Changelog

This Changelog highlights notable changes to the API Design Guide.

2025-06

  • Redirected Design page Naming Convention to Google AIP.

2024-10

  • Redirected Design pages to Google AIPs, except for Directory Structure and Naming Conventions.

2021-12

  • Changed terminology Networked API to Network API for consistency with https://google.aip.dev/9.

2021-09

  • Document both Google API error format v1 and v2.

2021-04

  • Introduced visibility-based versioning.

  • Introduced API title to glossary.

2021-03

  • Added annotation for output only fields.

  • Update enum value guidance to always include an explicit _UNSPECIFIED value.

  • Add guidance on how to generate and parse resource names.

  • Add progress_percent to standard fields.

2021-02

  • Added guidance on proto3 optional primitive fields.

2021-01

  • Updated the Errors page to cover the latest improvement related to google.rpc.ErrorInfo and google.api.ErrorReason.

  • Added guidance on how to use oauth2l, curl, and System Parameters to troubleshoot errors with Google APIs.

  • Added 502 error code explanation to the Errors page. It is a network error instead of an API error.

2020-12

  • Package names should use singlar component names for global consistency. Package names must not use underscores.

2020-09

  • Cleaned up some field description requirements; changed some uses of "must" outside RFC 2119 to be RFC 2119 "should" directives.

  • Removed the bool deleted standard field, in favor of google.protobuf.Timestamp delete_time (which was already listed).

2020-07

  • Updated documentation.md to match https://google.aip.dev/192#formatting. Markdown tables and raw HTML must not be used in proto comments.

  • Added ErrorInfo for error handling.

  • Added Large Payloads for design patterns.

2020-04

  • Renamed Cloud APIs to Google Cloud APIs in glossary.
  • Introduced API and service as synonyms of API service.

2020-02

  • Updated versioning to add two versioning strategies (channel-based and release-based), remove guidance on point versions, and change how we refer to semantic versioning.

2020-01

  • Add data retention to design patterns.

2019-11

  • Add terminology Cloud APIs to glossary.
  • Recommend clients to retry only for UNAVAILABLE errors.

2019-06

  • Add "Bool vs Enum vs String" to design patterns.

2019-03

  • Add system parameters to standard fields.

2019-02

  • Add domain-scoped names to design patterns.

2018-03

  • Add streaming half-close semantics to design patterns.

2018-02

  • Add read_time to Standard Fields.

2018-01

  • Add schema reference for API Service Definition.

2017-12

  • Clarify API major version must be the last component of proto package name.

2017-11

  • Clarify why the Create method take an input resource.
  • Clarify collection IDs that don't have plural form, such as evidence and weather.
  • Add singleton resource to design patterns.
  • Clarify C# naming conventions for acronyms and versions.

2017-09

  • Add mime_type to standard fields.
  • Add expire_time to standard fields.
  • Add start_time and end_time to standard fields.

2017-02

  • Add "API endpoint" to glossary.
  • Add update_mask to standard fields.
  • Add a link to FieldMask to standard methods.
  • Mention that OpenAPI spec does not support unsigned integers.
  • Clarify that method names should use verbs in the imperative mood.
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