Project: review Shipment Status API documentation

Last updated: 2 Oct 202619 min read

project

Update the fictional Shipment Status API documentation for GET /v2/shipments/{shipmentId}. The confirmed version-two contract adds held to queued, in_transit, and delivered. The held fixture is SH-4721. The public success response includes shipment_id and status; an internal hold_reason field is not in the public contract. The deliverables are an operation page, checked example, compatibility note, shared status-values update, and release packet. The work remains a draft until the API owner confirms target-environment deployment.

Freeze the contract and examples

Read the approved operation contract, implementation behavior, integration tests, and version policy. Record that the old values guide is stale. Document required shipmentId and shipment:read permission. The approved tests show 200 for an authorized found shipment, 403 without permission, and 404 for a missing ID under the visibility rule. Leave timeout retry guidance open until the owner confirms it. The held example uses a fictional ID and only public fields. Remove a copied live token and internal hold_reason. Parse the JSON, check schema alignment, and run the fixture test.

Review client impact and publication state

A client with exhaustive status handling fails on held, while a client with an unknown-status fallback remains usable. The change therefore needs a migration note and coordinated release decision even though the response field remains a string. Update the shared values page and inspect links for semantic freshness, not only destination existence. Confirm that held is deployed in the target environment before the public page claims it is live. Keep the operation page, tests, migration note, deployment receipt, and editorial approval together for review.

GET /v2/shipments/{shipmentId}; permission shipment:read.
200 fixture: {"shipment_id":"SH-4721","status":"held"}.
403: missing permission; 404: missing visible ID.
No public hold_reason; no real token in examples.
Client check: exhaustive mapping may fail on new held value.
Release: update values page, test links/examples, confirm deployment.

Performance and operating cost

Reviewing E affected endpoints, C client integrations, L links, and X examples needs O(E+C+L+X) targeted checks before release. JSON parsing of an example is O(B) for B bytes; that syntax check does not prove authorization or compatibility. Keeping the evidence packet scoped to one operation reduces model context cost and review noise. A deployment receipt answers whether the service serves held; a merged code change and passing docs build do not. The editorial owner may hold publication when the schema, test, and running service disagree.

Common Mistakes

Do not publish an internal field or live credential.
Do not call an added enum value universally compatible.
Do not label staged behavior public before deployment is confirmed.

Connected lessons

prompt engineering

api documentation