I am profiling hundreds of APIs each month as part of my APIs.io research, and I always learn a lot by reaching out to the API producers I am profiling. When you are in the business of selling your warez to API producers, we like to tell ourselves a story about how companies have a strong sense of purpose and desire to do the right then when operating an API. When in reality a significant portion of APIs are maintained by someone who didn’t build it, isn’t always up to speed on the latest API technology, and do not have a lot of time and resources when it comes to managing an API.
As API believers we often assume that when we reach out to an API producer that they are going to be on the same wavelength as us–knowledgeable about APIs, caring about APIs, and have the time and energy to do what is right when it comes to APIs. In my experience, this is not the reality for more than 50% of the APIs I come across. Most people I engage with are hesitant to even respond to an email, don’t have time to read any stories, or reuse any of the free API patterns I produce–for fear it will create more work for them. This is a reality often overlooked by sales teams of API startups pushing their solutions, but something I struggle to ignore.
How do we help folks like this? Free knowledge and tooling that is openly licensed is a good place to start. Sadly this is something that also gets exploited by product-led venture-backed solutions, and faux open source offerings. I’d say next, I’d like to give them a voice, sharing their story on the record or off the record on my API Evangelist Conversations podcast. Connecting with API producers and letting them know the community can help them, and it isn’t all up to them is important way to build trust. I know how an open source or public community can seem like they just want to zap your energy demanding work from you, so I am big on trying to make sure they know I am here to talk and even share some work cycles, with no expectations of something in return.
When I profile an API, I create a dedicated repository, publish an APIs.json, and if an OpenAPI or Postman Collection is available I include that. I profile all the properties of their APIs and the operations around it and publish to that repository, then I reach out to each one with one of the following questions:
- Do you have an OpenAPI or Postman Collection? (If I can’t find)
- Do you have time to be on my podcast and share your story?
- Would you publish the APIs.json in your GitHub or domain to make it authoritative?
Then I usually end with asking how else can I help them. My primary motivation is to gain access to interesting API stories. My second motivation is to establish a useful contract for their API that includes the business details (APIs.json) and the technical details (OpenAPI or Collection). I want to understand how they see the world as an API producer, and as one who may have just inherited the sustainment of a public API and its community. If you are in charge of operating a private, partner, or public API, and would like to share your story on or off the record—-please reach out. I am really interested in learning more about the realities of how you see the API world, and what one or two things are that would help make you successful. I am interested in your opinions, and not just those of your boss or business leadership who make purchasing decisions. I’d like to shape my stories as well as all my API Commons artifacts to help folks do more with less, and be successful in the current climate.
