Everything and the kitchen sink

Or The Horror From Beyond The Veil of Time And Also Space

APIs are the glue that holds modern software ecosystems together. They let systems talk, share, and play nice with each other, whether they’re connecting a simple web app to a database or enabling a vast network of microservices. But like all relationships, these integrations need a bit of care, clear communication, and, occasionally, boundaries[1].

One all too frequent mistake that can lead to long-term headaches is skipping out on proper API versioning. While it might seem harmless in the beginning, this decision can snowball into a tangled mess of bloat, confusion, and inefficiency. If you’ve ever been a developer stuck trying to decipher why an API is behaving unpredictably or breaking your integration for no clear reason, chances are you’ve been a victim of versionless API syndrome.

Now, this can be more or less of a problem, early on its generally just something that makes everyone grind their teeth and power through it but once you get past a certain point things get weird. And the people who have to work with those API start looking more and more like haunted war veterans. Or possibly investigators in your favorite cosmic horror franchise. You simply can't escape creeping terror of the API endpoint with 300+ query parameters and what it does to any attempt to recreate it.[2] If that doesn't scare you then perhaps the unwieldy 800 field JSON structure from the depths of leaky abstraction hell will turn your hair white[3].

But I–as per usual–digress, let’s instead take a journey through the symptoms of this issue, explore why it happens, and understand how better guidelines and lifecycle management can save the day.

Developer - diagnose yourself

When APIs aren’t versioned, they tend to get, well, messy. Over time, as new features and capabilities are added, the endpoints become overloaded with parameters, conditions, and quirks. What started as a clean, intuitive interface turns into a Frankenstein’s monster of legacy features, obscure flags, and undocumented behaviors. You can almost hear the API whisper, “I’ve seen things, man.”

This accumulation of bloat can lead to inconsistent behavior. A simple request might sometimes return a predictable result and other times, due to layers of added conditions and exceptions, something completely different. This inconsistency not only frustrates developers but can also make it nearly impossible to accurately document the API, leading to more confusion down the line.

The biggest giveaway? An API that’s nearly impossible to maintain. As more patches and quick fixes are added to accommodate new requirements, the code becomes harder to untangle. Developers who were once proud parents of a pristine endpoint now dread working on it, and adding new features becomes an exercise in “please don’t break anything.”[4]

How is bloaty formed?

The root cause of this bloat is often a lack of planning at the outset. When an API is designed, there’s sometimes an assumption that it will remain largely static. That sounds optimistic, but it’s also naive. Software changes, requirements evolve, and features need to be added. Without a plan for how to handle those changes, the easiest (and quickest) solution is to tack them onto the existing endpoints, hoping no one notices the duct tape holding everything together.

There’s also a significant amount of pressure to release new features as fast as possible. In the rush to ship, proper versioning can be seen as an extra step that only delays progress. After all, who needs versioning when we can just add a new parameter to that `/getUserData` endpoint? You know, the one that now has 28 different optional parameters, each with its own special rules and meanings.[5]

On top of this, many systems lack proper lifecycle management practices. When there’s no defined process for deprecating old features or handling breaking changes, you’re left with an API that accumulates redundant and outdated functionality, like a hoarder’s garage filled with rusted bikes and ancient VCRs. [6]

Bring the pain

When an API accumulates this kind of complexity, it starts to accrue something developers dread: system debt. Just like financial debt, system debt has to be paid back with interest, in the form of increased maintenance costs, bugs, and more frequent “uh-oh”[7] moments. Integrating new features or making even minor changes becomes a delicate balancing act, where developers have to tiptoe around decades-old code and hope nothing comes crashing down.

From the perspective of developers trying to use this API, the experience is downright painful. When endpoints don’t behave consistently, when documentation no longer matches the reality of what the API does, and when new features break existing integrations, it creates frustration. Developers like predictability. They like being able to make a request and have a reasonable expectation of what they’ll get in return. An API that behaves unpredictably doesn’t just annoy them—it makes them question the stability of the entire system.

And let’s not forget the real risk here: system failures. When APIs grow complex and intertwined, changes that should be isolated can have unintended side effects, causing errors that ripple across the system. In extreme cases, it can lead to outages, lost data, and the kind of bug reports that keep support teams busy for weeks.[8]

Why Guidelines and Guardrails Matter

This is where the importance of having clear guidelines and guardrails comes in. These are hard and soft rules for how we design and build systems. As the names imply, guidelines are–as the saying goes–more like guidelines in the pirate sense. They can be bent and they can be–when necessary–broken. Guardrails on the other hand are like traffic rules. If you drive drunk down the highway in the wrong direction you can be pretty sure you will have a little bit of a chat with Officer Friendly. So, let’s talk about non-functional requirements (NFRs). These aren’t the shiny features that make the headlines, but they’re the foundation that keeps everything running smoothly and should typically be guardrails. NFRs encompass things like scalability, maintainability, and performance. For APIs, they’re about ensuring that the system can grow, adapt, and continue to function as intended, even as demands change.

Without well-defined NFRs, it’s easy to overlook how small, seemingly insignificant changes can pile up, leading to bloated, hard-to-maintain systems. Planning for scalability means thinking about versioning from day one, recognizing that changes will happen and ensuring there’s a clear, consistent way to implement them without breaking existing functionality.

Proper software lifecycle management isn’t just about versioning, though that’s a critical part. It’s also about having a structured way to deprecate old features and communicate those changes to users. When there’s a plan in place, developers can add new functionality without fear, knowing there’s a clear path forward. Systems with good lifecycle management have clear processes for everything from rolling out new features to handling sunset periods for old APIs, ensuring clients have ample time to adapt.

Manage your quality of life

When systems are designed with versioning and proper lifecycle management, they become more scalable and adaptable. Developers can build on top of existing APIs, knowing that changes won’t create chaos. New features can be added cleanly, without overloading existing endpoints with additional complexity. It’s a bit like building an addition to your house, rather than jamming a cargo container onto your front porch, bolting it to the deck and calling it a day.

This translates directly to a better developer experience. Developers using well-versioned APIs can easily find what they need, predict how endpoints will behave, and plan for integrations without worrying about sudden surprises. Clear deprecation policies mean they’re not caught off guard when an endpoint they rely on suddenly disappears or starts behaving differently.

And let’s not forget the financial side of things[9]. When systems are easier to maintain, companies save on long-term costs. Technical debt is reduced, making the system more robust, and there are fewer panicked, all-hands-on-deck sessions to figure out why something inexplicably broke after a new feature launch.[10]

Plan for Change, or Prepare for Chaos

APIs are powerful, but they need a little structure to stay that way. Without proper versioning and clear lifecycle management, they can quickly become bloated, complex, and unpredictable. This not only affects developers trying to integrate with the system but also creates a maintenance nightmare for the teams responsible for keeping everything running.

By implementing guidelines and guardrails around non-functional requirements, and by taking the time to plan for the entire software lifecycle, companies can ensure their APIs remain robust, scalable, and developer-friendly. So, if your API isn’t versioned yet, it might be time to start preparing for the coming of the ultimate cosmic horror. In that tangled miasma of incantations you are staring at, there exists a horror known only to those who have dared to confront it—the abominable, eldritch entity that is the dread monstrosity of Ap-phe-ihaai. It is an incomprehensible mass of cryptic endpoints, inconsistent responses, and malformed data structures, a grotesque, shifting beast that defies reason and logic. To the unwary developer, it is a thing of nightmare, a dark labyrinth where every request returns not clarity but further confusion, and where the very act of debugging feels like sifting through an ancient, eldritch tome written in a language long forgotten. Those who stare too long into its documentation find themselves descending into madness, their minds twisted by the endless, unfathomable parameters that seem to change with every invocation. And yet, even as they struggle, they know deep down that there is no escape, for Ap-phe-ihaai has wrapped its tendrils around their project, tightening its grip, whispering promises of integration that can never be fulfilled.[11]

Footnotes

[1]: Not unlike the kind of friends who insists on telling you *EVERYTHING*, even when it’s none of your business.

[2]: It took me hours to figure this one out. No more than 2^8 parameters to a function kids.

[3]: When your camelcase field names start looking like a caravan, you really should rethink what you're doing.

[4]: Ever wonder why experienced developers seem nervous? This is why.

[5]: When all you have is a /getUserData, every feature request looks like an optional parameter.

[6]: Someone somewhere has a Betamax player and you know it’s not getting thrown out.

[7]: And as we all know–two "uh oh"-moments inevitably leads to a "oh no, fuuuuu....."-moment. Don't blame me, blame Edsel Murphy.

[8]: “We never touched that part of the codebase!” - famous last words.

[9]: This message brought to you by the finance department. Voted best department by Finance Department Monthly.

[10]: If you think all-hands meetings are fun, you’re probably in HR, not engineering.

[11]: Apologies to everyone for going full H P Lovecraft but much like certain carpets, it really ties the room together.