Deploying Smarter API Documentation

by Kin Lane on 06/17/2011

Posterous recently launched a new API giving users access to all the functionality available through the Posterous web interface.

Instead of just delivering documentation for the Poserous API, they went a step further and made the documentation smarter, and more interactive.

Think API explorer meets API documentation. The Posterous API documentation provides a list of all API services, endpoints, and methods, but it doesn't stop there.

When logged into your Posterous account, the API documentation automatically includes your api_token, which is necessary for making API calls.

Once authenticated you can make any call against the API right in the documentation. Each endpoint allows entry of necessary fields, displays a request URL, and a JSON response message.

This type of interactive API documentation allows developers to learn and explore how an API works in a live environment, making real calls.

This approach to delivering API documentation steps up the game a little bit, and the same old type of documentation may not do anymore.