Build an API research database with traceable evidence

Decide what one record means

A provider can publish several APIs, and one API can have several versions or environments. Avoid putting all of those concepts into a single free-text row. Give each API a stable internal identifier, then connect it to provider details, documentation, operations, and evaluation notes.

Define the purpose of the database before choosing fields. A procurement shortlist needs different information from an engineering inventory. Keep the core record small, and add task-specific evidence where it is useful.

Separate description from observation

W3C’s Data Catalog Vocabulary provides a formal model for describing datasets and data services with metadata. Even a lightweight internal research table benefits from the same idea: describe the resource consistently and preserve references to the underlying evidence.

• Identity: API name, provider, version, environment, and official documentation URL.
• Contract: Intended operations, input types, authentication method, and response format.
• Evidence: Source URL, observation date, reviewer, and whether a claim was documented or tested.
• Decision: Intended use, unresolved questions, selected status, and next review trigger.

Use a controlled vocabulary for repeated categories so “language model,” “LLM,” and “text AI” do not accidentally become unrelated groups. Preserve alternative names as aliases when people commonly use them.

Make updates accountable

Assign an owner to records that influence active integrations. A review date is a reminder to investigate, not evidence that the API still behaves the same way. Link change notes to the source or test that justified the update.

Represent uncertainty explicitly. An empty pricing field may mean “not reviewed,” “not applicable,” or “requires a quote”; those meanings should not be interchangeable. Similarly, avoid recording an assumed capability as a confirmed one.

Keep secrets and private production responses outside the research database. Store a sanitized example or an approved reference when it is needed to explain the contract. Preserve previous decisions so someone can understand why an earlier candidate was rejected.

Use the company directory guide for provider-level organization. The API exploration workflow explains how to gather the evidence that makes each record useful.