Technology of APIs
How we design, define, build, deploy, secure, and operate the connective tissue of the modern internet.
HTTP & Protocols
HTTP 1.1
The foundational version of HTTP that powers REST APIs.
HTTP/2
Multiplexed connections and server push for faster API communication.
HTTP/3
QUIC-based HTTP for low-latency API delivery.
REST
Representational state transfer as the dominant HTTP API architectural style.
GraphQL
A query language and runtime for flexible API data fetching.
gRPC
Google Remote Procedure Call as a high-performance binary API protocol.
Specifications & Contracts
OpenAPI
The machine-readable contract standard for HTTP APIs.
AsyncAPI
The specification standard for event-driven and messaging APIs.
JSON Schema
Vocabulary for annotating and validating JSON data structures.
JSON API
A specification for building APIs in JSON with resource relationships.
JSON-LD
Linked data format that brings semantic meaning to API payloads.
Spectral Rules
Linting rules for enforcing API design standards via Spectral.
Vacuum Rules
High-performance OpenAPI linting rules via the Vacuum engine.
Semantic Versioning
A versioning convention communicating the scope of API changes.
Design Patterns
Hypermedia
API design that embeds navigational links in responses.
Webhooks
HTTP callbacks that push events from producer to consumer.
Event Destinations
Configurable targets for routing API events to downstream systems.
Event-Driven
Architecture where APIs communicate through asynchronous event streams.
Microservices
Architectural pattern of small independently deployable API services.
Serverless
Function-as-a-service compute that powers on-demand API execution.
Developer Tooling
Documentation
Human-readable reference material generated from API definitions.
Mocking
Simulating API responses before the backend is built.
Testing
Verifying API behavior against the contract and expected outcomes.
Clients
Tools and libraries consumers use to call and interact with APIs.
SDKs
Generated language-native libraries that wrap API operations.
Git
Version control as the source of truth for API definitions and code.
CI/CD
Continuous integration and delivery pipelines for automating API lifecycle stages.
IDE
Integrated development environments with API tooling and governance inline.
Copilots
AI coding assistants integrated into the API development workflow.
Security & Authentication
Security
Protecting APIs from unauthorized access, abuse, and vulnerabilities.
Authentication
Verifying the identity of API consumers before granting access.
Keys
API keys as the simplest token-based mechanism for authenticating requests.
OAuth
The delegation framework for granting third-party API access.
JWT
Compact signed tokens for conveying API identity and claims.
Distribution & Operations
Gateways
Proxies that manage routing, authentication, rate-limiting, and observability for APIs.
Discovery
Finding and cataloging APIs across an organization or the web.
Observability
Logs, metrics, and traces that reveal API runtime behavior.
Traceability
Distributed tracing that follows a request across API service boundaries.
AI & Agents
MCP
Model Context Protocol enabling AI agents to call tools and APIs.
Agent Skills
Packaged capability units that AI agents load to execute API operations.