api-versioning-strategy

Development

Implements API versioning using URL paths, headers, or query parameters with backward compatibility and deprecation strategies. Use when managing multiple API versions, planning breaking changes, or designing migration paths.

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API Versioning Strategy

Choose and implement API versioning approaches with proper deprecation timelines.

Versioning Methods

Method	Example	Pros	Cons
URL Path	`/api/v1/users`	Clear, cache-friendly	URL clutter
Header	`API-Version: 1`	Clean URLs	Hidden, harder to test
Query	`?version=1`	Easy to use	Not RESTful

URL Path Versioning (Recommended)

const v1Router = require('./routes/v1');
const v2Router = require('./routes/v2');

app.use('/api/v1', v1Router);
app.use('/api/v2', v2Router);

Version Adapter Pattern

// Transform between versions
const v1ToV2 = (v1Response) => ({
  data: {
    type: 'user',
    id: v1Response.user_id,
    attributes: {
      name: v1Response.user_name,
      email: v1Response.email
    }
  }
});

Deprecation Headers

app.use('/api/v1', (req, res, next) => {
  res.setHeader('Deprecation', 'true');
  res.setHeader('Sunset', 'Sat, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT');
  res.setHeader('Link', '</api/v2>; rel="successor-version"');
  next();
});

Safe vs Breaking Changes

Safe Changes (no version bump):

Adding optional fields
Adding new endpoints
Adding optional parameters

Breaking Changes (requires new version):

Removing fields
Changing field types
Restructuring responses
Removing endpoints

Deprecation Timeline

Phase	Duration	Actions
Deprecated	3 months	Add headers, docs
Sunset Announced	3 months	Email users
Read-Only	1 month	Disable writes
Shutdown	-	Return 410 Gone

Best Practices

Support N-1 versions minimum
Provide 6+ months migration window
Include migration guides with code examples
Monitor version usage to inform deprecation