API best practices

Welcome to the API Design Best Practices guide for Talos. This document provides detailed guidelines and examples to help you design efficient, secure, and user-friendly APIs.

1. Use RESTful principles

Adhering to REST principles ensures your API is intuitive and scalable.

Example:

GET /api/v1/customers
POST /api/v1/customers
PUT /api/v1/customers/{id}
DELETE /api/v1/customers/{id}

• Use standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE).
• Keep operations stateless.

2. Version your API

Versioning helps manage changes without breaking existing integrations.

Example:

GET /api/v1/orders
GET /api/v2/orders

• Include the version in the URL path.

3. Consistent naming conventions

Use clear, descriptive, and consistent names for endpoints.

Example:

GET /api/v1/users
GET /api/v1/users/{userId}/orders

• Use plural nouns for resource names.
• Keep endpoint paths readable and intuitive.

4. Error handling

Provide meaningful error messages using standard HTTP status codes.

Example:

{
  "error": {
    "code": 404,
    "message": "Resource not found"
  }
}

• Use 4xx codes for client errors and 5xx codes for server errors.
• Include detailed error messages in the response body.

5. Documentation

Maintain comprehensive and up-to-date API documentation.

Example:

• Use tools like OpenAPI to generate documentation.
• Include examples and usage guidelines.

6. Authentication and authorization

Implement robust security measures to protect your API.

Example:

GET /api/v1/users
Authorization: Bearer {token}

• Use OAuth2 for authentication.
• Validate and authorize all API requests.

7. Pagination

Use pagination for endpoints returning large datasets to improve performance.

Example:

GET /api/v1/products?page=2&limit=50

• Include parameters for page number and page size.

8. Data formats

Support multiple data formats like JSON and XML.

Example:

GET /api/v1/orders
Accept: application/json

• Allow clients to specify the desired format using the Accept header.

9. Caching

Implement caching to enhance performance and reduce load on servers.

Example:

GET /api/v1/products
Cache-Control: max-age=3600

• Use appropriate cache headers.

10. Rate limiting

Apply rate limiting to prevent abuse and ensure fair usage.

Example:

GET /api/v1/orders
X-Rate-Limit-Limit: 100
X-Rate-Limit-Remaining: 99
X-Rate-Limit-Reset: 3600

• Include rate limit information in response headers.

11. Security

Use HTTPS for secure data transmission and validate all inputs to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Example:

POST /api/v1/users
Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'

• Enforce HTTPS.
• Validate and sanitize inputs.

Advanced API design

Advanced API design involves an API with Parameters, Path, Query, and Header.

Endpoint: Search products

Description: Search for products based on various criteria.

HTTP Method: GET

Path: /api/v1/products/search

Parameters:

• Path Parameters: None
• Query Parameters:
  • q (string, required): The search query.
  • category (string, optional): Filter by category.
  • price_min (number, optional): Minimum price.
  • price_max (number, optional): Maximum price.
  • sort (string, optional): Sort results by a specified field.
• Headers:
  • Authorization (string, required): Bearer token for authentication.

Request example:

GET /api/v1/products/search?q=smartphone&category=electronics&price_min=100&price_max=1000&sort=price HTTP/1.1
Host: <DataOSCONTEXT>
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

Response example:

{
  "products": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Smartphone XYZ",
      "category": "electronics",
      "price": 499.99,
      "availability": "in stock"
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "name": "Smartphone ABC",
      "category": "electronics",
      "price": 799.99,
      "availability": "out of stock"
    }
  ],
  "totalResults": 2,
  "page": 1,
  "pageSize": 10
}

Explanation:

• The endpoint /api/v1/products/search is designed to search for products based on a query and optional filters.
• Query parameters like q, category, price_min, price_max, and sort allow for flexible searches.
• The Authorization header ensures secure access
• The response includes the search results along with pagination information.

By following these best practices and examples, you can design robust, secure, and user-friendly APIs that meet the needs of your clients and integrate seamlessly with Talos.