Writing Great API Documentation: Best Practices with OpenAPI and Hashnode's Docs Product

If you are a devtool company or any tech company catering to developers and you provide APIs, the most effective way to encourage them to use your product is by offering well-crafted API documentation.

API documentation typically includes code examples, tutorials, and detailed information about functions, classes, and return types. It offers developers all the necessary information to create integrations with the API and make API calls with the software.

API documentation provides a clear explanation of the endpoints, describes the purposes for using them, and offers specific examples of their usage.

Tips to write great API documentation

For documentation in general, the simple rule to follow is: keep it simple, know the personas reading the documentation, and document every detail.

For API documentation, however, this is the part that will show developers how to walk the talk, and using this is how you will onboard more developers to your tool.

Here are five top tips to write great API docs:

1. Understand the API: Before you start documenting, make sure you have hands-on experience with the APIs. Use it to test endpoints and get a first-hand understanding of how it works. This will help you guide users accurately, and improve the overall quality of your documentation.

2. Use consistent naming conventions: Ensure endpoints, parameters, and response fields follow a standardized naming convention (e.g., camelCase or snake_case) and maintain consistency across the API.

3. Include every detail: Include every detail needed to correctly learn and build with the APIs. Explain authentication methods (like API keys or OAuth) and any permissions needed for each endpoint. Also, list HTTP error codes (such as 400, 404, 500) and what they mean for each endpoint. Add troubleshooting tips for common problems to help users fix them on their own.

4. Add examples: The API docs should be written so that developers can copy and paste the examples and get them running. Make sure to include examples in multiple languages and frameworks, and have an interactive API playground that makes it easy for developers to test the APIs.

5. Explain rate limits and usage quotas: Specify rate limits and quota restrictions for each endpoint to help users manage API usage effectively. This prevents unexpected throttling and ensures a smoother integration experience.

How OpenAPI and Hashnode Docs can help in writing good API documentation

If you've worked with REST APIs, you likely know OpenAPI and its benefits. If not, this article is a good starting point.

OpenAPI helps with:

• Generating documentation, tests, and mock servers

• Integrating with tools and services for better documentation

• Team collaboration and communication

• Enhancing API security and quality

Documenting APIs with OpenAPI is a great start, but your documentation needs more. This is where Hashnode Docs helps, making API documentation simpler and more interactive.

Hashnode Docs features that help in writing great API docs:

1. One-Click API reference setup and interactive playground - With Hashnode, teams can easily create API reference docs by importing OpenAPI or Swagger specs - all in just one click. This also creates a playground for you that lets developers interact with the API, run requests, and see live responses.

   

2. GitHub Sync: Manage your docs wherever you feel comfortable - in GitHub or directly in Hashnode’s editor. The GitHub sync feature keeps both your codebase and docs up-to-date effortlessly.

   

3. Enterprise-level features: Hashnode offers enterprise features like version control, SOC2 and ISO 27001 readiness, and team collaboration tools that make managing your OpenAPI docs seamless and secure.

Conclusion

For devtool companies, having solid API documentation is key to getting more developers to use your tool. Make sure it follows all the tips from the article above, and pick the right tool to document it. APIs can quickly become outdated, and writing documentation at the same time can be a lengthy process, so choose tools or processes that make updates easier. That's where a tool like Docs by Hashnode comes in handy. It takes care of the heavy lifting, so you can focus on writing examples and other details.

I hope this article has given you a good idea of how to write effective API documentation.