API DOCUMENTATION BEST PRACTICES

API Documentation Is Not Optional It Is the Product

Building an API is one thing, writing documentation is another thing(The real thing). They go hand in hand.

Having a tool that can not benefit its users is like building a gadget without having a technical manual on how to use it or how it works.

You can have the best and well-engineered car, but if the driver can not drive it, it is just another waste of time.
In this AI era and tech era, there are a lot of products being released daily with different use cases. Having a well-structured and designed API documentation is the best thing you can add to your product, service, or API.

What is an API?

An API(Application Programming Interface) is a point or interface to help developers understand how to use a product. The product can be a saas, software, or a web product. It defines how software components interact.

Why is documentation needed as part of design in API’s?

Documentations help you provide services to end users without you having to intervene. They help your users find their way into using your products or services. It is more of a self-help service.
This documentation can be for end users or for developers themselves.

Best API Documentation practices.

1. Use clear words and not jargon — Well-documented APIs have very clear and concise language. It makes it easier for users and developers to focus on the task at hand and not their vocabulary and grammar issues. Simple non-technical words are used for the documentation. Not everyone who visits the documentation is technical. Also, have a good professional tone.
   Note: If technical terms are needed, they are clarified and explained very well.

2. Follow a clear, consistent guide — A poorly structured documentation is like a book without a preface or guideline. Putting a clear guide in place saves the users and developers time. They are able to check the right place for their needs. The approach gives the documentation a good flow in order to use the documented API.

3. Use media to communicate — Visual communication is the best thing you can do. It helps users know what they are doing visually. Coming up with images, flowcharts, graphs, and videos to explain further what the API does is very important. It also saves users a lot of time.

4. Good UI — Before documenting an API, have a very good design with good contrast. Have colors communicate things to the users. For example, green is associated with success while red is associated with errors. This makes the user know what is important or what needs to be read or done first while using the api. It also creates a “Please Note” approach that improves the productivity of the documentation. A good UI also has accessibility options, such as for the deaf or visually impaired.

5. Use code samples — When documenting an API, make sure your users have an idea of what you are doing or documenting, in case there is no clearer approach to the reason for documentation. This makes your users align with what they expect and what the API does. Have practical examples with requests and responses to the paths and requests made by the developers and users. This would also call for test cases with the API dummy data provided in the documentation.
   Have potential errors and issues documented as samples.

6. Create Interactive elements in your docs. — allow users to interact with your documentation. Allow them to use buttons and links to open things they need and close elements they don’t need. This gives them the power to have what they need and make the documentation lively.

7. Unbloated content — Have straight to the point language and points. This helps in reviewing the use of the API, building momentum, and summarizing according to their basic needs. Also, keep the API documentation regularly up to date and reviewed each time. Technology keeps changing.

8. Security and quality — Good API documentation is a great opportunity to make things work for your API, but no matter how good it is, it needs to be secure. The documentation should be well-maintained to prevent security exposure and maintain the quality of the API. The quality of the API can only be ensured through its correct usage. Helping users have authentication as well while using or editing the documentation.

9. Search functionality — this seems like a lightweight practice, but it is the most important among them all. This helps users find things much faster without having to scroll endlessly to get what they want.

A well-documented API has security, consistency, and quality. All these 3 can only be achieved by having good documentation for your API.

These practices prevent :

1. API exploits while referencing the API.
2. Standard mistakes through reviewing and having a consistent guideline.
3. Frustrated end users who do not like working with unclear documentation.

Here are some companies to look at: — OpenAI, Twilio, Stripe, Google

Conclusion

Remember to design fast how your documentation will look. It gives you an open idea strategy on what your readers or users of the documentation need the most compared to others. This will help, especially if you have multiple services. It gives you the information to document first.