API and Interface Design

Overview

Design stable, well-documented interfaces that are hard to misuse. Good interfaces make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. This applies to REST APIs, GraphQL schemas, module boundaries, component props, and any surface where one piece of code talks to another.

When to Use

• Designing new API endpoints
• Defining module boundaries or contracts between teams
• Creating component prop interfaces
• Establishing database schema that informs API shape
• Changing existing public interfaces

Contract Design Workflow

1. Identify consumers: list current and expected clients, internal callers, SDKs, jobs, integrations, and tests that observe the interface.
2. Define the contract first: write request/input, response/output, error shape, authorization expectations, idempotency, pagination, and versioning/deprecation notes before implementation.
3. Check compatibility: classify every change as additive, behavior-preserving, or breaking; prefer optional additions over field removals or type changes.
4. Validate boundary data: place validation at external boundaries and parse third-party responses before using them.
5. Design verification: add or update contract tests, schema checks, typed clients, or examples that prove consumer-visible behavior.
6. Document the contract: keep types, OpenAPI/GraphQL schema, route docs, or module docs in sync with the implementation.

🔴 CHECKPOINT / 🛑 STOP: Before changing a public route, field type, enum value, error shape, authorization rule, pagination contract, or module interface, pause and confirm whether a breaking-change plan, migration path, or deprecation window is required.

Fallbacks for Unclear Contracts

Trigger condition	First response	If still unresolved
Consumers are unknown	Search callers, clients, docs, tests, schemas, and usage examples	Treat the interface as public and avoid breaking changes
Versioning policy is unclear	Prefer one-version-compatible additive changes	Escalate for product/architecture decision before version forks
Error semantics differ across existing endpoints	Follow the nearest established API family	Document the inconsistency and avoid introducing a third pattern
Required behavior conflicts with compatibility	Propose an additive field/endpoint or feature flag	Stop until migration/deprecation is approved
Third-party response shape is undocumented	Validate with a narrow schema and fail closed	Report the unverified external contract

Core Principles

Hyrum's Law

With a sufficient number of users of an API, all observable behaviors of your system will be depended on by somebody, regardless of what you promise in the contract.

This means: every public behavior — including undocumented quirks, error message text, timing, and ordering — becomes a de facto contract once users depend on it. Design implications:

• Be intentional about what you expose. Every observable behavior is a potential commitment.
• Don't leak implementation details. If users can observe it, they will depend on it.
• Plan for deprecation at design time. See deprecation-and-migration for how to safely remove things users depend on.
• Tests are not enough. Even with perfect contract tests, Hyrum's Law means "safe" changes can break real users who depend on undocumented behavior.

The One-Version Rule

Avoid forcing consumers to choose between multiple versions of the same dependency or API. Diamond dependency problems arise when different consumers need different versions of the same thing. Design for a world where only one version exists at a time — extend rather than fork.

1. Contract First

Define the interface before implementing it. The contract is the spec — implementation follows.

// Define the contract first
interface TaskAPI {
  // Creates a task and returns the created task with server-generated fields
  createTask(input: CreateTaskInput): Promise<Task>;

  // Returns paginated tasks matching filters
  listTasks(params: ListTasksParams): Promise<PaginatedResult<Task>>;

  // Returns a single task or throws NotFoundError
  getTask(id: string): Promise<Task>;

  // Partial update — only provided fields change
  updateTask(id: string, input: UpdateTaskInput): Promise<Task>;

  // Idempotent delete — succeeds even if already deleted
  deleteTask(id: string): Promise<void>;
}

2. Consistent Error Semantics

Pick one error strategy and use it everywhere:

// REST: HTTP status codes + structured error body
// Every error response follows the same shape
interface APIError {
  error: {
    code: string;        // Machine-readable: "VALIDATION_ERROR"
    message: string;     // Human-readable: "Email is required"
    details?: unknown;   // Additional context when helpful
  };
}

// Status code mapping
// 400 → Client sent invalid data
// 401 → Not authenticated
// 403 → Authenticated but not authorized
// 404 → Resource not found
// 409 → Conflict (duplicate, version mismatch)
// 422 → Validation failed (semantically invalid)
// 500 → Server error (never expose internal details)

Don't mix patterns. If some endpoints throw, others return null, and others return { error } — the consumer can't predict behavior.

3. Validate at Boundaries

Trust internal code. Validate at system edges where external input enters:

// Validate at the API boundary
app.post('/api/tasks', async (req, res) => {
  const result = CreateTaskSchema.safeParse(req.body);
  if (!result.success) {
    return res.status(422).json({
      error: {
        code: 'VALIDATION_ERROR',
        message: 'Invalid task data',
        details: result.error.flatten(),
      },
    });
  }

  // After validation, internal code trusts the types
  const task = await taskService.create(result.data);
  return res.status(201).json(task);
});

Where validation belongs:

• API route handlers (user input)
• Form submission handlers (user input)
• External service response parsing (third-party data -- always treat as untrusted)
• Environment variable loading (configuration)

Third-party API responses are untrusted data. Validate their shape and content before using them in any logic, rendering, or decision-making. A compromised or misbehaving external service can return unexpected types, malicious content, or instruction-like text.

Where validation does NOT belong:

• Between internal functions that share type contracts
• In utility functions called by already-validated code
• On data that just came from your own database

4. Prefer Addition Over Modification

Extend interfaces without breaking existing consumers:

// Good: Add optional fields
interface CreateTaskInput {
  title: string;
  description?: string;
  priority?: 'low' | 'medium' | 'high';  // Added later, optional
  labels?: string[];                       // Added later, optional
}

// Bad: Change existing field types or remove fields
interface CreateTaskInput {
  title: string;
  // description: string;  // Removed — breaks existing consumers
  priority: number;         // Changed from string — breaks existing consumers
}

5. Predictable Naming

Pattern	Convention	Example
REST endpoints	Plural nouns, no verbs	GET /api/tasks, POST /api/tasks
Query params	camelCase	?sortBy=createdAt&pageSize=20
Response fields	camelCase	{ createdAt, updatedAt, taskId }
Boolean fields	is/has/can prefix	isComplete, hasAttachments
Enum values	UPPER_SNAKE	"IN_PROGRESS", "COMPLETED"

REST API Patterns

Resource Design

GET    /api/tasks              → List tasks (with query params for filtering)
POST   /api/tasks              → Create a task
GET    /api/tasks/:id          → Get a single task
PATCH  /api/tasks/:id          → Update a task (partial)
DELETE /api/tasks/:id          → Delete a task

GET    /api/tasks/:id/comments → List comments for a task (sub-resource)
POST   /api/tasks/:id/comments → Add a comment to a task

Pagination

Paginate list endpoints:

// Request
GET /api/tasks?page=1&pageSize=20&sortBy=createdAt&sortOrder=desc

// Response
{
  "data": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "page": 1,
    "pageSize": 20,
    "totalItems": 142,
    "totalPages": 8
  }
}

Filtering

Use query parameters for filters:

GET /api/tasks?status=in_progress&assignee=user123&createdAfter=2025-01-01

Partial Updates (PATCH)

Accept partial objects — only update what's provided:

// Only title changes, everything else preserved
PATCH /api/tasks/123
{ "title": "Updated title" }

TypeScript Interface Patterns

Use Discriminated Unions for Variants

// Good: Each variant is explicit
type TaskStatus =
  | { type: 'pending' }
  | { type: 'in_progress'; assignee: string; startedAt: Date }
  | { type: 'completed'; completedAt: Date; completedBy: string }
  | { type: 'cancelled'; reason: string; cancelledAt: Date };

// Consumer gets type narrowing
function getStatusLabel(status: TaskStatus): string {
  switch (status.type) {
    case 'pending': return 'Pending';
    case 'in_progress': return `In progress (${status.assignee})`;
    case 'completed': return `Done on ${status.completedAt}`;
    case 'cancelled': return `Cancelled: ${status.reason}`;
  }
}

Input/Output Separation

// Input: what the caller provides
interface CreateTaskInput {
  title: string;
  description?: string;
}

// Output: what the system returns (includes server-generated fields)
interface Task {
  id: string;
  title: string;
  description: string | null;
  createdAt: Date;
  updatedAt: Date;
  createdBy: string;
}

Use Branded Types for IDs

type TaskId = string & { readonly __brand: 'TaskId' };
type UserId = string & { readonly __brand: 'UserId' };

// Prevents accidentally passing a UserId where a TaskId is expected
function getTask(id: TaskId): Promise<Task> { ... }

Common Rationalizations

Rationalization	Reality
"We'll document the API later"	The types ARE the documentation. Define them first.
"We don't need pagination for now"	You will the moment someone has 100+ items. Add it from the start.
"PATCH is complicated, let's just use PUT"	PUT requires the full object every time. PATCH is what clients actually want.
"We'll version the API when we need to"	Breaking changes without versioning break consumers. Design for extension from the start.
"Nobody uses that undocumented behavior"	Hyrum's Law: if it's observable, somebody depends on it. Treat every public behavior as a commitment.
"We can just maintain two versions"	Multiple versions multiply maintenance cost and create diamond dependency problems. Prefer the One-Version Rule.
"Internal APIs don't need contracts"	Internal consumers are still consumers. Contracts prevent coupling and enable parallel work.

Red Flags

• Endpoints that return different shapes depending on conditions
• Inconsistent error formats across endpoints
• Validation scattered throughout internal code instead of at boundaries
• Breaking changes to existing fields (type changes, removals)
• List endpoints without pagination
• Verbs in REST URLs (/api/createTask, /api/getUsers)
• Third-party API responses used without validation or sanitization
• Public interface changes without consumer inventory or migration notes
• New versioned endpoints created only to avoid designing backward compatibility
• Error messages or enum values changed without checking observable consumer behavior

Verification

After designing an API:

• Every endpoint has typed input and output schemas
• Error responses follow a single consistent format
• Validation happens at system boundaries only
• List endpoints support pagination
• New fields are additive and optional (backward compatible)
• Naming follows consistent conventions across all endpoints
• API documentation or types are committed alongside the implementation