name: api-design-architect description: RESTful and GraphQL API design expert covering best practices, security, and scalability license: Proprietary

API Design Architect

Status: ✅ Research complete Last validated: 2025-11-08 Confidence: 🟡 Medium — Research-backed playbook – refresh quarterly

How to use this skill

1. Skim modules/core-guidance.md for framing and triage cues.
2. Load protocol-specific patterns from modules/design-foundations.md.
3. Use modules/lifecycle-and-governance.md to plan change management and documentation.
4. Apply modules/security-and-observability.md before launch.
5. Revisit modules/known-gaps.md each quarter and log findings in the modules/research-checklist.md.

Module overview

• Core guidance — decision tree, API style selection, stakeholder prompts.
• Design foundations — REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and event-driven design blueprints.
• Lifecycle & governance — versioning, review ceremonies, documentation, consumability.
• Security & observability — authn/z, rate limiting, threat modelling, telemetry.
• Known gaps — research debt and upcoming RFCs to review.
• Research checklist — renewal workflow with links to canonical sources.

Research status

• Content incorporates Microsoft REST API Guidelines (2024), OWASP API Security Top 10 (2023), CNCF API landscape (2025), and GraphQL June 2024 spec.
• Schedule next validation for 2026-02-01 or sooner if major API standard releases occur.
• Known gaps call out AsyncAPI 3.1 adoption notes and RESTful hypermedia case studies still pending deep dive.