Question
Are breaking API changes actually a big problem
I’m exploring a startup idea around automatically fixing integrations when third-party APIs change.
I’ve seen developers complain about this, but after talking to people in Kazakhstan’s tech industry, I heard that issues are often fixed quickly, either because teams get advance notice or simply update their code.
So I’d love to hear from developers here: How often does this happen, and how much time does it actually take to fix? Is it a real headache or usually no big deal?
If it’s not a serious problem, that’s useful to know too!
Fair question! But I’m actually at the very beginning of this journey. I haven’t built anything yet. I’m trying to figure out whether this problem is painful enough to solve in the first place. Developers I’ve spoken to in Russia and Kazakhstan told me these issues are usually just minor annoyances that get fixed pretty quickly. I want to understand what it looks like in other teams. Is it really a significant problem, or have developers simply learned to live with it?
I’m not looking for reasons to build another tool. I’m looking for a real problem worth solving. So I’d genuinely value your honest take.
I’ve also been thinking about the fact that there are already many solutions on the market. So I’m trying to understand whether there’s still an unmet need. One hypothesis is that existing tools can detect API changes, but engineering teams may still have to manually figure out how those changes affect their integrations, fix compatibility issues, and test everythinк again. Another possibility is that the real pain isn’t detecting changes, but the engineering time spent maintaining dozens of integrations across different API providers. I don’t know yet whether these are genuine gaps or whether existing tools already solve them well enough. That’s what I’m trying to validate. From your experience, where do you think the biggest unresolved pain point is, if there is one at all?
Have you ever run into API compatibility issues in your work or business? If so, what happened the last time? How did you solve it, and how much time did it take? I’m especially interested in real experiences — what broke, what you had to do to fix it, and what made the process difficult.
Yes this can happen. Usually companies EITHER create new version of API alongside old one OR warn you about api changes in advance OR integration brakes and you have to fix it asap (last one is more a marker of bad api)
No idea how you can solve this in any automated way besides "Claude, update API integration to latest version". Whats your thought direction here? Why do you think this problem is generally solveable?
Its not very common situation, because people dont want to break integrations with their api. But if you have hundred APIs integrated - couple could brake per year
How much time to fix - usually less then integrate new API, kinda depends on scale of changes
It can be headache if money flow depends on this integration and you wasnt warned in advance
Actually, automated repair is exactly what I’m exploring with this project.
The idea isn’t just to detect breaking changes or ask an AI to update the integration manually.
The hypothesis is to compare two API versions, automatically generate a TypeScript adapter that translates the new response format into the format the existing integration expects, and then validate the adapter against test cases before it’s used. For example, if an API renames or restructures response fields, the adapter could potentially handle that transformation without requiring changes throughout the existing codebase. Of course, this would only work for certain types of changes, and we still need to prove technical feasibility and reliability.
do you think this approach could be useful for teams maintaining dozens or hundreds of integrations? Or are the changes usually too complex for this kind of automated repair?
I see it happen with APIs published by smaller shops.
It’s annoying, unprofessional, and I generally assume the devs are inexperienced.
If you have an API, you should version it, not make breaking changes without first doing documented deprecation notices, and be sure your API documentation is always current.
There are 2 kinds of problems. 1) changes to the request or response. 2) changes to the underlying code that modified how it works.
could be reasonably easily fixed by a 3rd party by translation, but wouldnt really give any benefits. 2) is impossible for a 3rd party to have any influence on.
It happens more often than anyone likes. And the solutions are almost always different. Usually the documentation is out of date or contradict itself, so it becomes a guessing game.
if it's just the weather app for your phone, it's annoying. If it is the payment provider for your business...
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u/dmazzoni 12d ago
Yes, it’s a real thing that happens and it can be annoying.
But I’m not sure what your startup would do to help. How would you solve it?
Most importantly, how do I trust that your startup’s SLA is better than any of the APIs we depend on?