Individual API operations should always be properly secured during design, develop, and run-time, making sure data, credentials, logs, and all other related resources are properly secured and operating as expected by both the API producer and the consumer--protecting both parties equally.
Operations Must Always Be Secure
Policies
OpenAPI Security
Security schemes in OpenAPI define how authentication works at the spec level. This is where API keys, OAuth, and other security patterns become part of the machine-readable contract.
Experiences
Access
I keep seeing teams struggle with getting consumers proper access to their APIs. The sign-up, authentication, and authorization process is where you lose people before they ever make their first AP...
Automation
I keep shining a light on automation because it's the only way to scale API operations. When testing, validation, deployment, and governance are all manual, you're just adding human error and slowi...
Communication
I struggle with how little communication happens between the teams producing APIs and the people consuming them. Blogs, changelogs, roadmaps -- these are building blocks that most teams just skip, ...
Consistency
When I look across the API landscape, consistency is one of the biggest challenges I see. Every team does things differently, and the surface area of inconsistency just grows until governance becom...
Discovery
Discovery is the dark matter of the API landscape. Teams build APIs that already exist somewhere else, and consumers can't find the APIs they need. Without a catalog and proper metadata, you're jus...
Onboarding
I see teams dealing with massive friction during onboarding. If a consumer can't get from zero to their first successful API call in minutes, you've already lost them. Getting started guides, sandb...
Quality
I see the quality of APIs eroding across the landscape. Teams ship fast and never look back, but consumers feel every rough edge, every missing example, every inconsistent response. Quality is what...
Reliability
Reliability is where the rubber meets the road in the API landscape. If your APIs aren't up when consumers need them, and if new versions don't land smoothly, none of the other building blocks matter.
Security
Security is the area where I see the most gap between what teams think they have covered and what's actually happening. The surface area of APIs keeps growing, and most organizations aren't keeping...
Self-Service
Self-service is the goal I keep pushing teams toward. If a consumer can't find your API, sign up, get keys, and make their first call without emailing someone, you've created a bottleneck that will...
Simplicity
I am a big believer that the best APIs are the simple ones. When I see overly complex API designs, I know someone was thinking about their internal architecture instead of the consumer. Keep the su...