API Development

Good API design is predictable. Resources are named consistently (nouns, not verbs), HTTP methods are used correctly (GET for reads, POST for creates, PATCH for partial updates, DELETE for removes), and error responses include meaningful codes and messages that help developers understand what went wrong and how to fix it.

We design APIs from the consumer perspective first: what does the client actually need to accomplish? Then we design the interface to satisfy those needs efficiently, often reducing the number of round trips required compared to naive API designs.

Every API we build includes proper authentication from the start. For browser-based applications, we implement HttpOnly cookie sessions or JWTs with appropriate expiration and refresh token rotation. For programmatic API access, we implement API key authentication with key management (create, list, revoke) and optional key scoping.

We also implement rate limiting to prevent abuse, input validation to prevent injection attacks, and proper CORS configuration to restrict which origins can make cross-origin requests.

An API without tests is a liability. We write integration test suites that test every endpoint against its expected behavior, including error cases. These tests run in CI on every pull request — broken API behavior is caught before it reaches staging.

Documentation is generated from the OpenAPI specification, which stays in sync with the implementation. We use tools like Swagger UI or Redoc to provide interactive documentation where developers can test API calls directly. No more outdated documentation that doesn't match what the API actually does.