwidth costs, better mobile experience. Test: performance impact, various content types. Est: 3 story points. Quick win with high impact.

Implement request/response compression to reduce bandwidth

Same data requested repeatedly, wasting server resources and bandwidth. User profile fetched 100 times unchanged. Implement HTTP caching: 1) ETag generation (hash of response) 2) If-None-Match request header 3) 304 Not Modified response 4) Last-Modified/If-Modified-Since 5) Cache-Control headers. Strategy: immutable for static resources, max-age for semi-static, no-cache for dynamic. Also: server-side caching with Redis, stale-while-revalidate. Expected: 40% reduction in unnecessary data transfer, improved performance. Configure: cache TTL per endpoint. Monitor: cache hit rate. Est: 8 story points. Performance improvement.

Implement API caching strategy with ETags and conditional requests

No rate limiting, vulnerable to abuse and DDoS. Implement tiered rate limiting: 1) Free tier: 100 req/hour 2) Pro: 1000 req/hour 3) Enterprise: 10000 req/hour 4) IP-based for anonymous. Use: Redis for distributed rate limiting, sliding window algorithm. Response: 429 Too Many Requests, Retry-After header, rate limit headers (X-RateLimit-*). Features: per-endpoint limits, burst allowance, rate limit exemptions. Graceful degradation: queue requests, priority queue for paying users. Monitor: rate limit hits, adjust limits based on usage. Document: rate limits in API docs. Est: 5 story points. Protects infrastructure.

Implement API rate limiting per user tier with graceful degradation

No visibility into API usage: which endpoints used most, slowest endpoints, errors by endpoint, user patterns. Implement analytics: 1) Request logging (endpoint, latency, status, user) 2) Analytics dashboard 3) Metrics: requests/sec, error rate, P95 latency 4) Usage by user/endpoint 5) Trend analysis. Use: ELK stack or cloud service. Dashboards: API health, top endpoints, slow endpoints, error breakdown, user activity. Alerts: error spike, latency increase, unusual traffic. Benefits: performance monitoring, capacity planning, identify issues. Privacy: don't log sensitive data. Est: 8 story points. Operational visibility.

Implement API analytics and usage tracking

Mobile apps complaining about: multiple round trips for related data, downloading unnecessary fields, slow on mobile networks. GraphQL benefits: 1) Single request for related data 2) Client specifies exact fields needed 3) Strongly typed schema 4) Real-time with subscriptions 5) Better mobile performance. Implementation: Apollo Server, schema design, resolvers, DataLoader for N+1. Schema: Query, Mutation, Subscription types. Features: pagination, filtering, field-level auth. Challenges: query complexity limits, persisted queries, caching. Also: GraphQL Playground, schema documentation. Est: 21 story points. Major feature for mobile.

Build GraphQL API to reduce over-fetching and under-fetching

No request validation, invalid data reaching business logic, database errors for malformed input, security risk (SQL injection attempts). Implement validation: 1) JSON schema or Joi for request validation 2) Validate before processing 3) Clear validation error messages 4) Type coercion (string '123' → number) 5) Sanitize input. Validate: required fields, data types, format (email, URL), min/max length, regex patterns, custom rules. Return 422 with field-level errors: {field: 'email', message: 'invalid format'}. Also: validate query params, URL params. Reduces bugs, improves security. Est: 8 story points.

Add API request validation with schema validation library

Partners requesting real-time notifications for events: order placed, payment received, user registered. Currently polling (inefficient). Build webhook system: 1) Webhook registration API 2) Event publishing 3) Reliable delivery with retries 4) Signature verification (HMAC) 5) Webhook management UI. Features: retry policy (5 attempts exponential backoff), webhook logs, test webhooks, webhook simulation. Handle: delivery failures, rate limiting, payload size limits. Security: verify webhook origin, HTTPS only. Document: webhook events, payload format, security. Queue-based with worker for reliability. Est: 13 story points.

Build webhook system for real-time event notifications

Partners building integrations from scratch, reinventing auth, error handling, pagination. Provide official SDKs: 1) JavaScript/TypeScript (npm package) 2) Python (pip package) 3) Go (module). Features: automatic authentication, retry logic, error handling, typed responses, pagination helpers. Generated from OpenAPI spec. Also: code examples, quick start guide, comprehensive docs. Host on GitHub, publish to package managers. Benefits: faster integration, fewer support requests, better DX. Versioned with API. Auto-generate with OpenAPI Generator, customize for quality. Est: 13 story points. High value for ecosystem.

Create API client SDKs for JavaScript, Python, and Go

Need to communicate API changes to users without breaking their integrations. Implement: 1) Deprecation headers (Deprecation: true, Sunset: 2025-12-31) 2) Warning header with message 3) Deprecation notices in docs 4) Email notifications to API users 5) Migration guides. Process: announce deprecation (6 months notice), add warnings (3 months), sunset old version. Track: usage of deprecated endpoints, users to migrate. Dashboard: show migration progress. Automated: email to users still using deprecated API. Policy document: versioning and deprecation. Est: 5 story points. Enables safe evolution.

Add API versioned deprecation warnings and sunset notices

API tests brittle, breaking on internal changes, not testing actual contracts. Implement contract testing: 1) Pact or OpenAPI-based contract tests 2) Test API against documented schema 3) Provider tests (API implements contract) 4) Consumer tests (clients use contract correctly) 5) CI/CD integration. Benefits: prevent breaking changes, ensure API matches docs, catch bugs early. Also: integration tests for critical flows, load tests for performance, security tests. Generate tests from OpenAPI spec. Run: on every PR, before deployment. Est: 8 story points. Improves API reliability.

Build API testing framework with contract tests

Debugging API issues hard: can't see request body, query params not logged, can't reproduce issues. Implement structured logging: 1) Log all requests (method, path, user, timestamp) 2) Log request/response bodies (dev/staging only) 3) Correlation IDs for tracing 4) Sanitize sensitive data (passwords, tokens) 5) Configurable log levels. Use: Winston or Pino, JSON format. Include: request duration, status code, error details. Features: request replay for debugging, log sampling in production (10%). Ship logs to ELK. Benefits: easier debugging, audit trail, performance analysis. Privacy: GDPR compliance, PII redaction. Est: 5 story points.

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📡 API Development & Documentation

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