Hi,
we are considering a policy for REST API end point result format versioning and negotiation. The background and considerations are spelled out in a task and mw.org page:
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365 https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:API_versioning
Based on the discussion so far, have come up with the following candidate solution:
1) Clearly advise clients to explicitly request the expected mime type with an Accept header. Support older mime types (with on-the-fly transformations) until usage has fallen below a very low percentage, with an explicit sunset announcement.
2) Always return the latest content type if no explicit Accept header was specified.
We are interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Once we have reached rough consensus on the way forward, we intend to apply the newly minted policy to an evolution of the Parsoid HTML format, which will move the data-mw attribute to a separate metadata blob.
Gabriel Wicke
We will discuss options for REST API response format versioning and -negotiation in Wednesday's RFC meeting:
Topic: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365 Time: Wednesday 22:00 UTC (2pm PST) Location: #wikimedia-office IRC channel
This RFC will then enter its one-week Final Comment Period, after which the Architecture Committee will decide based on the discussion.
I'm looking forward to your input on the task or IRC.
Gabriel
On Thu, Jan 21, 2016 at 4:29 PM, Gabriel Wicke gwicke@wikimedia.org wrote:
Hi,
we are considering a policy for REST API end point result format versioning and negotiation. The background and considerations are spelled out in a task and mw.org page:
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365 https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:API_versioning
Based on the discussion so far, have come up with the following candidate solution:
- Clearly advise clients to explicitly request the expected mime type
with an Accept header. Support older mime types (with on-the-fly transformations) until usage has fallen below a very low percentage, with an explicit sunset announcement.
- Always return the latest content type if no explicit Accept header
was specified.
We are interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Once we have reached rough consensus on the way forward, we intend to apply the newly minted policy to an evolution of the Parsoid HTML format, which will move the data-mw attribute to a separate metadata blob.
Gabriel Wicke
The IRC discussion just finished, thanks to everybody who participated! You can read a full log on the task [1]. Here is a short summary:
== Question 1: How to request a specific response format ==
Overall there was a slight preference for using the Accept header over query strings for format negotiation. It was noted that support for query strings can be added additionally at a later point.
== Question 2: What to do if no format was specified ==
The main question in the discussion was whether strong encouragement will be enough to persuade clients to explicitly specify a format version. A common concern was that clients without explicit version in the request won't pay attention to announcements either, and will only find out when things break.
There was consensus for starting with strong encouragement and quick default changes. If most clients continue to omit explicit versions in their requests, then we can reconsider *forcing* clients to supply a version.
== Next steps ==
The Architecture Committee will officially decide this matter based on the discussion at next Wednesday's meeting.
Gabriel
[1]: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365#2036959
On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 7:41 PM, Gabriel Wicke gwicke@wikimedia.org wrote:
We will discuss options for REST API response format versioning and -negotiation in Wednesday's RFC meeting:
Topic: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365 Time: Wednesday 22:00 UTC (2pm PST) Location: #wikimedia-office IRC channel
This RFC will then enter its one-week Final Comment Period, after which the Architecture Committee will decide based on the discussion.
I'm looking forward to your input on the task or IRC.
Gabriel
On Thu, Jan 21, 2016 at 4:29 PM, Gabriel Wicke gwicke@wikimedia.org wrote:
Hi,
we are considering a policy for REST API end point result format versioning and negotiation. The background and considerations are spelled out in a task and mw.org page:
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365 https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:API_versioning
Based on the discussion so far, have come up with the following candidate solution:
- Clearly advise clients to explicitly request the expected mime type
with an Accept header. Support older mime types (with on-the-fly transformations) until usage has fallen below a very low percentage, with an explicit sunset announcement.
- Always return the latest content type if no explicit Accept header
was specified.
We are interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Once we have reached rough consensus on the way forward, we intend to apply the newly minted policy to an evolution of the Parsoid HTML format, which will move the data-mw attribute to a separate metadata blob.
Gabriel Wicke
-- Gabriel Wicke Principal Engineer, Wikimedia Foundation
At the conclusion of the Final Comment Period, the Architecture Committee today decided to accept the policy as summarized in my last mail:
- Use `Accept` headers for format negotiation. - Strongly encourage users to explicitly request a specific format version, and update the default format promptly.
We will now document and implement this policy. The first use of content negotiation will be an upcoming change in Parsoid's HTML format.
Thank you for your input,
Gabriel
On Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 3:36 PM, Gabriel Wicke gwicke@wikimedia.org wrote:
The IRC discussion just finished, thanks to everybody who participated! You can read a full log on the task [1]. Here is a short summary:
== Question 1: How to request a specific response format ==
Overall there was a slight preference for using the Accept header over query strings for format negotiation. It was noted that support for query strings can be added additionally at a later point.
== Question 2: What to do if no format was specified ==
The main question in the discussion was whether strong encouragement will be enough to persuade clients to explicitly specify a format version. A common concern was that clients without explicit version in the request won't pay attention to announcements either, and will only find out when things break.
There was consensus for starting with strong encouragement and quick default changes. If most clients continue to omit explicit versions in their requests, then we can reconsider *forcing* clients to supply a version.
== Next steps ==
The Architecture Committee will officially decide this matter based on the discussion at next Wednesday's meeting.
Gabriel
On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 7:41 PM, Gabriel Wicke gwicke@wikimedia.org wrote:
We will discuss options for REST API response format versioning and -negotiation in Wednesday's RFC meeting:
Topic: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365 Time: Wednesday 22:00 UTC (2pm PST) Location: #wikimedia-office IRC channel
This RFC will then enter its one-week Final Comment Period, after which the Architecture Committee will decide based on the discussion.
I'm looking forward to your input on the task or IRC.
Gabriel
On Thu, Jan 21, 2016 at 4:29 PM, Gabriel Wicke gwicke@wikimedia.org wrote:
Hi,
we are considering a policy for REST API end point result format versioning and negotiation. The background and considerations are spelled out in a task and mw.org page:
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T124365 https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:API_versioning
Based on the discussion so far, have come up with the following candidate solution:
- Clearly advise clients to explicitly request the expected mime type
with an Accept header. Support older mime types (with on-the-fly transformations) until usage has fallen below a very low percentage, with an explicit sunset announcement.
- Always return the latest content type if no explicit Accept header
was specified.
We are interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Once we have reached rough consensus on the way forward, we intend to apply the newly minted policy to an evolution of the Parsoid HTML format, which will move the data-mw attribute to a separate metadata blob.
Gabriel Wicke
-- Gabriel Wicke Principal Engineer, Wikimedia Foundation
-- Gabriel Wicke Principal Engineer, Wikimedia Foundation
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