Layers, API Governance & Innovating w. the Principle of Least Power
summary
Capital One’s API center governs ~9,000 developers producing thousands of APIs that handle 3.5 billion requests per day, and argues the Principle of Least Power reduces systemic complexity by favoring standard, layered protocols over bespoke payload logic. Concrete examples: using RFC 7807 error object and the Sunset header (RFC 8594) lets gateways do counts, alerts and team routing; ETags and caching headers avoid requests. Contrast: GraphQL tunnels past HTTP layers, forcing teams to reimplement caching, errors and tooling. The claim: simpler, layered interfaces enable governance and scalable tooling; complexity otherwise just shifts location.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (15)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:15What is complexity
- 1:03APIs are eating all that software
- 2:25Why are APIs so critical
- 4:12The complexity of microservices
- 5:28Pace layering
- 7:34All layers are important
- 8:51Models
- 9:43TCPIP
- 10:24HTTP
- 11:08HTTP Layers
- 18:00GraphQL
- 21:24Principle of Least Power
- 22:50Boring Technology Club
- 24:12Conclusion
related talks
32mAPIs are Arrangements of Power. Now what?
26mContinuous API Governance Management
21mMastering API Design: Why Community Matters
21mScaling API Design
27mBuilding Great Web APIs
41mMastering Domain-Driven Design for Superior API Strategy
34mDesign Principles: API vs MCP
26mAPI Governance: The Latest Trends Making Teams Love API Standardization.