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.