cloudai-x/designing-apis
Designs REST and GraphQL APIs including endpoints, error handling, versioning, and documentation. Use when creating new APIs, designing endpoints, reviewing API contracts, or when asked about REST, GraphQL, or API patterns.
npx skills add https://github.com/CloudAI-X/claude-workflow-v2 --skill designing-apisCopy this checklist and track progress:
API Design Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Define resources and relationships
- [ ] Step 2: Design endpoint structure
- [ ] Step 3: Define request/response formats
- [ ] Step 4: Plan error handling
- [ ] Step 5: Add authentication/authorization
- [ ] Step 6: Document with OpenAPI spec
- [ ] Step 7: Validate design against checklist
# Resource-based URLs (nouns, not verbs)
GET /users # List users
GET /users/:id # Get user
POST /users # Create user
PUT /users/:id # Replace user
PATCH /users/:id # Update user
DELETE /users/:id # Delete user
# Nested resources
GET /users/:id/orders # User's orders
POST /users/:id/orders # Create order for user
# Query parameters for filtering/pagination
GET /users?role=admin&status=active
GET /users?page=2&limit=20&sort=-createdAt
| Code | Meaning | Use Case |
| ---- | ----------------- | -------------------------- |
| 200 | OK | Successful GET, PUT, PATCH |
| 201 | Created | Successful POST |
| 204 | No Content | Successful DELETE |
| 400 | Bad Request | Invalid input |
| 401 | Unauthorized | Missing/invalid auth |
| 403 | Forbidden | Valid auth, no permission |
| 404 | Not Found | Resource doesn't exist |
| 409 | Conflict | Duplicate, state conflict |
| 422 | Unprocessable | Validation failed |
| 429 | Too Many Requests | Rate limited |
| 500 | Internal Error | Server error |
Success Response:
{
"data": {
"id": "123",
"type": "user",
"attributes": {
"name": "John Doe",
"email": "[email protected]"
}
},
"meta": {
"requestId": "abc-123"
}
}
List Response with Pagination:
{
"data": [...],
"meta": {
"total": 100,
"page": 1,
"limit": 20,
"totalPages": 5
},
"links": {
"self": "/users?page=1",
"next": "/users?page=2",
"last": "/users?page=5"
}
}
Error Response:
{
"error": {
"code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
"message": "Invalid input data",
"details": [
{
"field": "email",
"message": "Must be a valid email address"
}
]
},
"meta": {
"requestId": "abc-123"
}
}
URL Versioning (Recommended):
/api/v1/users
/api/v2/users
Header Versioning:
Accept: application/vnd.api+json; version=1
JWT Bearer Token:
Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...
API Key:
X-API-Key: your-api-key
X-RateLimit-Limit: 100
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 95
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1609459200
Retry-After: 60
Schema Design:
type Query {
user(id: ID!): User
users(filter: UserFilter, pagination: Pagination): UserConnection!
}
type Mutation {
createUser(input: CreateUserInput!): UserPayload!
updateUser(id: ID!, input: UpdateUserInput!): UserPayload!
}
type User {
id: ID!
name: String!
email: String!
orders(first: Int, after: String): OrderConnection!
}
input CreateUserInput {
name: String!
email: String!
}
type UserPayload {
user: User
errors: [Error!]
}
See OPENAPI-TEMPLATE.md for the full OpenAPI 3.0 specification template.
After completing the design, validate against this checklist:
Validation Checklist:
- [ ] All endpoints use nouns, not verbs
- [ ] HTTP methods match operations correctly
- [ ] Consistent response format across endpoints
- [ ] Error responses include actionable details
- [ ] Pagination implemented for list endpoints
- [ ] Authentication defined for protected endpoints
- [ ] Rate limiting headers documented
- [ ] OpenAPI spec is complete and valid
If validation fails, return to the relevant design step and address the issues.
Take cloudai-x/designing-apis from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal
use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.
The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the
same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.