Most API docs are written by the people who built the API. That's why they're accurate and still hard to use. The author already knows what a "resource" is, which field is required and why the call returns 409. The reader doesn't.

This post walks through API documentation examples for the parts first time users read most. Endpoint summaries, parameter tables, request and response samples, error docs and auth steps. Each section shows a terse version and a clearer rewrite.

What a reader needs from an endpoint page

A developer landing on an endpoint page wants to answer five questions fast.

What does this call do?

What do I have to send?

What will I get back?

What can go wrong?

Can I copy something that works?

If your page answers those in that order, you're ahead of most docs.

Endpoint summaries

Terse.

POST /v1/invoices. Creates invoice object.

Clearer.

POST /v1/invoices creates a draft invoice for a customer.…