What is API Documentation (and Do You Really Need It?) Ever tried to put together a complex piece of furniture without the instructions? We all know that’s typically a recipe for disaster. But that’s exactly what some companies expect developers to do, when they have API documentation that’s hard to find, poorly maintained, or difficult to understand…or worse yet, don’t have any API documentation at all 😱 As Ruben Vermeersch said, “Your APIs are only as good as the documentation that comes with them. Invest time in getting docs right.” If you want developers to successfully use your API and enjoy the experience of using it (and you do, or the API wouldn’t exist in the first place), your documentation needs to get them to first call as fast as possible. What is API documentation? 📖 API documentation is essentially a how-to manual for developers that are looking to build things with your API. For most developers, API docs are a means to an end. Devs want all the details about how to use your API and successfully integrate it into their application of choice. At the same time, they’re often busy people who don’t have the time or attention span to sort through disorganized or unclear information. This means you have to be strategic about how you present your API information. Think about your API docs like a reference manual: A table of contents and clear hierarchy of information indicates where to find important information Topics are first outlined at a high level Sub-topics have more details and examples to hit your points home End users should be able to get the gist of things by skimming your docs, but they should also have the option to dive deeper into the details if and when issues come up. In the past, conversations around APIs have mostly been focused on usability and reliability issues — poor design, uptime, latency, etc. These are, of course, critically important; it doesn’t matter how good your API documentation is if the API itself is badly designed or unreliable. Conversely, though, even the best API imaginable will be painful to use without documentation that’s comprehensive and easy to navigate, ideally with code samples and an interactive playground to give new users a quick way to get started. What are the benefits of API documentation? 🤔 Especially if you’re approaching API documentation from a non-technical background, you might wonder why it’s so important. After all, developers are…developers, right? They can pick things up quickly, so surely it doesn’t matter if you don’t have the best docs in the world, as long as they cover the basics. Of course, that’s not the full picture. Not only are developers a complex and diverse group of individuals, but they are often the decision makers when it comes to API adoption, and/or critical stakeholders in the integration process. Documentation should always be optimized for developer experience. Good developer experience helps to decrease onboarding time, increase user satisfaction, and improve adoption rates. It’s also worth noting that API-led or API-first companies are becoming more and more mainstream. If your docs are clearer and easier to use than others in your industry, you have a better chance of becoming the first choice for whatever use case your API serves. Who benefits from API documentation? 🙋 We’ve already talked about how developers benefit from high-quality documentation, and it’s true that they’re the primary audience for (and have the most to gain from) API docs. However, they’re not the only ones who benefit: Technical writers are the ones creating and improving API documentation, so they don’t technically benefit just from its existence, but having clear, easy to use documentation gives them a solid foundation to build off of in the future and makes it easier for the technical writing team to scale as your documentation needs do. Product managers can look at usage metrics for your API (and its documentation) to pinpoint potential issues in onboarding or retaining customers, and then incorporate fixes for those pain points into the product roadmap. Sales teams can use your API documentation to showcase that your product is well-maintained, easy for outside stakeholders to work with, and technically sound. Support teams benefit because comprehensive references often decrease the amount of support tickets created and the amount of time spent onboarding and training new users. One example is ReadMe customer DriveWealth, who found that a manual process for updating documentation created more support tickets, as customers would occasionally see outdated information before the team could finish updating it. All told, good documentation saves your team money and effort in the long run, across multiple fronts. How does API documentation impact developer experience? 🧑💻 Your goal is for your API documentation to establish a great developer experience. On the most basic level, your documentation should be clear and thorough, accurate and up-to-date, and simple enough for someone without any prior API experience to use. That’s the bare minimum, though. Ideally, a documentation hub will differentiate between how-to guides and API references, contain code snippets with step-by-step tutorials built around those snippets, and include an interactive playground to help developers start using the information right away. If you really want to go the extra mile, you can add community elements so developers can interact with other users (and your team) to get the information they need. These small things add up when it comes to API adoption. Remember: if your API docs offer a subpar developer experience, your end users might just choose a competitor API instead. Want to learn more about developer experience? Start here: Why DX Matters: Driving API Success with a User-First Approach Guide to Developer Experience Webinar Recap 🎤 Developer Experience, API Performance, and More with AWS (with our very own CEO!) Hubs We Love ❤️ Little Details With a Big DX Impact How to start writing your API documentation ✍️ Writing API documentation can seem daunting — there’s just so much information to distill. That’s why many in the API space rely on tools like OpenAPI as a starting point. OpenAPI offers a powerful ecosystem of tools to get comprehensive API documentation up and running quickly, so users can update their docs as the API evolves. Whether you opt for OpenAPI or decide to document your API manually, here are a few pointers to get you started: Learn about your audience and their background — while API docs might primarily be for developers, they’re also often used by people in other roles, and not all developers have the same level of experience, either. Err on the side of simplicity. Understand the API adoption journey. What are the use cases your developers are solving for? What other ways might they use your API in the future? Asking questions like this and following them to their natural conclusion can help you create an outline and structure for your documentation. Editing and peer review are crucial. No documentation is perfect at the outset. In addition to double-checking for spelling and grammar errors, you should seek out feedback from other team members. Having them read through the docs and follow the instructions within them will give you valuable insights. Structure for skimmability by using short paragraphs, bolding important information, using numbered/bulleted lists, and incorporating plenty of headers and subheaders. Fundamental components of good API documentation 🌟 There are plenty of ways to provide API guidance to your end-users: topical guides, tutorials, and support forums, to name a few. No matter what you go with, there should always be these essential sections in your docs: Authentication needs to be covered up front, since every API handles authentication differently. Showcase the authentication process in detail, from initializing API keys to how to send them in your API requests. Error messages should always keep your user moving forward, rather than leave them staring at the screen in confusion. Learn more about how to write good API errors here. Endpoints should be documented from the user POV, so they understand the best use cases for each endpoint and/or set of endpoints. The same use case might have multiple ways to get the job done, so it’s critical to distinguish each of them. Terms of use might seem like useless legalese, but it’s important to let developers know how to properly use your services, as well as sharing API rate limits and any other constraints they need to know. A changelog keeps your docs fresh and shows developers that your API is getting the engineering attention it deserves. All together now… ✅ In a nutshell, outstanding API documentation is straightforward and educational. Review these best practices for writing API documentation to ensure your docs are checking off all the boxes. Your docs should be: Making your developers’ lives easier Digestible no matter the audience’s level of technical expertise Well-planned and in a logical order In an easily navigable layout Written with appropriate, popular use cases in mind Filled with examples, tutorials, sample code, and error handling Clear about terms of use and limitations Free of spelling and grammatical mistakes that could confuse the reader Interactive, with real-life examples Maintained with every release, with updates recorded in a changelog What tools should I be using to document my API? 🛠 When you’re starting, it’s often best to use OpenAPI to document your spec. Instead of writing reference pages by hand, users can import OpenAPI files to reference pages and push changes to docs in a few seconds. Once you’ve got a baseline API reference, it’s important to decide whether you’re going to use static or interactive documentation. Interactive documentation lets developers make live calls to your API straight from your docs. This form of documentation eliminates the need for a full developer environment in order to make API calls, saving developers time and frustration. While static documentation might be a simpler way to get started, giving live results is a much quicker way to showcase what’s possible with your API. Ready to get started? 💪 Outstanding API documentation is the cornerstone of a superb developer experience. If your docs aren’t something developers rave about, you’re limiting your API’s potential before you’ve even started. Word of mouth is always the best advertising, so why not get that going for your API? If you’re looking to get started — whether you’re building from the ground-up or revamping stale documentation — we’d love to help. Our team is always happy to answer questions about API documentation and how you can improve yours. You can reach out here to get a demo and learn more, or head here to sign up for a free trial.