api-changelog-versioning

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Document API changes, breaking changes, migration guides, and version history for APIs. Use when documenting API versioning, breaking changes, or creating API migration guides.

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API Changelog & Versioning

Overview

Create comprehensive API changelogs that document changes, deprecations, breaking changes, and provide migration guides for API consumers.

When to Use

  • API version changelogs
  • Breaking changes documentation
  • Migration guides between versions
  • Deprecation notices
  • API upgrade guides
  • Backward compatibility notes
  • Version comparison

API Changelog Template

markdown
# API Changelog

## Version 3.0.0 - 2025-01-15

### 🚨 Breaking Changes

#### Authentication Method Changed

**Previous (v2):**
```http
GET /api/users
Authorization: Token abc123
Current (v3):
http
GET /api/v3/users
Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...
Impact: All API consumers must switch from API tokens to JWT Bearer tokens
Migration Steps:
  1. Obtain JWT token from
    /api/v3/auth/login
    endpoint
  2. Replace
    Authorization: Token
    with
    Authorization: Bearer
  3. Update token refresh logic (JWT tokens expire after 1 hour)
Migration Deadline: June 1, 2025 (v2 auth will be deprecated)
Migration Guide: JWT Authentication Guide

Response Format Changed

Previous (v2):
json
{
  "id": "123",
  "name": "John Doe",
  "email": "john@example.com"
}
Current (v3):
json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "123",
    "type": "user",
    "attributes": {
      "name": "John Doe",
      "email": "john@example.com"
    }
  }
}
Impact: All API responses now follow JSON:API specification
Migration:
javascript
// Before (v2)
const user = await response.json();
console.log(user.name);

// After (v3)
const { data } = await response.json();
console.log(data.attributes.name);

// Or use our SDK which handles this automatically
import { ApiClient } from '@company/api-sdk';
const user = await client.users.get('123');
console.log(user.name); // SDK unwraps the response

Removed Endpoints

Removed EndpointReplacementNotes
GET /api/users/list
GET /api/v3/users
Use pagination parameters
POST /api/users/create
POST /api/v3/users
RESTful convention
GET /api/search
GET /api/v3/search
Now supports advanced filters

✨ New Features

Webhook Support

Subscribe to real-time events:
http
POST /api/v3/webhooks
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "url": "https://your-app.com/webhook",
  "events": ["user.created", "user.updated", "user.deleted"],
  "secret": "your-webhook-secret"
}
Webhook Payload:
json
{
  "event": "user.created",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T14:30:00Z",
  "data": {
    "id": "123",
    "type": "user",
    "attributes": {
      "name": "John Doe",
      "email": "john@example.com"
    }
  }
}
Documentation: Webhook Guide

Batch Operations

Process multiple records in a single request:
http
POST /api/v3/users/batch
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "operations": [
    {
      "method": "POST",
      "path": "/users",
      "body": { "name": "User 1", "email": "user1@example.com" }
    },
    {
      "method": "PATCH",
      "path": "/users/123",
      "body": { "name": "Updated Name" }
    },
    {
      "method": "DELETE",
      "path": "/users/456"
    }
  ]
}
Response:
json
{
  "results": [
    { "status": 201, "data": { "id": "789", ... } },
    { "status": 200, "data": { "id": "123", ... } },
    { "status": 204 }
  ]
}
Limits: Maximum 100 operations per batch request

Field Filtering

Request only the fields you need:
http
GET /api/v3/users/123?fields=id,name,email
Before (full response):
json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "123",
    "type": "user",
    "attributes": {
      "name": "John Doe",
      "email": "john@example.com",
      "phone": "+1234567890",
      "address": { "street": "123 Main St", "city": "NYC" },
      "preferences": { /* ... */ },
      "metadata": { /* ... */ }
      // ... many more fields
    }
  }
}
After (filtered response):
json
{
  "data": {
    "id": "123",
    "type": "user",
    "attributes": {
      "name": "John Doe",
      "email": "john@example.com"
    }
  }
}
Benefits:
  • Reduced response size (up to 80% smaller)
  • Faster response times
  • Lower bandwidth usage

🔧 Improvements

Performance Enhancements

  • 50% faster response times for list endpoints
  • Database query optimization reducing average query time from 150ms to 50ms
  • Caching layer added for frequently accessed resources
  • CDN integration for static assets
Benchmark Comparison:
Endpointv2 (avg)v3 (avg)Improvement
GET /users320ms140ms56% faster
GET /users/{id}180ms60ms67% faster
POST /users250ms120ms52% faster

Better Error Messages

Before (v2):
json
{
  "error": "Validation failed"
}
After (v3):
json
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
      "field": "email",
      "message": "Email format is invalid",
      "suggestion": "Use format: user@example.com"
    },
    {
      "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
      "field": "password",
      "message": "Password too weak",
      "suggestion": "Password must be at least 8 characters with uppercase, lowercase, and numbers"
    }
  ]
}

Enhanced Rate Limiting

New rate limit headers in every response:
http
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
X-RateLimit-Limit: 1000
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 950
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1642694400
X-RateLimit-Window: 3600
Retry-After: 3600
Rate Limits by Plan:
PlanRequests/HourBurstReset
Free10010/min1 hour
Pro1,00050/min1 hour
Enterprise10,000200/min1 hour

🔒 Security

  • TLS 1.3 Required: Dropped support for TLS 1.2
  • JWT Expiry: Tokens now expire after 1 hour (was 24 hours)
  • Rate Limiting: Stricter limits on authentication endpoints
  • CORS: Updated allowed origins (see security policy)
  • Input Validation: Enhanced validation on all endpoints

🗑️ Deprecated

Deprecation Schedule

FeatureDeprecatedRemoval DateReplacement
API Token Authv3.0.02025-06-01JWT Bearer tokens
XML Response Formatv3.0.02025-04-01JSON only
/api/v1/*
endpoints
v3.0.02025-03-01
/api/v3/*
Query param
filter
v3.0.02025-05-01Use
filters[field]=value
Deprecation Warnings:
All deprecated features return a warning header:
http
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Deprecation: true
Sunset: Sat, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT
Link: <https://docs.example.com/migration/v2-to-v3>; rel="deprecation"

📊 Version Support Policy

VersionStatusRelease DateEnd of Support
v3.xCurrent2025-01-15TBD
v2.xMaintenance2024-01-012025-07-01
v1.xEnd of Life2023-01-012024-12-31
Support Levels:
  • Current: Full support, new features
  • Maintenance: Bug fixes and security patches only
  • End of Life: No support, upgrade required

Migration Guide: v2 → v3

Step 1: Update Base URL

javascript
// Before
const API_BASE = 'https://api.example.com/api';

// After
const API_BASE = 'https://api.example.com/api/v3';

Step 2: Migrate Authentication

javascript
// Before (v2) - API Token
const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/users`, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Token ${apiToken}`
  }
});

// After (v3) - JWT Bearer
const tokenResponse = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/auth/login`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ email, password })
});
const { token } = await tokenResponse.json();

const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/users`, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`
  }
});

Step 3: Update Response Parsing

javascript
// Before (v2)
const user = await response.json();
console.log(user.name);

// After (v3) - Unwrap data object
const { data } = await response.json();
console.log(data.attributes.name);

// Or use SDK
import { ApiClient } from '@company/api-sdk';
const client = new ApiClient(token);
const user = await client.users.get('123');
console.log(user.name); // SDK handles unwrapping

Step 4: Update Error Handling

javascript
// Before (v2)
try {
  const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/users`);
  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.json();
    console.error(error.error);
  }
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

// After (v3) - Handle multiple errors
try {
  const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/users`);
  if (!response.ok) {
    const { errors } = await response.json();
    errors.forEach(err => {
      console.error(`${err.field}: ${err.message}`);
      console.log(`Suggestion: ${err.suggestion}`);
    });
  }
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

Step 5: Update Pagination

javascript
// Before (v2)
const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/users?page=1&per_page=20`);

// After (v3)
const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/users?page[number]=1&page[size]=20`);

// Response structure
{
  "data": [...],
  "meta": {
    "page": {
      "current": 1,
      "size": 20,
      "total": 150,
      "totalPages": 8
    }
  },
  "links": {
    "first": "/api/v3/users?page[number]=1",
    "last": "/api/v3/users?page[number]=8",
    "next": "/api/v3/users?page[number]=2",
    "prev": null
  }
}

Step 6: Testing

javascript
// Run tests against v3 API
npm run test:api -- --api-version=v3

// Test migration gradually
const USE_V3 = process.env.USE_API_V3 === 'true';
const API_BASE = USE_V3
  ? 'https://api.example.com/api/v3'
  : 'https://api.example.com/api/v2';

Version Comparison

Feature Matrix

Featurev1v2v3
REST API
GraphQL
Webhooks
Batch Operations
Field Filtering
JSON:API Format
JWT Auth
API Token Auth⚠️ Deprecated
XML Responses⚠️ Deprecated
Legend: ✅ Supported | ❌ Not Available | ⚠️ Deprecated

SDK Updates

Update to the latest SDK version:
bash
# JavaScript/TypeScript
npm install @company/api-sdk@^3.0.0

# Python
pip install company-api-sdk>=3.0.0

# Ruby
gem install company-api-sdk -v '~> 3.0'

# Go
go get github.com/company/api-sdk/v3
SDK Changelog: SDK Releases

Support & Resources


## Best Practices

### ✅ DO
- Clearly mark breaking changes
- Provide migration guides with code examples
- Include before/after comparisons
- Document deprecation timelines
- Show impact on existing implementations
- Provide SDKs for major versions
- Use semantic versioning
- Give advance notice (3-6 months)
- Maintain backward compatibility when possible
- Document version support policy

### ❌ DON'T
- Make breaking changes without notice
- Remove endpoints without deprecation period
- Skip migration examples
- Forget to version your API
- Change behavior without documentation
- Rush deprecations

## Resources

- [Stripe API Versioning](https://stripe.com/docs/api/versioning)
- [GitHub API Changes](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/api-versions)
- [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/)
- [JSON:API Specification](https://jsonapi.org/)