Claude Code Skills·Claude Skills·The open SKILL.md registry for Claude
ClaudSkills / Engineering / architecture

Design An API

Category: Engineering  ·  Sub-category: architecture  ·  Last updated:
Designs the contract for an API change inside one codebase — a component's props, a function surface, URL or query parameters, an event payload, or a module boundary — through a discovery pass, an options document with one recommendation, a question round, and an adversarial validation round, with every element of the contract justified from one stated goal. Use when you want to design, shape, decide, or nail down an interface, contract, signature, or API change for a capability you can already describe, sized for roughly one pull request. Produces a design document and changes no code. Does not specify what a feature should do — use plan-a-feature. Does not plan delivery or sequencing — use plan-implementation. Does not assess the architecture of existing code — use architectural-analysis. Does not write the code — use tdd. Does not restructure existing code — use refactor. Runs its rounds without pausing for review; to review each round as it lands, use pairing.
Security AStatic scan found no risk patternsHow grading works ›

What this skill does

Design An API is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the architecture sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/design-an-api/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

When to invoke it: Use when you want to design, shape, decide, or nail down an interface, contract, signature, or API change for a capability you can already describe, sized for roughly one pull request. Produces a design document and changes no code.

Who uses this skill

The Design An API Claude Code skill is built for software engineers, backend developers, full-stack teams, and technical leads building and maintaining production systems. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 196,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/design-an-api
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/design-an-api/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/design-an-api/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/design-an-api/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/design-an-api/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\design-an-api\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

Telegram

📱 Install from your phone or desktop Telegram

Open @claudskills_bot on Telegram, tap Open Desktop App, and the desktop app installs this skill for you. Or share the bot link with a colleague — they get the same one-tap install. Learn more →

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

Pro

For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.

See pricing → Download desktop app

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Design An API Claude Code skill?
Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy SKILL.md from the source repository to ~/.claude/skills/design-an-api/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at claudskills.com/install/.
What does the Design An API skill do?
Designs the contract for an API change inside one codebase — a component's props, a function surface, URL or query parameters, an event payload, or a module boundary — through a discovery pass, an options document with one recommendation, a question round, and an adversarial validation round, with every element of the contract justified from one stated goal. Use when you want to design, shape, decide, or nail down an interface, contract, signature, or API change for a capability you can already describe, sized for roughly one pull request. Produces a design document and changes no code. Does not specify what a feature should do — use plan-a-feature. Does not plan delivery or sequencing — use plan-implementation. Does not assess the architecture of existing code — use architectural-analysis. Does not write the code — use tdd. Does not restructure existing code — use refactor. Runs its rounds without pausing for review; to review each round as it lands, use pairing.
Is this skill free to install?
Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.
When should I use the Design An API skill?
Use Design An API when your Claude Code task falls under the Engineering category — specifically in the architecture area. Claude Code auto-discovers installed skills and invokes the right one based on the task description, so you can also ask Claude directly (e.g. "use Design An API" or describe the task and let Claude pick). Browse related skills at /category/engineering/.
What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Design An API skill fit in?
A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Design An API is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Engineering category. Learn more at /learn/what-is-a-claude-skill/.

Attribution & license

Cite this skill

If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:

APA
testdouble. (2026). Design An API [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/design-an-api/
BibTeX
@misc{design-an-api-2026,
  author    = {testdouble},
  title     = {Design An API [Claude Code skill]},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {ClaudSkills},
  url       = {https://claudskills.com/skills/design-an-api/}
}

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Security scan

Grade A · scanned 2026-09-28 — free static scan against the OWASP Agentic Skills Top 10.

The scan flagged 1 of 10 categories (filesystem), including lower-severity patterns. Patterns shown inside code fences are weighted as examples rather than instructions — read the grading methodology for what this does and does not guarantee.

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Browse all Engineering skills in the ClaudSkills registry, or explore these other picks from the same category:

Browse all Engineering skills → Top 100 skills
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