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API Documentation Tools

API documentation requires specialized tools for rendering specifications, generating interactive documentation, and creating code samples. This guide covers the essential tools.

OpenAPI Specification

What is OpenAPI?

OpenAPI (formerly Swagger) is the standard for describing REST APIs:

openapi: 3.0.0
info:
  title: Sample API
  version: 1.0.0
paths:
  /users:
    get:
      summary: List users
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Success

Benefits

  • Machine-readable specification
  • Generate documentation automatically
  • Generate client SDKs
  • Enable testing and validation

Documentation Generators

Swagger UI

Interactive API documentation from OpenAPI specs.

Features: - Try-it-out functionality - Multiple language code samples - Authorization support

Redoc

Clean, three-panel API documentation.

Features: - Beautiful default design - Nested object support - Search functionality

Stoplight

Full API design platform.

Features: - Visual API designer - Style guides - Mock servers - Hosted documentation

Postman

API development and documentation platform.

Features: - API testing and development - Automatic documentation - Collaboration features - Public API network

Code Sample Generation

Generate examples for multiple languages:

# Python example
import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://api.example.com/users',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer TOKEN'}
)

// JavaScript example
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/users', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer TOKEN' }
});

Best Practices

  1. Start with OpenAPI: Use spec as source of truth
  2. Keep spec updated: Automate spec generation if possible
  3. Test examples: Verify all code samples work
  4. Provide interactive docs: Let developers try the API
  5. Include authentication guide: Common stumbling block

Summary

API documentation tools streamline developer experience:

  • Use OpenAPI as your API specification standard
  • Generate interactive documentation
  • Provide working code examples
  • Keep documentation synchronized with API