Technical Terms

API-First

A development philosophy where the API is the primary interface, designed before the user interface is built.

API-first products treat the API as the core product and the user interface as one possible client consuming that API. This approach creates flexibility — third parties can build on top of the product, customers can integrate deeply with their own systems, and the product can serve both developers who want raw access and non-technical users who want a polished UI. API-first also tends to produce cleaner architecture because forcing everything through a well-designed API prevents the accumulation of ad-hoc business logic in the frontend. Developer tools, infrastructure products, and platforms that want to become foundational layers in their customers' tech stacks gravitate toward API-first as both a competitive positioning and technical philosophy.