APIs That Your Clients Can Actually Use
We don't ship endpoints and call it an API. We design contracts that integrators love — consistent, versioned, documented, rate-limited, and backwards-compatible — with SDKs, a sandbox, and a deprecation policy in writing on day one.
Your API doesn't need more endpoints.
It needs a contract people trust.
Most APIs grow by accident. An endpoint here, a query parameter there, a field that changed meaning in v2.3 but nobody told anyone. By the time your integrators are complaining, the contract is something only the original author understands — and they\'ve left. We design APIs as products, with the same care as the UI your users see, because your integrators are users too.
Inconsistent endpoints
Some routes use camelCase, some snake_case. Some return arrays, some return objects. Some 404 on missing, some return null. Every integration is a guessing game.
No versioning strategy
A field got renamed on Tuesday. Three clients broke. The fix was a patch, the patch broke two more. There is no v1 — just "whatever is in main".
Auth schemes that confuse clients
API keys in one place, bearer tokens in another, HMAC signing on the webhook. No SDK, no examples, a 40-page PDF that contradicts itself.
Docs that lie
Generated from last quarter's code. The example request still has a field that was removed in March. The response shape shown is what the architect wished it was, not what the server sends.
What You Actually Get
No vague deliverables. Here's exactly what lands in your hands.
A contract-first API
OpenAPI or GraphQL schema as the source of truth, versioned in git, reviewed before any code is written. The spec and the server never drift.
Docs that match reality
Generated from the live spec, with runnable examples, auth walkthroughs, error catalog, and a changelog. Tested in CI so they cannot lie.
A sandbox and SDKs
A safe environment with test data, plus auto-generated client SDKs in the languages your integrators actually use. First integration in hours, not weeks.
Gateway, rate limits, keys
An API gateway with per-key quotas, burst limits, abuse protection, and usage analytics. A self-serve key management flow, not an email to support.
A Real API Engineering Team
Shipping an API your integrators love takes more than a backend dev. Six roles you get on every Pillai Infotech API build.
API Designer
Owns the shape of the contract. Names things consistently, pushes back on leaky abstractions, keeps the API feeling like one thing instead of twenty.
Contract Specialist
Writes and reviews the OpenAPI / GraphQL schema, enforces backward compatibility in CI, runs contract tests between server and clients.
Security Reviewer
Designs authn/authz, reviews token scopes and expiry, models abuse scenarios, makes sure the rate limits and audit logs actually hold up.
Developer Experience Lead
Lives in the integrator's shoes. Writes the quickstart, the examples, the error messages. Measures time-to-first-successful-call and drives it down.
Gateway & Rate-limit Engineer
Configures Kong / Tyk / APIGee, per-key quotas, burst limits, circuit breakers, usage metering. Protects the backend and the fair-use contract.
API Documentation Lead
Owns the docs site, the changelog, the deprecation notices, the migration guides. Treats docs as a product, not an afterthought.
You See Everything. In Real Time.
Every Pillai Infotech project comes with a dedicated client dashboard. Kanban boards, live logs, test results, meeting notes — it's all visible the moment it happens. No status-report theatre, no "we'll get back to you", no surprises at the demo. You work with us like you work with your own team.
Kanban Board, Live
Every epic, every story, every task — visible on your dashboard. Drag, comment, reprioritize. It's the same board our team works from.
Documented Everything
Every decision, spec, API contract, and architecture diagram lives in the dashboard. Searchable, versioned, linked to the tasks they shaped.
Live Logs & Test Results
Build logs, deployment logs, test suite results — streamed to your dashboard the moment they run. You never have to ask "did the build pass?"
Meetings → Tasks, Automatically
Every meeting is recorded, transcribed, and every action point is auto-converted into a tracked task assigned to the right person. Nothing gets lost between calls.
Sprint Burndown & Velocity
See exactly how much work is done, how much remains, and our velocity over time. If a sprint is slipping, you see it the same moment we do.
Comment, Approve, Decide — In-Place
Comment on any task, approve designs, sign off on specs, and raise blockers directly in the dashboard. Everything tied to the work, not buried in email threads.
APIs We Ship Every Month
We build APIs where the contract and the developer experience are part of the product, not a side task.
🌐 REST APIs
Resource-oriented, versioned, OpenAPI-specified, paginated sensibly, with consistent error shapes and proper HTTP semantics.
🔗 GraphQL APIs
Schema-first, with query complexity limits, persisted queries, N+1 protection via dataloaders, and a federation strategy where it helps.
⚡ gRPC services
Protobuf contracts, bidirectional streaming, tight latency budgets. For internal, service-to-service, and low-level integrations.
📬 Webhook systems
Signed payloads, retries with backoff, idempotency keys, replay endpoints, a dashboard where subscribers can see and debug their own deliveries.
🌍 Public developer APIs
Self-serve signup, sandbox keys, tiered rate limits, a docs site, SDKs, and a status page. An API your integrators can adopt without calling sales.
🤝 Partner integration APIs
Tighter contracts for a known set of partners. mTLS, IP allowlists, custom SLAs, and co-owned runbooks with each partner.
The API Stack We Use
We pick the protocol and gateway that fit how your API will actually be used, not the newest one.
Contracts & Docs
GraphQL & gRPC
Gateways
Auth & Keys
A Six-Stage API Delivery Process
Designed around the reality that APIs are promises to other engineers. We keep the promise.
Use-Case & Integrator Research
We map the jobs the API is meant to do, the shape of the clients that will call it, and the constraints (latency, rate, auth, compliance). No contract without a caller.
Contract Design
We draft the OpenAPI or GraphQL schema, review it with real integrators or stubs of them, and iterate until the shape feels obvious. The contract is in git before any server code.
Build & Contract-Test
Server and clients generated from the spec. Contract tests in CI fail the build if server and spec drift. Every endpoint has tests for happy path, validation, and auth.
Docs, Sandbox, SDKs
A docs site generated from the live spec, a sandbox with seeded data, SDKs in at least two languages, a quickstart that ends in a successful call.
Gateway, Limits, Observability
Gateway configured with per-key quotas, burst limits, and logging. Dashboards for latency, errors, and top callers. Alerts on SLO breach and abuse patterns.
Launch & Deprecation Policy
Public versioning policy, a written deprecation timeline, a changelog, and a plan for how v2 will land without breaking v1. In writing, not in Slack.
Three Ways to Engage
API work comes in different shapes. Pick the one that matches where you are.
API Design Audit
Two-week review of an existing API: contract, docs, auth, versioning, rate limits, DX. You get a prioritized fix list and a migration plan.
- Contract & consistency review
- DX & docs review
- Prioritized remediation plan
Production API Build
End-to-end build of a new API — contract, server, gateway, docs, sandbox, SDKs, launch plan.
- Fixed-scope, fixed-price
- Typical: 8–16 weeks
- Includes 30-day production warranty
Embedded API Team
A dedicated API squad working alongside your team across multiple surfaces — public, partner, internal.
- API designer + backend + DX lead
- Monthly retainer, scale up/down
- Best for: 3+ months of roadmap
Honest Answers to API Reality Questions
The questions every smart buyer asks before signing. Here's what we tell them.
REST, GraphQL, or gRPC?
REST for most public APIs — integrators know it, every language supports it, caching is easy. GraphQL when clients need flexible, nested reads and you can afford the server complexity. gRPC for internal, service-to-service calls where latency and schema strictness matter more than browser access. We pick after understanding the caller.
How should we version?
URI versioning (/v1, /v2) for public APIs — it's boring, obvious, and easy to route at the gateway. We add non-breaking fields freely, never remove or rename within a major version, and announce deprecations at least six months ahead with a written migration guide.
How do you keep backward compatibility?
Contract tests in CI compare every PR against the live spec and fail the build on breaking changes. Fields are added, never removed. Renames are alias-then-deprecate. The rule is simple: existing clients must keep working on the same major version, period.
How do rate limits work?
Per-API-key, with burst and sustained limits, enforced at the gateway so the backend never gets hit by abuse. Limits are documented, returned in response headers, and visible to integrators on a usage dashboard so they are never surprised.
What about authentication?
OAuth 2.0 / OIDC for user-context calls, API keys (with HMAC signing for webhooks) for server-to-server, mTLS for high-trust partner integrations. We pick based on who is calling and from where. Every scheme gets a worked example in the docs and an SDK helper.
Do you generate SDKs?
Yes, from the OpenAPI or protobuf spec, in at least two languages to start — typically TypeScript and Python. SDKs are versioned alongside the API and published to your package registry. Integrators get types, auth helpers, and retry logic for free.
API keys or OAuth?
API keys when the caller is a server acting as itself. OAuth when the caller is acting on behalf of a user and you need scoped, revocable, user-consented access. Many APIs need both — we design the two to coexist without confusing integrators.
What is your deprecation policy?
Written, public, and boring. New major versions announced with a migration guide. Old versions supported for at least six months after the replacement ships. Deprecation warnings in response headers and the docs. No surprises, no Friday-afternoon breakage.
How do you test the API?
Unit tests on handlers, contract tests against the spec, integration tests against a real database, and a small suite of end-to-end tests that call the API the way an integrator would. Docs examples are also executed in CI so they cannot go stale.
Who owns the API and the contract?
You do. 100%. The spec, the code, the SDKs, the docs site, the gateway config — all yours, in your repo, from day one.