cheatsheets Jun 28, 2026 updated Jun 28, 2026

API Design Checklist

A practical checklist for reliable HTTP API design.

#api #backend #checklist
Status
evergreen
Visibility
public
Role Area
Backend API design
Priority
P0
Confidence
operational
Category
Backend
Difficulty
intermediate
Published
Jun 28, 2026
Updated
Jun 28, 2026

Contract

  • OpenAPI schema exists.
  • Request and response examples exist.
  • Error format is consistent.
  • IDs are stable and opaque.
  • Breaking changes have a migration path.

Reliability

  • Long-running work uses jobs, queues, or webhooks.
  • Create operations that can be retried support idempotency keys.
  • Rate limits are documented.
  • Timeouts and retry behavior are clear to clients.

Security

  • Authentication and authorization are separate concepts.
  • Sensitive fields are never returned accidentally.
  • CORS is explicit.
  • Logs avoid tokens and private data.

Source Links

Related Notes

Cheat Sheets Jun 28, 2026 P0 intermediate

FastAPI Production Checklist

A compact checklist for taking a FastAPI service from useful prototype to production-ready backend.

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