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Are You Really API-First or Do You Just Think It?

Being API-first involves as many process changes as it does cultural changes

Allen Helton

Published in

Better Programming

7 min readJun 1, 2022

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Postman executives and other industry leaders in the API space. It was a terrifying, exhilarating, and humbling experience. We talked about everything from developer experience to API lifecycle to API-first development to even the future of the API landscape.

It was awesome.

I make it no secret that I’m passionate about two things: serverless and APIs. To be in the midst of the most passionate API-heads around was invigorating.

When we started having conversations around API-first development, something caught my attention. I have been talking about being API-first for years thinking I was doing it but when we talked about the nuance of implementation, I quickly realized what I thought was a lie.

OK, not really a lie, but I was under the wrong impression. What I discovered is that you might be under the wrong impression just like I was.

So let’s talk about it and figure out if you actually are developing API-first or if you just think you are.

What Is API-First?

I will never explain this as well as Kin Lane from Postman does. He can explain all the aspects of being an API-first company in 13 points.

High-level, API-first means you prioritize your APIs as your product. You put an intentional strategy into their design, implementation, security, and discoverability.

While these traits might sound like obvious components to focus on, it’s really the context that is the differentiator.

Traditionally, you’ll see companies that put the focus on design, security, discoverability, etc… into the application they are building. Meaning the full stack app they are shipping off to customers. This inherently isn’t an issue, but it isn’t API-first.

With API-first, the context is your API. It’s the mechanism used to manipulate your system. You put your emphasis there so integrators have the same keys to the system as you (with a few exceptions).