APIs are an Unbreakable Contract

APIs are an unbreakable contract between services and their customers, making it crucial to maintain consistency in API interactions. The robustness principle is discouraged as it leads to fragile, insecure, and inefficient systems. Instead, providers should be strict in defining the API fields, which can be facilitated by OpenAPI specifications. Validating the spec at runtime ensures immediate detection of issues. Tagging IDs with their type allows for precise validation and easier debugging and support, improving overall system reliability.