Handwritten SDKs Are Dead
Blog post from WorkOS
The text outlines a sophisticated approach to generating Software Development Kits (SDKs) for APIs using a custom generation pipeline based on a single OpenAPI specification. The process involves two open-source repositories: oagen, which generates a structured intermediate representation (IR) of the API, and oagen-emitters, which uses the IR to produce idiomatic code for multiple programming languages. This method addresses the challenges of maintaining consistency across multiple SDKs by automating the generation process and leveraging AI, specifically Claude, to assist in language-specific code translation and adherence to conventions. The use of a centralized OpenAPI spec ensures that all SDKs are aligned with the latest API updates, reducing manual work and allowing engineers to focus on more complex tasks. This approach not only standardizes SDK quality and consistency but also facilitates easier integration and maintenance, making it particularly beneficial for developers and AI coding agents who rely on these SDKs to interface with APIs. The text also highlights that both oagen and oagen-emitters are open-source, encouraging others facing similar challenges to explore this method.