[5 Questions Technical Writers Face with API Documentation | Archbee Blog](https://www.archbee.com/blog/api-documentation-writers-questions)

https //www archbee com/blog https //www archbee com/blog documentationupdated november 4, 2025 dragos dragos founder, robot with feelings from planet aiur http //twitter com/happydragos https //www linkedin com/in/dragos bulugean/ this article will outline five most common api documentation questions technical writers might have it will also provide the answers to those questions 5 questions technical writers face with api documentation application programming interfaces (apis) are a popular modern day software component a set of definitions and protocols for integrating applications, apis allow different pieces of software to connect with one another have you ever shared a youtube link via whatsapp? that action is only possible because of apis given the prevalence and complexity of apis, it’s advisable to maintain documentation on them however, this isn’t always an easy task, and technical writers might ask themselves some questions in the writing process this article outlines the five most common questions related to https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation and, more importantly, provides the answers to those questions so if you’re interested in learning more, keep reading \#what tools will i need? your technical writers could conceivably use any documentation tool to create api documentation any word processing software will work—even notepad however, the end result probably won’t be a high quality document simpler documentation tools, while helpful, lack specialized features for https //www archbee com/blog/writing api documentation tips as such, it’s worth investing in specific api documentation tools to make the writing easier the documentation platform https //www archbee com/ is a good example, as it’s evident the tool was designed with api documentation in mind for instance, archbee supports https //docs archbee com/openapiswagger block using openapi or swagger specifications have a look open api swagger block https //docs archbee com/openapiswagger block the https //www archbee com/blog/developer friendly api interface makes it easy to execute api requests, and the feature will help you understand endpoints in the browser however, if your apis aren’t using a standard, archbee offers an https //docs archbee com/api endpoints to describe api specifications the widget can describe cookies, parameters, request structures, response structures, and more here’s an example api endpoints https //docs archbee com/api endpoints the widget is very adaptable and can describe any type of http endpoint in detail archbee is an excellent solution for documenting the apis that have been developed however, there are also tools that help employees write the documentation before even beginning development this is how apiary functions this resource creates a mock api server to be continuously built and tested until developers have what they need in other words, apiary helps technical writers create extensive api documentation first, postponing the actual coding until the end here’s the tool in action how apiary functions source business process incubator the right hand side displays what clients and servers are interested in, whereas the left one offers plain language visibility into the api with apiary, you’ll create detailed documentation before the api is even built, significantly easing development archbee and apiary are geared toward manual code documentation but if you’re short on time or need to document a large codebase, there are also several documentation generators for example, apidoc automatically creates documentation from api annotations in the source code to fully utilize the tool, just ensure the comments follow the correct conventions here are their comment guidelines apidoc comment guidelines source apidoc if you’re nearing a deadline, you can simply zip through the source code and add the relevant comments where necessary then, apidoc will do the rest of the work for you and automatically generate html documentation \#who will i be writing for? apis are built, deployed, and maintained by developers consequently, it’s safe to say they’re the most frequent readers of api documentation however, contrary to popular belief, they’re not its sole visitors despite their technical construction, apis still impact all their users, not just developers as a result, you can expect a varied audience for your api documentation here’s a brief overview of the possible reader profiles api documentation audience source archbee com the most common visitors will be https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation developer experience simply because they have the most direct contact with apis you can also expect decision makers trying to gauge if your api is a viable solution for their business needs finally, more casual observers might also read your api documentation these include https //www archbee com/blog/api writer , journalists, or anyone generally interested in apis considering this variety, creating content for each audience type is essential developers will require technical code samples, decision makers will want use cases, and observers will appreciate non technical explanations however, of the three, developers will likely be the most common readers of the three that being said, developer is a fairly broad term software development consists of multiple professions under the term developer , including frontend developers, backend developers, game developers, and more furthermore, each profession can further be segmented jason hilton lists some other categorization criteria likely there will be some criteria that would directly influence the sorts of developers who could become potential users of the api such criteria might include prerequisite technical knowledge, such as coding languages, platforms, or protocols, or else might entail non technical factors, such as location it is vital to consider these criteria when writing api documentation for example, it’s probably not a good idea to suddenly delve into the corresponding backend php databases if you're explaining https //docs archbee com/custom css options instead, tailor each article to a specific developer profile relevant to the subject matter the https //developers google com/maps/documentation/ is an excellent example of this take a look google maps api documentation source google the text immediately highlights the prerequisites for understanding the documentation any developer unfamiliar with javascript and object oriented programming concepts will know right away that this document isn’t for them it’s not a bad idea to incorporate a similar disclaimer while writing your api documentation use the top of the page to indicate the article’s intended audience that way, your documentation should reach the developers it was created for \#must i know programming languages? api stands for application programming interface—a software intermediary serving as a contract between two applications you can tell just by its name that it’s written in code consequently, a technical writer must be able to https //www archbee com/blog/documenting code challenge#toc 1 to understand the api knowledge of programming languages is therefore required when writing api documentation the only question is how much knowledge? technical writers do not have to possess the same exhaustive coding knowledge developers do developers learn programming languages on a detailed enough level to write code and build software technical writers, on the other hand, only need to know enough code to read the software not maintain it or make any changes to it—simply understand what they’re looking at or, to quote adam wood’s assessment of necessary coding knowledge quote of adam wood’s assessment of necessary coding knowledge illustration archbee com / source hack write for technical writers, bad coding skills are more than sufficient even bad coding skills allow them to read code, which is more than enough to compose quality api documentation the question then arises what programming languages to learn? a good place to start is to look at the current most popular languages here are codingnomad’s findings on the topic the 10 most in demand programming languages source https //codingnomads co/blog/the best programming languages to learn/ as you can see, these were last year’s most sought after programming languages, according to linkedin’s job postings python, java, and javascript take the top three spots, followed by c and its variations you should have a rudimentary knowledge of at least one of these languages, as they are sure to appear in your scope of work here's a nice blog post about https //www archbee com/blog/day in the life of a technical writer just knowing a single language is guaranteed to facilitate your workload if you’re unsure how to learn these programming languages, plenty of https //medium com/technical writing is easy/programming sites for technical writers dcfc8c180b84 and boot camps are available online to help you out for example, udemy offers the following program udemy offers the following program source udemy this course is designed with technical writers in mind and should teach all writers coding basics furthermore, it emphasizes javascript—one of the popular programming languages mentioned beforehand even if the program above isn’t to your liking, there are countless other courses for technical writers you’re bound to find one that suits you and teaches you the bad coding skills you need \#what sections do i need to include? api documentation is designed to facilitate api use to achieve this aim, technical writers should prioritize certain non negotiable information in every api document for example, changelogs are useful but not as helpful as code samples or http requests so, what are these non negotiable sections? https //smartbear com/state of software quality/api/documentation/ by smartbear can answer that top 5 most important things you look for in api documentation source smartbear these findings rank the https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation elements as such, try incorporating at least the top half of the chart in your texts—developers will greatly appreciate these sections https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation mistakes#toc 2 are the most helpful, as they showcase the api’s capabilities, demonstrating real life use cases in some documentation, they’re even interactive for example, spotify used its web api to build a demo that searches for an artist and plays the first 30 seconds of an album’s first track have a look spotify using web api source spotify with this preview, developers can clearly understand the potential of spotify’s api furthermore, the interface is interactive, allowing for detailed and in depth exploration another essential api documentation feature is a status and error glossary developers must understand the api’s behavior, and status codes are the best messengers here are clearbit’s status codes clearbit’s status codes source clearbit a possible status overview is invaluable, as developers will always know precisely how the api responded however, in case anything goes wrong, they’ll also appreciate error codes you can see clearbit’s below clearbit error codes source clearbit this glossary details all possible error codes, which is a great help for developers after all, knowing the cause of the problem is the first step to fixing it the third most sought after api documentation feature is authentication information a process that validates the identity of the user trying to make a connection, authentication is one of the first steps for using an api given the procedure’s importance, authentication information should be described in great detail for example, twitter does a great job twitter basic authentication source twitter this text outlines all the authentication steps and even provides a code snippet to better understand the process no developer should have any trouble accessing twitter’s api these three elements—examples, status and error codes, and authentication—are the most requested sections of api documentation however, for a complete list, refer back to the smartbear survey \#how do i start writing api documentation? each writer’s greatest enemy is the blank page, including when writing api documentation however, there are a few methods that can help you get started for example, this quora user offered the following advice quora user offered the following advice source quora to https //www archbee com/blog/how to write api documentation , you must first familiarize yourself with the api after all, your document will be the authority on the api, containing all details regarding the program for such a high level document, you’ll have to be an expert on the topic a good starting point is to examine the software yourself, taking a deep dive into all its functionalities that way, you’ll learn the api inside and out if you have any questions during this examination, don’t be shy—contact the developers they’ll share their knowledge, and you’ll walk away with new insights after educating yourself on the api, here’s a good next move next move after learning about api source reddit you’re not the first person to write api documentation countless technical writers have done so before, and most of their texts are publicly available so, why not see how they’ve completed the task? examining others’ api documentation allows you to explore how apis are typically presented furthermore, you’ll likely notice patterns and structures that might work for your own api documentation such examples are excellent sources of inspiration for your api texts; after completing your analyses, you can start writing your document when doing so, it’s essential that the text answers the following questions questions to answer in your api documentation source archbee com the api documentation should explain the api’s value and detail how users can benefit from it furthermore, there should be extensive information on the different tools and endpoints it’s also helpful to include a getting started section—that way, developers know what their first steps should be don’t forget to explain the features well; readers should know every api feature and what they can be used for finally, users will be interested in the api’s security and how the program is protected keep these five questions in mind while writing, and your first api documentation will be a huge help to developers \#conclusion apis are an invaluable part of software and are nowadays so prevalent that the average person interacts with one at least once a day—often without even realizing it because of their https //www archbee com/blog/importance of api documentation , it’s advisable to create comprehensive api documentation such detailed texts will facilitate api use, and developers will have a much easier time interacting with them when composing this complex documentation, technical writers should prepare themselves by asking the right questions what sections should the documentation contain? who is the target audience? the answers to these https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation writers questions will guide technical writers and help them compose first rate api documentation we designed archbee with technical writers in mind experience the full set of features with with our free 14 day https //app archbee com/signup? gl=1 p57wdf gcl au mjq2ntywndk2lje3mjmxotm4njm \#faq frequently asked questions what is an api, and why does clear documentation matter? an api (application programming interface) is a contract that lets software systems talk to each other—typically by sending requests and receiving structured responses everyday actions like sharing a youtube link in whatsapp work because of apis because apis can be complex and evolve over time, well structured documentation is essential it helps developers learn the api quickly, integrate faster, troubleshoot reliably, and evaluate fit it also reduces support tickets, standardizes usage across teams, speeds onboarding, and improves adoption strong api docs usually include an overview, quickstart, reference for endpoints and parameters, authentication details, examples, error/status codes, and a changelog which tools should i use to write and publish api documentation? who actually reads api documentation, and how should i tailor it? do i need to know programming to write api documentation? what sections are must haves in solid api documentation? documentation, technical writing tips and trends blog join 5000+ people from around the world that receive a monthly edition of the archbee blog newsletter mailto\ enter your email subscribe continue reading discover more insights and expand your knowledge https //www archbee com/blog/why teams are abandoning madcap flare a modern documentation alternative https //www archbee com/blog/why teams are abandoning madcap flare a modern documentation alternative https //www archbee com/blog/why teams are abandoning madcap flare a modern documentation alternative https //www archbee com/blog/why teams are abandoning madcap flare a modern documentation alternative https //www archbee com/blog/multi product documentation strategy https //www archbee com/blog/multi product documentation strategy https //www archbee com/blog/multi product documentation strategy https //www archbee com/blog/multi product documentation strategy https //www archbee com/blog/invisible roadblock poor documentation and how to break through https //www archbee com/blog/invisible roadblock poor documentation and how to break through https //www archbee com/blog/invisible roadblock poor documentation and how to break through https //www archbee com/blog/invisible roadblock poor documentation and how to break through