Governance is the experience of keeping API operations consistent and aligned as they scale across teams and time. It is the discipline that connects strategy at the top to the rules being enforced at the bottom, expressed through policies that everyone can see and agree on. Done well, governance is invisible and enabling; done poorly, it feels like bureaucracy that slows everyone down. I think about governance as the connective tissue of an API operation rather than a gate that people have to pass through. When governance is automated and built into the pipeline, teams get consistency without friction and leadership gets confidence without micromanaging. The goal is not control for its own sake, it is coherence at scale.
Governance
Policies
Linting (CI/CD)
Require that every API contract is automatically linted against our design and governance rules on each commit, so standards are enforced by machines rather than by memory and goodwill. I love lint...
Compliance Mapping (Governance)
Require that every API in production maps its endpoints, data, and controls to the specific regulatory and compliance obligations it falls under, whether that is GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, or an ...
Dependency Management (Governance)
Require that every API declares the upstream services, libraries, and other APIs it depends on, and keeps that list current as part of its governance record. I care about this because APIs never st...
Maturity Scoring (Governance)
Require that every API is scored against a shared maturity model that measures design, documentation, testing, security, and operational readiness, and that the score is visible to the team that ow...
Policy Exceptions (Governance)
Require that any deviation from a governance policy is requested, justified, time-boxed, and approved through a documented exception process rather than quietly ignored. I have learned that rigid r...
Review & Approval (Governance)
Require that every API design and significant change passes through a documented review and approval step before it ships, with clear owners and clear criteria. I am a big believer in design-first ...
Maintainers
Require that every API names its maintainers, the real people or team accountable for its design, operation, and support, and records them where the contract lives. I care about this from the very ...
Procurement Evaluation Checklist
Require that every API considered for adoption be run through a documented procurement evaluation checklist before a team commits to it. I want the same questions asked each time, covering security...
Strategies
API Dependencies Are Tracked and Managed
All API-to-API dependencies must be documented and tracked, with upstream and downstream impact analysis performed before changes are made, ensuring that teams understand the ripple effects of chan...
API Development Is Collaborative Across Teams
API development must be a collaborative effort across product, engineering, and operations teams, with shared workspaces, design reviews, and cross-functional feedback loops that ensure APIs reflec...
API Governance Is Automated in CI/CD
All API governance checks including linting, contract testing, and schema validation must be automated within the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring that governance is enforced consistently at build time rat...
API Maturity Is Measured and Improved
All APIs must be assessed against a maturity model that measures documentation, security, testing, monitoring, and consumer experience, providing a measurable way to track progress, compare APIs, a...
API Provenance Is Maintained and Auditable
All API contracts must maintain a clear record of their provenance including reviews, certifications, pull requests, and change history, ensuring that the evolution of each API is traceable, audita...
APIs Are Evaluated Before Adoption
I want us to evaluate an API before we build on it, because the cheapest time to discover a bad dependency is before it is wired into production. That means running third-party APIs through a procu...
APIs Are Transparent and Accountable
I want our APIs to be transparent about how they handle data and accountable for the promises we make around it. That means the consent and data processing agreements that govern an integration are...
APIs Meet Regulatory and Compliance Requirements
All APIs must be mapped to applicable regulatory and compliance requirements including GDPR, SOC2, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA, ensuring that API designs, data handling, and operations satisfy legal obligat...
APIs Serve the Public Interest
APIs are increasingly the infrastructure of public and economic life, and that comes with responsibility. I believe API operations should weigh the interests of consumers, communities, and the publ...
Breaking Changes Are Prevented or Carefully Managed
All changes to APIs must be evaluated for breaking impact before release, with breaking changes requiring explicit approval, version increments, migration guides, and proactive consumer communicati...
