api.define

api.define

Overview

api.define scaffolds OpenAPI and AsyncAPI specifications from enterprise-compliant templates, generating production-ready API contracts with best practices built-in.

Purpose

Quickly create API specifications that follow enterprise guidelines:

• Generate Zalando-compliant OpenAPI 3.1 specs
• Generate AsyncAPI 3.0 specs for event-driven APIs
• Include proper error handling (RFC 7807 Problem JSON)
• Use correct naming conventions (snake_case)
• Include required metadata and security schemes

Usage

Basic Usage

python skills/api.define/api_define.py <service_name> [spec_type] [options]

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description	Default
service_name	Yes	Service/API name	-
spec_type	No	openapi or asyncapi	openapi
--template	No	Template name	zalando
--output-dir	No	Output directory	specs
--version	No	API version	1.0.0

Examples

Example 1: Create Zalando-Compliant OpenAPI Spec

python skills/api.define/api_define.py user-service openapi --template=zalando

Output: specs/user-service.openapi.yaml

Generated spec includes:

• ✅ Required Zalando metadata (x-api-id, x-audience)
• ✅ CRUD operations for users resource
• ✅ RFC 7807 Problem JSON for errors
• ✅ snake_case property names
• ✅ X-Flow-ID headers for tracing
• ✅ Proper HTTP status codes
• ✅ JWT authentication scheme

Example 2: Create AsyncAPI Spec

python skills/api.define/api_define.py user-service asyncapi

Output: specs/user-service.asyncapi.yaml

Generated spec includes:

• ✅ Lifecycle events (created, updated, deleted)
• ✅ Kafka channel definitions
• ✅ Event payload schemas
• ✅ Publish/subscribe operations

Example 3: Custom Output Directory

python skills/api.define/api_define.py order-api openapi \
  --output-dir=api-specs \
  --version=2.0.0

Generated OpenAPI Structure

For a service named user-service, the generated OpenAPI spec includes:

Paths:

• GET /users - List users with pagination
• POST /users - Create new user
• GET /users/{user_id} - Get user by ID
• PUT /users/{user_id} - Update user
• DELETE /users/{user_id} - Delete user

Schemas:

• User - Main resource schema
• UserCreate - Creation payload schema
• UserUpdate - Update payload schema
• Pagination - Pagination metadata
• Problem - RFC 7807 error schema

Responses:

• 200 - Success (with X-Flow-ID header)
• 201 - Created (with Location and X-Flow-ID headers)
• 204 - No Content (for deletes)
• 400 - Bad Request (application/problem+json)
• 404 - Not Found (application/problem+json)
• 409 - Conflict (application/problem+json)
• 500 - Internal Error (application/problem+json)

Security:

• Bearer token authentication (JWT)

Required Metadata:

• x-api-id - Unique UUID
• x-audience - Target audience (company-internal)
• contact - Team contact information

Resource Name Extraction

The skill automatically extracts resource names from service names:

Service Name	Resource	Plural
user-service	user	users
order-api	order	orders
payment-gateway	payment	payments

Naming Conventions

The skill automatically applies proper naming:

Context	Convention	Example
Paths	kebab-case	/user-profiles
Properties	snake_case	user_id
Schemas	TitleCase	UserProfile
Operations	camelCase	getUserById

Integration with api.validate

The generated specs are designed to pass api.validate with zero errors:

# Generate spec
python skills/api.define/api_define.py user-service

# Validate (should pass)
python skills/api.validate/api_validate.py specs/user-service.openapi.yaml zalando

Use in Workflows

# workflows/api_first_development.yaml
steps:
  - skill: api.define
    args:
      - "user-service"
      - "openapi"
      - "--template=zalando"
    output: spec_path

  - skill: api.validate
    args:
      - "{spec_path}"
      - "zalando"
    required: true

Customization

After generation, customize the spec:

1. Add properties to schemas:

User:
  properties:
    user_id: ...
    email:          # Add this
      type: string
      format: email

2. Add operations:

/users/search:      # Add new endpoint
  post:
    summary: Search users

3. Modify metadata:

info:
  contact:
    name: Your Team Name    # Update this
    email: team@company.com

Output

Success Response

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "spec_path": "specs/user-service.openapi.yaml",
    "spec_content": {...},
    "api_id": "d0184f38-b98d-11e7-9c56-68f728c1ba70",
    "template_used": "zalando",
    "service_name": "user-service"
  }
}

Dependencies

• PyYAML: Required for YAML handling

  pip install pyyaml
  

Templates

Template	Spec Type	Description
zalando	OpenAPI	Zalando-compliant with all required fields
basic	AsyncAPI	Basic event-driven API structure

See Also

• api.validate - Validate generated specs
• hook.define - Set up automatic validation
• Betty Architecture - Five-layer model
• API-Driven Development - Complete guide

Version

0.1.0 - Initial implementation with Zalando template support