What problem does it solve? APIs designed ad hoc drift between client and server, leak database internals, and break consumers on every change. This Skill provides a disciplined design-time workflow for shaping REST endpoints and maintaining one authoritative contract artifact so both sides of a boundary stay in sync. ## Core Features & Use Cases - REST Shape Conventions: Resource naming, HTTP status-code semantics, response envelopes, pagination strategy (offset vs. cursor), filtering, rate-limit headers, and versioning with Sunset policy. - Contract-First Evolution: One canonical artifact (OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, Protobuf, JSON Schema) per boundary, generated types/clients, a step-by-step change protocol, and named anti-patterns like treating compile-time types as proof of contract correctness. - MCP Tool Surface Design: Model-consumer-specific rules for schema-first tool definitions, description-as-contract, idempotency, and transport choice. - Use Case: When starting a new API surface or changing an existing contract, walk the workflow to decide endpoint shape, pick the pagination strategy with a stated reason, and pass the five-gate reflection checklist before presenting the design. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to design the REST API contract for a new feature, including endpoints, status codes, pagination, and an OpenAPI artifact.
