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User-Minded API Design

2 posts · Aug 2021 – Dec 2022

What this trail covers

This post details the evolution of Palantir's approach to API design, emphasizing a user-centric philosophy. It highlights the shift from purely technical considerations to understanding the needs and workflows of the end-users of APIs. The core of this evolution is the development of APIs that are intuitive, discoverable, and align with the mental models of the developers consuming them, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective integration and usage of Palantir's platform capabilities. This post specifically critiques the limitations of traditional CRUD for REST API designs and proposes alternatives like Get-and-Set, Get-and-Patch, Timestamp-Checked, and Append-Only-Log patterns to address issues such as the need for omnibus 'set' operations, updating single fields, handling concurrency, and incorporating search and security-change/hard-delete operations from the outset.

All Palantir trails
  1. MediumThis post introduces the concept of 'User-Minded API Design' as a distinct capability. It emphasizes the importance of aligning API design with user workflows and mental models, moving beyond purely technical considerations. Key contributions include the articulation of principles for discoverability, intuitiveness, and consistency in API design, and the establishment of a feedback loop to ensure user needs are met. This represents a new direction in how Palantir approaches the development and presentation of its programmatic interfaces.
  2. Rethinking CRUD for REST API DesignsThis post critiques the limitations of traditional CRUD for REST API designs, highlighting issues with create-unless-exists semantics, the need to update entire resources for single field changes, and the lack of built-in conflict resolution. It proposes alternative API design patterns: Get-and-Set (omnibus create/update/delete, last-write-wins), Get-and-Patch (updating specific fields), Timestamp-Checked (optimistic concurrency using logical clocks), and Append-Only-Log (for applications with defined edits). It also emphasizes the importance of incorporating Search and Security-Change/Hard-Delete operations early in API design.