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REST API Decision Record

Coordinate one HTTP API contract from authorized purpose and consumer evidence through reproducible implementation, security, negative tests, operational controls, and named acceptance.

6 guided stepsFor Software Decision RecordsPrivate workspace
Completion target

A dated API handoff containing the accepted consumer and HTTP contract, data and access boundaries, implementation/version references, bounded Tool observations, test and operational evidence, open defects, rollback route, and named owner decision.

Before you begin
  • • Named decision and service owners
  • • Authorized problem and system boundary
Risks to control
  • • Production, personal, regulated, confidential, licensed or secret material can exceed the permitted Tool, test or logging boundary.
  • • An API that satisfies one caller can still harm other consumers, affected people, downstream systems or operators.
  • • Syntactically valid documentation can drift from implemented behavior.
  • • Retries, caches, concurrency or partial failures can turn an apparently simple method choice into duplicate or lost work.

Choose your path

Built around the job you need to finish

Carry one authorized HTTP API from exact consumer and data boundaries through a versioned contract, bounded developer-Tool observations, implementation/control mapping, negative and operational tests, controlled change and named acceptance.

API consumer or product owner

Know exactly what one supported task, representation, failure and compatibility promise means for affected users and client software.

Define the consumer and accessibility record, review HTTP and domain semantics, verify running examples and accept only the bounded interface/version.

Can integrate or reject the API without relying on undocumented routes, envelopes, retries or breaking behavior.

API engineer implementing the contract

Trace models, methods, validation, authorization, queries, dependencies, errors and operations to reproducible evidence.

Use non-production Tool observations, map implementation controls, run negative/integration/failure tests and retain exact build/config/test references.

Produces a reviewable implementation and recovery path without calling formatted or generated artifacts correct by default.

Security, data or operations reviewer

Verify access, data lifecycle, observability, capacity, failure, change and rollback behavior before one use is accepted.

Review threat/data boundaries and authorization matrix, reproduce risk-based tests, inspect defects/runbooks/monitoring and record acceptance or restrictions.

Named owners accept one environment/use or keep exact defects, restrictions and dates open.

Authoritative checks for this workflow

Outputs and checklists are planning aids. Review the linked current authorities and the records, terms, instructions, and requirements that apply to your exact situation before a consequential decision.