API design mistakes: versioning, status codes, error messages, pagination.

I spent 1 hours debugging an API yesterday, only to realize I was returning status code 200 for a failed request. Here's what I've learned about API design the hard way: Version your API from day one. Even if it feels like overkill. Trust me on this. Use proper status codes. 200 doesn't mean "request received" - it means "everything worked perfectly." Write error messages that actually tell you what went wrong. "Invalid input" is useless. "Email field is required" saves time. Add pagination early. I once brought down a staging environment by returning 5,000 records in one call. These aren't fancy tips - they're just mistakes I don't want to repeat. What's a lesson you learned the hard way? #webdev #fullstack #coding

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