# microsoft/api-guidelines

Microsoft REST API Guidelines

Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/api-guidelines
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/api-guidelines
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: api, guidelines, rest-api, styleguide
Last push: 2026-08-05T00:07:38+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 75/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3704, "days_push": 29, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 23327, forks 2694 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:34.683982+00:00)

## What it is
Microsoft's published REST API Guidelines, a set of documents describing conventions and best practices for designing REST APIs, with companion guidance for Azure and Microsoft Graph service teams. It is a reference resource rather than executable software.

## Use cases
- design a consistent rest api
- learn api design best practices
- create api style guidelines for my organization
- naming and versioning conventions for rest endpoints
- error handling conventions for http apis
- review an api design against industry guidelines

## When to choose
- you are designing or reviewing a REST API and want authoritative conventions
- you are building Azure or Microsoft Graph services
- you want a template for writing your own API guidelines

## When to avoid
- you need executable tooling like linters or code generators
- you are building GraphQL or gRPC APIs
- you need a formal specification rather than prose guidance

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: api-framework, documentation
- domain: apis, documentation, web-development, developer-tools
- platform: cloud
- tags: rest-api, styleguide, api-design, guidelines, microsoft, web-server

## Member repositories
- microsoft/api-guidelines (main) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:34.683982+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T16:56:44.985529+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/microsoft/api-guidelines (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:34.683982+00:00, sha a3702d249e51)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.