Skip to main content
API Design patterns recommended

API Versioning

API versioning strategies covering URL path vs header versioning, breaking changes, deprecation policies, and migration patterns for long-lived APIs.

Difficulty
intermediate
Read time
1 min read
Version
v1.0.0
Confidence
established
Last updated

Quick Reference

API Versioning: Use URL path (/v1/, /v2/) for public APIs - most visible and debuggable. Only bump major version for breaking changes. Support versions 12-24 months. Use Deprecation + Sunset headers (RFC 8594). Breaking changes: removing/renaming fields, changing types, making optional required.

Use When

  • Designing public APIs
  • Planning breaking changes
  • Deprecating old endpoints
  • Multi-version API support

Skip When

  • Internal-only APIs
  • Single-version prototypes

API Versioning

API versioning strategies covering URL path vs header versioning, breaking changes, deprecation policies, and migration patterns for long-lived APIs.

Tags

api versioning rest deprecation breaking-changes

Discussion