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A consistent REST API starts with paths that identify domain resources, HTTP methods that express the operation, predictable error responses, and a pagination contract clients can follow without guessing. Choose conventions that fit your API, document them, and apply them consistently across endpoints.
How do I design a REST API around resources?
Begin with the business concepts clients need to access—not database tables, internal service names, or action labels. A path should identify a resource; the HTTP method should communicate what the client wants to do with it. Microsoft Learn recommends basing resource URIs on nouns rather than operation verbs: Best practices for RESTful web API design.
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For example, POST /orders creates an order, while GET /orders/{order-id} retrieves one. A route such as /create-order puts the operation in the path and makes the interface less consistent with standard HTTP method semantics.
What should REST API endpoint names look like?
Use a predictable collection and item pattern
Choose a consistent form for collections and individual resources. A common pattern is /orders for the collection and /orders/{order-id} for one order. Use a nested path when a resource is genuinely scoped to its parent, such as /orders/{order-id}/line-items/{line-item-id}. This makes the relationship visible without turning the path into an action.
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Pick and document one naming convention
Conventions differ across API guidelines; there is no universal rule that every API must use the same casing or singular-versus-plural form. Zalando’s RESTful API and Event Guidelines choose plural collection names, domain-specific terms, and lowercase ASCII kebab-case path segments, as in /sales-orders/{sales-order-id}. If you adopt that approach, use it throughout and document any exceptions. Avoid vague names such as /items when a domain-specific name tells clients what the resource represents. See the Zalando RESTful API and Event Guidelines.
Keep identifiers stable from the client’s perspective
Clients should be able to treat an identifier as a stable reference, rather than depend on how your system stores or composes it. Zalando allows compound identifiers in some cases but warns that exposing their structure can make later changes harder. Prefer an identifier contract that lets the implementation evolve without requiring clients to parse internal details.
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How should REST APIs handle errors?
Return an HTTP status code that represents the broad outcome, then provide a stable structured body with details clients can act on. Zalando recommends application/problem+json for client errors (4xx) and server-side processing errors (5xx). The status code communicates the HTTP-level result; the Problem JSON representation can add an error type and explanatory details.
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Keep the error shape consistent across endpoints. For a correctable failure, explain which input or condition caused it in terms useful to the caller. Document endpoint-specific errors when a client needs them to choose its next action. Do not return stack traces: they expose implementation details and may reveal sensitive information.
Clients should also be prepared for an error response without a Problem JSON body. A gateway or other infrastructure component may have generated the response, or the service may be unable to produce its usual representation. The HTTP response still matters even when the application-specific body is missing.
Should I use cursor or offset pagination?
Paginate collections that could grow beyond a few hundred entries. Zalando’s guideline says pagination helps protect services from overload and supports client iteration and batch processing. Use one query-parameter vocabulary across the API; common names in its guidance are limit for requested page size, offset for an offset position, and cursor for an opaque page pointer.
| Consideration | Offset pagination | Cursor pagination |
|---|---|---|
| Client navigation | Familiar numeric positions; useful when clients need to jump to a page. | Best suited to following sequential next/previous links; less familiar to some clients and frameworks. |
| Large collections | Deep offsets can be inefficient. | Often a better fit for large-data traversal, though implementation depends on the service. |
| Changes between requests | Inserted or deleted rows can cause results to be repeated or skipped. | Can make traversal safer for changing collections, but a cursor’s anchor record may disappear. |
| Client handling | Clients work with a numeric position. | Clients must preserve and pass the cursor back without interpreting or constructing it. |
Choose offset pagination when page numbers or arbitrary jumps matter and the expected collection size keeps deep queries manageable. Choose cursor pagination when clients mainly traverse a large or changing collection in sequence. The trade-off is not simply speed versus simplicity: consider navigation needs, backend cost, mutation behavior, and the client libraries your consumers use.
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Make the response contract clear enough that clients can continue, go back when available, and know which results belong to the page. One option is a page object with fields such as self, first, prev, next, last, and items. Another is to return explicit pagination links alongside the collection. Omit unavailable previous or next links at the boundaries rather than making clients infer whether another page exists.
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Treat cursor values as opaque tokens: clients should pass them back exactly as supplied, not decode or generate them. Zalando notes that a cursor may encode the page position, direction, and filters—or a hash of the filters—so a later request can reproduce the collection. Keep filtering and pagination semantics coherent so following a cursor continues the same query rather than silently changing its meaning.
Quick Recap
What consistency checklist should an API follow?
- Use domain nouns for resource paths and let HTTP methods express operations.
- Apply one documented convention for collection names, casing, and nested resources.
- Keep client-facing identifiers stable and avoid requiring clients to parse their internal structure.
- Use standard HTTP status semantics and a consistent structured error representation; do not assume every infrastructure failure includes an application error body.
- Paginate potentially large collections with one documented set of query parameters.
- Choose cursor or offset pagination based on client navigation, collection size, query cost, and the effects of concurrent changes.
- Make pagination links or page fields explicit, and keep cursors opaque to clients.
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