[API Documentation Best Practices You Can Follow | Archbee Blog](https://www.archbee.com/blog/api-documentation-best-practices)

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/ the list of these best practices will help you create detailed and usable api documentation api documentation best practices you can follow there’s a popular saying that goes “an api is only as good as its documentation ” unfortunately, the complexity and the lack of documentation are common obstacles to consuming apis so, it’s not enough to ask a developer to whip up a doc; the documentation has to be informative and readable if you’ve been wondering https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation , you’re in the right place we’ll examine the best practices for writing api documentation and see https //www archbee com/blog/build product knowledge base that helps your team use and integrate the api effectively \#determine the users of your api documentation identifying the users of your api documentation may sound simple enough, especially if your aim is to organize https //www archbee com/blog/types of internal documentation still, you should keep in mind that developers of various specializations work with the documentation and adapt it accordingly bj rutledge, a software engineer at iconitek, wrote a post on linkedin discussing the https //www archbee com/blog/importance of api documentation post on linkedin discussing the importance of api documentation source linkedin one of the pieces of advice rutledge provided was to “take the time to think about the reader ” one way to interpret the advice would be to think about different writing styles for multiple expertise levels for instance, if you know a lot of junior engineers will https //www archbee com/blog/how to read api documentation , you could focus on tutorials, samples, and guides on the other hand, if seniors are the primary users, it’s more helpful to include syntax, arguments, and response details however, adjusting the writing to the seniority levels is not the only approach you could also ask api writers to consider their peers of different specializations we’ll take an excerpt from github’s rest api documentation as an example here github’s rest api documentation source github github uses the oauth2 standard as a part of its api chances are that a back end developer wrote github’s documentation in that case, the author could have stopped at writing that the company used oauth2 for online authorization all other back end and full stack developers would understand the meaning yet, not all readers have the same background, even if they are software engineers this is why the documentation about oauth2 includes links that help mobile and all other developers understand the standard if they ever need to use it to sum up, your team may consist of brilliant developers, but you still need to think about who specifically will read the api documentation while working on the product when in doubt, the best practice is to start the documentation at the basic level read on to see how \#write for the entry level user writing internal api documentation in a way that’s accessible to entry level users doesn’t mean you’re underestimating your developers on the contrary, documentation that’s straightforward and easy to understand allows them to quickly figure out the api and start using it with ease a common piece of advice is to write https //www archbee com/blog/get more external api users for the entry level user so that readers from different audiences can understand it for instance, you want journalists who may not have the technical knowledge to be able to write about your company similarly, clear api documentation will allow ctos or solution architects from other businesses to quickly decide whether your api is a good fit for them however, a comprehensive internal api documentation is as important we’ll now look at hubspot’s crm api documentation to see how the company has presented it, clearly and concisely hubspot’s crm api documentation source hubspot as you can see, there’s the description of the api immediately below the heading—no room for speculating what the section is about next, you can find a code example so that developers can see a representative application of the api lastly, there’s a list of pseudo property values that allows the developers to see which values they can expect to get from a request note how hubspot achieved clarity by keeping the information succinct rather than providing convoluted explanations according to slava fioletov, cio of a software testing company, keeping the information concise is one of the best practices when it comes to software documentation “remember, the documentation doesn't have to be lengthy its task is to provide a comprehensive description of the project in a simple and understandable language ” another tip we have for writing for entry level users is to https //www archbee com/blog/technical writing mistakes#toc 2 if you tasked your devs with writing api documentation, you’d probably end up with high level documents laden with jargon because they’d assume that every team member has the same knowledge however, since everybody from juniors to seasoned developers should be able to understand your api documentation, you can overcome this challenge by hiring tech writers or api writers to bring clarity to documentation your devs can provide code examples, but it’s a good idea to also hire a more objective person to make sure the documents are genuinely easy to get through \#create by using an industry standardized layout in the same way that you encourage your in house development team to stick to consistent coding practices, you could reciprocate by using an industry standard api documentation layout the practice of standardizing the layout is the best way to help your developers navigate through the api documentation effortlessly while a list of classes and functions does contain the material helpful to those trying to understand the api, such a format is by no means intuitive or easy to maneuver we’ll take a look at opencv’s api documentation as an example opencv’s api documentation source opencv the page you see above lists classes you can also find some functions, but no explanation or context is provided if your api documentation looks something like this, it is probably challenging for your developers to find the needed information, even if it were there a better approach would be to research the industry standard api documentation layouts and model your documentation after them for instance, if you’re building documentation for an ios api, it would be best to scan apple’s api documentation noticing the common patterns in how documentation is organized will help you mimic the layout in your documentation base apple api documentation source apple the documentation that you can see in the image above was generated using the docc library since ios developers are accustomed to docc documentation, you could also use this library to create your api documentation this would allow your developers to work in a familiar ui and effectively browse information in the environment they’re already used to if you don’t want to spend too much time configuring a layout from scratch, you could explore api documentation tools a good option is swagger, a suite of https //www archbee com/blog/why developers dont use your api supported by smartbear suite of api developer tools supported by smartbear source swagger in addition to building api documentation, swagger also maintains multiple documentation versions so that developers can quickly discover all available versions of your api and the accompanying documentation and if you decide to use the https //www archbee com/ product documentation system, you’ll be able to https //www archbee com/integrations/open api swagger documentation into your knowledge base, making it easily accessible to all team members \#include the fundamental sections similarly to selecting a standard api documentation layout, all your api docs should contain fundamental sections your development team can rely on to get the full picture of the api the findings of postman’s 2021 state of the api report have shown that only three percent of responders found the apis they worked with satisfactory when asked for suggestions for improvement, respondents listed the elements they’d like to see more of the leading elements were better examples and sample code documentation standardization was also among the top responses postman’s 2021 state of the api report source postman so, knowing that developers want to see better examples and sample code, you should ensure you include those components in the documentation wherever applicable let’s look at an excellent example of stripe’s api documentation that has all elements a developer needs stripe’s api documentation source stripe the documentation starts with a concise api description there’s also a code example that changes depending on the library you select the description of the parameters is also a great addition to the document it’s worth noting that the sections to include will vary from api to api however, we’ve compiled a list of elements you’ll find in most pieces of documentation resource description resource url code examples endpoints and methods parameters request examples response example status and error codes here's a read recommendation https //www archbee com/blog/how to write api documentation of course, it’s not always possible to include all of these elements still, having a consistent approach to writing api documentation is one of the best practices you can implement a predictable structure will bring uniformity to your documentation, making the use of apis easier \#enrich your documentation with resources since a picture is worth a thousand words, one of the best practices you can enforce when building your api documentation is enriching it with resources such as screenshots or code samples api descriptions and error messages may be the crucial elements in the api documentation, but supplementing them with other resources is always worth it, even more so if the api contains ui elements and because we talked about api elements, here's https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation elements let’s take a look at another portion of github’s rest api documentation, the part about using an authentication app github’s rest api documentation source github even a cursory glance at the api documentation shows what the app looks like and which elements it has rather than reading multiple sentences about the app, developers can simply refer to the screenshot note, however, that you can also incorporate additional resources that go beyond https //www archbee com/blog/technical writing mistakes#toc 5 an excerpt from paypal’s rest api documentation provides a good example of that paypal’s rest api documentation source paypal the section about tracking starts with the definition of the api and its functions readers are then immediately provided with code samples for each of the endpoints mentioned since the primary purpose of api documentation is to shorten the amount of time needed to implement features using the api, your devs will be grateful for all steps you take to streamline the process a great method for making the api documentation more usable is by making it interactive for instance, you could fill the documentation with test data so that the devs can instantly run requests and examine the responses returned deezer’s api documentation is an excellent example of an interactive approach to api deezer’s api documentation source deezer the sandbox environment lets you test the endpoints and immediately get responses all in all, the screenshots, demo projects, and code samples you include in the documentation will facilitate the process of understanding the api the more effort https //www archbee com/blog/api writer put into creating the documentation rich with resources, the sooner the devs can implement the features \#maintain your api documentation the crucial step you have to take to make the api documentation effective is to keep maintaining it this will prolong its usability and save your developers from struggling with outdated information like all other pieces of software, apis and api documentation are prone to change documentation that lacks maintenance and updates is often a source of frustration, even more than no documentation at all tweet about api documentation source twitter however, changes to api are inevitable if you’re dealing with bugs experiencing security issues adding new features removing features rewriting code to improve it so, what’s the best practice for maintaining the documentation? first of all, there’s no need to rewrite everything even if you’ve removed an endpoint, you should still keep the documentation visible for future reference in such cases, you should always flag deprecations a deprecated api is one that is no longer recommended for use such elements may be entirely removed or significantly rewritten, so you should warn the readers not to use them here’s an example of one such warning from github warning from github source github since you’re dealing with internal api documentation, you could supplement deprecation warnings with a slack notification to developers as an additional safety measure when it comes to adding new features, maintaining the api documentation is as simple a good practice is to create new documentation as soon as you introduce a new feature this will ensure that your devs always have up to date information to work with you can also version the rest of your documentation to reference the new features companies that fail at maintaining api documentation can expect loads of messages asking for clarification, so it’s best to take a proactive approach to maintenance and note changes as soon as they occur \#conclusion we’re not saying that creating api documentation is a cakewalk the process requires planning, polishing, and maintaining still, the effects of well written internal api documentation are invaluable clear documentation improves the experience of those in your development team using the api so, the next time you revisit your internal api docs keep in mind these https //www archbee com/blog/api documentation best practices and make sure they are all up to the industry standards and filled with useful resources \#faq frequently asked questions why does great api documentation matter so much? clear, complete api documentation shortens time to first call, reduces integration errors, and lowers support requests it helps developers discover capabilities, understand authentication and edge cases, and implement features confidently for teams, it preserves knowledge, enables consistent use across services, and makes future changes safer through versioning and deprecation guidance for public apis, it also boosts adoption and credibility what’s the advantage of writing api docs for entry‑level users? how do industry‑standard layouts improve api documentation? what key pieces should every api doc include? why is ongoing maintenance of api documentation essential? 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