Designing observable API platforms

The blog post discusses the significance of designing observable API platforms, emphasizing the role of observability in saving time, enhancing developer satisfaction, and improving application management. Experts from Tyk, Krumware, Redocly, and Traceable highlight challenges in implementing observability, such as a lack of understanding and communication within teams, and the need for observability to be a core feature in API development. Observability helps in quickly identifying and resolving issues, thus increasing efficiency, while also playing a crucial role in security by providing insights through tracing data. Open standards like the OpenAPI Specification (OAS) and OpenTelemetry are recommended for ensuring consistency and innovation without vendor lock-in. The discussion also advises on balancing data collection and organization to avoid overwhelming developers with irrelevant alerts, instead focusing on outcome-driven metrics that align with business needs. The post underscores the importance of starting with logging at the application layer and gradually integrating observability tools to build actionable intelligence, while also stressing the need for continuous evolution in design considerations to meet future needs and maintain governance and security.