API Designer

REST API design uses HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) mapped to resource operations with appropriate status codes. This Skill guides you through naming conventions, status code selection, and RESTful principles to create consistent, scalable endpoints that clients can predict and rely on.

API versioning manages breaking changes by maintaining multiple endpoint versions or schema versions simultaneously. This Skill covers versioning strategies for both REST (URL paths, headers) and GraphQL (schema evolution) to ensure backward compatibility and smooth client migrations.

Authentication verifies client identity; authorization controls what authenticated clients can access. This Skill teaches JWT token implementation, secure credential handling, and permission patterns for both REST and GraphQL APIs to protect your backend resources.

API documentation includes OpenAPI/Swagger specs for REST and GraphQL schema definitions that describe endpoints, fields, and operations. This Skill shows you how to generate and maintain machine-readable documentation that keeps client and server definitions in sync.

Error handling returns structured, predictable responses with clear codes and messages; pagination splits large datasets into manageable chunks. This Skill covers designing consistent error formats and cursor or offset-based pagination for both REST and GraphQL to improve reliability and performance.

Yes. REST works well for straightforward CRUD with dedicated endpoints; GraphQL excels at complex, nested relationships in a single query. This Skill teaches you to choose the right approach for your use case and design schemas that match your data model.