design-api
Installation
SKILL.md
Design API
Design an API end-to-end: requirements → stories → OpenAPI spec → lint → iterate. This is Emmanuel Paraskakis's method for designing APIs with LLMs.
All four foundation files (requirements, domain, standards, OpenAPI best practices) are always required. Stories are optional — if provided, they represent the human's design decisions and the skill skips straight to spec generation. If not, the skill generates stories first and pauses for review.
When to Use
Use when the user says /design-api or asks to design an API from requirements or stories.
Optional Dependencies
The core skill (stories + spec generation) works with no extra tools. For the full experience:
- RateMyOpenAPI API key — enables automated linting and scoring. Free signup at api.ratemyopenapi.com/docs. Set as
RMOA_API_KEYenv var. - Node.js — enables local Swagger UI preview via
npx http-server. - curl + python3 — used for the RMOA API call. Almost always pre-installed.
Without these, the skill still generates a complete OpenAPI spec — it just skips linting and local preview.