Start with contract boundaries
Before implementation, define a contract that can survive product changes. Keep request and response shapes explicit and avoid leaking database models into the API layer.
Design for additive change
Most growth issues come from breaking existing clients. Favor additive fields, deprecate slowly, and use versioning only when behavior must change significantly.
Operational patterns that matter
- Publish a clear error schema with actionable codes.
- Include request IDs for traceability across logs and clients.
- Set strict latency budgets for critical endpoints and measure them continuously.
Final note
When API contracts are treated as product interfaces, teams ship faster because downstream consumers trust integration stability.