API discoverability — the flexibility for builders to really discover your API and use it — has all the time been necessary, but it surely’s changing into more and more extra necessary as AI brokers grow to be extra prevalent.
“In case your APIs are mendacity round they usually’re not discoverable or they’re not documented, then it’s going to be very onerous for individuals to construct brokers,” Abhinav Asthana, CEO and co-founder of Postman, advised SD Instances at POST/CON, the corporate’s consumer convention held this week in Los Angeles.
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API because the constructing blocks for brokers was a key theme on the occasion. Sterling Chin, senior developer advocate at Postman, advised SD Instances that the business must get to a degree the place an API is very easy to digest that it’s identical to constructing with LEGO.
“You seize the items that you simply want, put them collectively, after which you have got a full utility and also you make an agentic workflow out of it the place if this occurs, an agent can begin operating and you’ll deploy it and redeploy and repair it with out having to the touch code. I feel that’s the way forward for agentic AI,” he stated.
On the convention, Postman introduced that it launched a community for verified MCP servers. “We principally took all of the distant MCP servers accessible at this time, verified them, and put them on the general public community as a result of everyone’s gonna want a verified place quickly. Individuals began with unverified MCP servers, and there’s a danger there that if you happen to simply begin having your brokers be related to unverified MCP servers, it’s identical to distant injection,” Asthana stated.
Postman additionally launched an replace to its platform that permits any public API on its community of over 100,000 public APIs to be became an MCP server, making it extra necessary than ever that API builders guarantee their APIs are discoverable by the individuals that may wish to use them.
Chin stated that what is often seen of APIs is just the tip of the iceberg. “We solely see the highest perhaps 10 %. These are the exterior APIs that get all of the hype. The vast majority of providers are inner to us, and people are those that when MCP begins to essentially take off, these are the APIs which can be going to blow everybody away.”
Making your APIs stand out
Allen Helton, ecosystem engineer at Momento, maker of reliability options and a buyer of Postman, advised SD Instances that crucial profit they get out of Postman is that it permits their APIs to be simply found by builders.
“Being a small tech startup, it’s simple to get misplaced within the weeds and it’s onerous to get your identify on the market and have model recognition once you’re simply beginning out,” he stated. “We construct within Postman to assist individuals uncover us after which subsequently once they do, they work out what we’re about and tips on how to use the merchandise.”
He stated that the Postman community is nice as a result of if you happen to’re doing something in public, you’re on it, and meaning you may come up in search and be found.
“If I’m searching for providers that provide caching, Momento goes to slip as much as the highest as a result of we’ve accomplished a number of work on standing out,” he stated.
He has a couple of major suggestions he’d give to different API builders seeking to stand out. First off is to ensure they’re not standing out in a foul manner by guaranteeing they’re doing fundamental greatest practices that each API proprietor ought to do, similar to organising simple auth.
“Postman has an awesome function the place everytime you paste a URL right into a request, it acknowledges ‘oh, that is Momento, do you want assist getting your auth token or API key?’ And it really walks you thru precisely tips on how to get it after which places that API key in the appropriate spot for you.”
One other suggestion is to ensure your public profile is stuffed out. The general public profile consists of every part an API writer owns, together with workspaces, collections, and API specs. He advises everybody to have a profile image and hyperlinks to their social media and web site on that web page.
Getting verified by Postman may also assist, as verified publishers get a badge that primarily proves that you simply’re the area proprietor, rising confidence amongst API shoppers. Postman’s necessities for getting verified embrace issues like having a verified area, organising authentication for public APIs, and having good documentation.
“What’s good about how Momento has used the Postman API Community is if you happen to construct issues in a manner that tells a narrative and that pushes your branding, it actually helps to get seen,” Helton stated. “It helps together with your search engine outcomes. It helps individuals get a really clear and speedy concept of what they’ll do together with your providers. Simply form of weave in your persona into all of the totally different areas that Postman permits you to have wealthy textual content and pictures.”
One other widespread API writer on the community is PayPal, and Brenden Lane, senior director of developer merchandise on the firm, stated that the discoverability side of the community can be an enormous a part of their technique.
“We’re a really large ecosystem,” he stated. “We’ve a number of instruments that may be helpful for various individuals or firms. One of many issues that Postman actually helps us do is clarify very merely and clearly what you want and tips on how to hook it up.”
PayPal launched its personal MCP Server as a Postman Assortment earlier this week. In line with Lane, this opens up entry to various commerce instruments which can be helpful for AI.
“The general public community makes it very simple for individuals to know and uncover instruments throughout totally different firms or various kinds of instruments, after which make it very simple to compose experiences collectively,” he stated.
Disclosure: The reporter’s journey to POST/CON, together with flights, resort, and meals, was coated by Postman. The reporter additionally acquired a bag of convention merchandise.