API Development Workflow

Development flow

As a product manager, we'll be focused on the API product life cycle. However, there are a number of steps within the technical requirement gathering, design, development, and test phases of the API product life cycle that each API goes through at an engineering level within an organization before APIs are ready to be distributed to users. These steps form the API development workflow.

In an enterprise setting, when a product manager presents a proposal for an API, the engineering lead augments the business requirements with technical and security requirements for the API’s development. The engineering team also identifies the right workspace for the API and sets up source control before the development begins.

The process that engineering teams use to make APIs is shown in the following diagram. The API development workflow includes a number of tools and technical stakeholders across the stages of definition, design, development, testing, security, deployment, and observability. Once the API is ready for users, it is distributed.