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API development

API developmentAn isometric drawing of an API as a building with two doors on its front, marked v1 and v2, and a sign-in gate with a lifting arm in front of them. Callers stand along the front: a website on a stand, a phone, a small AI agent robot and a partner's van, with an open book of docs and a starter kit box on the partner's side. Behind the building are a cache shelf of kept answers on the left, a database on the right and a monitor gauge on the roof. Call v1 sends an older app's call through the gate and the v1 door to the database and back. Ship v2 opens the v2 door while v1 stays open with a retirement tag, and both doors answer. Busy day sends every caller at once: the first call goes to the database and leaves a copy on the cache shelf, repeat calls are answered from the shelf, and one partner call loops once in front of the gate before it is retried.callersyour apiapiv2v1docskitpartnerai1234567

One API, with a sign-in gate and a door per version. Websites, apps, partners and AI agents all call it. Try an old app's call.

An API that your website, app, partners and AI agents can all rely on.

Book a free first callEstimate the cost

In short

We build APIs. That means the part of your system that your website, your mobile app, your partners and, lately, AI agents all call to get data or get something done. Zenoware is a small studio in Auckland, and most of our API work is in Laravel or Node, for clients in New Zealand and a few overseas. One kind of job is keeping stock in sync between an online shop and an accounting system. You'd get versioning, sign-in, monitoring and docs. The first call costs nothing.

What you get

  • Ship version two and version one's apps carry on working

  • Retries and caching soak up the busy days

  • Partners can start from the docs and a starter kit

How it runs

  1. 01

    Read what's there

    We'd start by reading your current APIs and logs, and asking who calls what.

  2. 02

    Agree the contract

    Then versioning, sign-in and change rules get written down (before code, not after).

  3. 03

    Build

    It's built in Laravel or Node, with tests, monitoring and deploys that don't need a person.

  4. 04

    Grow

    Usage stats, quotas and a portal follow, with a date for each old version to go.

Who you'll work with

JP Caparas

JP Caparas

Founder and lead engineer

Thirteen years of principal engineering, including development lead at Public Trust. OpenAI Codex and Devin ambassador in New Zealand. You talk to the person who writes the code.

About the team

Questions

What is API development?

An API is the list of requests one program can make to another, and what comes back. Building one means designing those requests, writing the service behind them and documenting it. Then your website, an app or a partner can use your data without anyone poking at the database directly.

Should I build a REST or GraphQL API?

For most public and partner APIs we'd go REST. It's simple, caches well and every developer knows it. GraphQL earns its keep when lots of front ends want different slices of the same data. Plenty of companies do both, REST outside and GraphQL inside. Ask who'll be calling it, and let that decide.

What is API versioning and why does it matter?

It's how you change an API without breaking the apps already using it. Put a version in the URL or a header, and when an old version has to go, give people notice and a migration guide first. Skipping that step is how a harmless-looking release takes down a partner's checkout on a Friday.

What does headless mean?

Headless means the content and business logic live behind an API instead of inside one website. The same backend can then feed a Next.js site, a mobile app, partner systems and AI agents, and you can redesign the front end without touching it.

How do you make an API ready for AI agents?

Models are fussier readers than developers. They need consistent names, accurate descriptions, strict input schemas and error messages that say what to fix. We often put an MCP server in front of the API so agents like Claude can find each action and call it safely.

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Tell us what isn't working.

The first call is free, and we'll tell you straight whether we're the right people for it.

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